ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

15-16 June 2023

University of Sheffield

Deadline: January 31, 2023

Journalism Education Trauma Research Group (JETREG) 2023 event

Free Registration 

The Journalism Education Trauma Research Group (JETREG) is excited to announce its next international conference and knowledge exchange event on 15 and 16 June 2023 hosted by the Department of Journalism Studies at the University of Sheffield, UK in partnership with the University of Lincoln, UK. 

Keynote speaker: Professor Anthony Feinstein, University of Toronto. 

We are inviting scholars to submit 250- word abstracts/proposals for individual papers or pre-formed panels by 31 January 2023. Registration is free but places will be limited. We will have a travel bursary for one PhD/ECR researcher to take part in the conference. Please state if you would like to apply for the bursary when submitting your abstract. 

This conference responds to the persistent work-related problem of emotional and psychological stress in journalism practice. Journalists are one of the first responders to traumatic events and the last to leave, but they are the least likely to receive training in trauma informed literacy and resilience, unlike their counterparts in the police, nursing, ambulance services and fire brigade. Previous studies show that many journalists are reporting either post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), associated symptoms, depression, and/or substance use while many journalists feel ill-prepared for assignments, which involve reporting on critical incidents and events that carry a risk of being traumatised. Some scholars have blamed journalism’s deep-seated objectivity norm, which is central to journalism education and the ‘macho’ views to be found in some newsrooms, as one of the reasons why journalists are reluctant to talk about the emotional and psychological effects of exposure to traumatic events on their health and wellbeing. Studies show that journalism students are also ill-equipped to deal with their own emotional reactions and to assess what they experience from an ethical perspective. 

The academic conference aims to highlight current multidisciplinary research into trauma, emotion and resilience in journalism and media work; psychological and emotional safety of journalists/media workers, pedagogical approaches and best practice to trauma literacy in journalism education/training and the various experiences of trauma, emotional labour or (un)happiness in journalism/media. We also seek the perspectives of scholars from different disciplines, practicing journalists/freelancers/editors on coping strategies and/or newsroom support that may have pedagogical relevance. 

Launched in 2020 by Ola Ogunyemi at the University of Lincoln and Lada Price at the University of Sheffield, JETREG is a thriving international research group comprising over 230 members across the world with seven regional research hubs in Europe, North/South America, Africa, Australia/New Zealand, South Asia and MENA who will be represented at the event. The event will bring together media practitioners and researchers from JETREG and the Journalism Safety Research Network (JRSN) at the Centre for Freedom of the Media (CFOM) at the University of Sheffield.  

Topics of interest for this conference may include, but are not limited to: 

●Trauma informed journalism practice and pedagogy and challenges to normative assumptions around objectivity and detachment

●‘Moral injury’ in journalism

●Impact of journalists’ exposure to traumatic events

●Stress, burnout and PTSD in journalism practice

●Trauma and resilience during the pandemic

●Skills and capacity to cope with the effects of exposure to traumatic events

●Enhancing resilience in journalism

●Addressing barriers to trauma literacy in journalism practice and education

●Emotional literacy and psychological safety in journalism

●Institutional responses to trauma in newsrooms; support mechanisms 

●Happiness and retaining staff in newsrooms

●Best practices and innovation in journalism pedagogy in building emotional resilience 

●Mental health/wellbeing among journalists and journalism students/trainees

SUBMIT AN ABSTRACT by January 31, 2023 for consideration. Questions and abstracts may be directed to the organisers, Lada Price: l.t.price@sheffield.ac.uk and Ola Ogunyemi: Oogunyemi@lincoln.ac.uk Notification of acceptance will be sent out in February/early March 2023.

Proposals for individual papers must include an abstract (max 250 words) and a short speaker biography (max 100 words).

Panel proposals must include a 150-word rationale for the panel, a 250-word abstract for each of the papers, and a biography for each speaker of no more than 100 words.

June 19-21, 2023

King’s College London, Bush House, 30 Aldwych, London WC2B 4BG

Deadline for Proposals: January 15, 2023

A Three-Day International Interdisciplinary Conference

Co-organisers: Professor Paul McDonald, Kings College London; Professor Andrew Spicer, University of the West of England Bristol

We invite proposals for papers, panels, or roundtables conceptualising, defining, analysing, discussing, or mapping relationships between media industries and locality. Proposals are invited from across the full breadth of media industries research. We hope the conference can provide an inclusive inter-disciplinary meeting ground, so welcome proposals from all disciplinary traditions relevant to the topic.

The importance of locality to the media industries has been widely debated through a range of perspectives. Harvard economist Michael Porter claimed that ‘clusters’ – which he defined as ‘geographical agglomerations of firms that collaborate and compete with each other’ – provide ‘enduring competitive advantages in a global economy’ through local knowledges and relationships ‘that distant rivals cannot match’ (1998: 78). Studies of clustering activity in media industries have focused on ‘a specialized form of clusters designed to produce mediated content’ (original emphasis, Picard 2008: 4), recognizing how these take form in both planned and organic ways, but also the different types of cluster that emerge from such developments (Komorowski 2016 and 2017).

Porter’s emphasis on the economic significance of location has been challenged by other studies that focus on the significance of historical factors and the importance of long-term cultural traditions. In his seminal The Cultural Economy of Cities (2000), Allen J. Scott argues that place has a particular significance for creative production because of the ways in which locality and culture are intertwined. Places, he argues, leave ‘deep traces on the form and cognitive meanings’ of creative products emerging from ‘localized systems of industrial activity’. These ‘symbolic and sentimental assets’ derive from the ‘distinctive historical associations and landmarks’ that make each particular place unique (2000: 3).

Discussing how the concentration of film and television production in Louisiana formed ‘Hollywood South’, Vicki Mayer (2017: 3) focused on the ways in which ‘life in a film economy shapes and is shaped by its location’. A focus on locality can therefore ground our understanding of how media industries are actually inhabited and lived, but also how media workers contribute to the formation of locations. Analyses of cities as ‘sites of passage’ (de Valck 2007: 9) connected through the ‘film festival circuit’ (Loist 2007), or of global television marketplaces (Havens 2006; Choi 2021), illuminate how industries temporarily congregate to exchange and circulate media in and through specific locations. Other studies have investigated the representational dimensions of locality in media industries (e.g., Brunsdon 2007; Young 2022): the importance of locations to narrative, iconography, and characterisation (places as characters) and the ways in which these contribute to imagining and imaging a sense of regional identity and consciousness. There has been significant work on where media production takes place (e.g., Ganti 2012; McNutt 2021) as well as the specialized facilities in which media production is performed (e.g., Goldsmith and O’Regan 2005), the operational and emblematic role of media buildings (Evens 2022), of local place-making activities including media tourism and ‘places of the imagination’ (Reijnders 2011), and the ways in which places accrete symbolic images (‘brands’) for international consumption.

Analyses of ‘the world media cities network’ (Krätke 2003), ‘global media cities’ (Hoyler and Watson 2012), ‘film cities’ (O’Regan 2018) and ‘media capitals’ (Curtin 2003) highlight the importance of global cities as loci for media creativity and flows. At the same time, attention has also been given to concentrations of media industries in marginalised centres (e.g., Haynes 2007 on Lagos) and regions (e.g., Szczepanik 2021 on Central and Eastern Europe). While perennial tensions between ‘centre’ and ‘periphery’ have a long history, these have become more urgent and pressing over the last decade. In many countries this has an explicitly political dimension with governments directing – or encouraging through regulatory systems – the deployment of increased resources into regional screen production in an attempt to strengthen local economies and identities thereby encouraging more diverse and sustainable screen industries that support a range of voices.  The importance of locality and spatial plurality has been accentuated in an era of accelerating internationalisation of the media industries in which Public Service Media (PSM) are losing audiences to satellite channels or streaming platforms that operate to a global commercial logic. However, the streamers’ business models are themselves changing and, as Ramon Lobato argues (2019), this new logic does not entirely displace or supersede the older logics of analogue broadcasting but introduces new layers of spatial complexity that need to be investigated and analysed. This invites a broader question: why, how, and where are networked forms of media reconfiguring the spatial organisation of media industries? 

These perspectives variously foreground the importance of linkages between media industries and locality. Yet the Covid pandemic disrupted those links. Remote and hybrid working became habituated across all areas of professional life. In the media sector specifically, impacts materialized with the movement of media conventions and festivals online, threats to the future of location-specific entertainment such as music venues, and greater use of commercial livestreaming as an outlet for large-scale media events. Cumulatively, with these and other developments, we might therefore ask: to what extent is locality retaining importance for the media industries?           

Proposals can be for single research papers, or pre-constituted panels and roundtables. Topics to be addressed include but are not limited to the following: 

    •        Locality in media production networks

    •        Locality in media and communication infrastructures

    •        Spaces and places as media production locations

    •        Media companies and attachments to place

    •        Civic/social role of media companies

    •        Media companies and urban renewal

    •        Media and the built environment

    •        Cities as media distribution hubs

    •        Environmental impacts of media on places

    •        Media ‘clusters’/‘hubs’

    •        ‘Media Cities’

    •        Media industry events, e.g., festivals, conventions

    •        Spaces and places of media work

    •        Locality and the production and circulation of diasporic media

    •        Media and urban or rural/regional economies

    •        Media and urban or rural/regional policy

    •        Media tourism

    •        Media industries and place branding

Proposal guidelines

Proposals are welcomed in three categories and should be submitted through the following links:

    1)      Open Call Papers (https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fform.jotform.com%2F223075189624359&data=05%7C01%7CAndrew2.Spicer%40uwe.ac.uk%7C62738e0b715f4a4e4d6908dac2587e4b%7C07ef1208413c4b5e9cdd64ef305754f0%7C0%7C0%7C638035982592869376%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=6IQjNw24TaEiRXXrpx8IhEIiPUQOCBkHEck2kXYa26c%3D&reserved=0)

Format: solo or co-presented research paper lasting no more than 20mins. 

    2)      Pre-constituted Panels (https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fform.jotform.com%2F223074632587359&data=05%7C01%7CAndrew2.Spicer%40uwe.ac.uk%7C62738e0b715f4a4e4d6908dac2587e4b%7C07ef1208413c4b5e9cdd64ef305754f0%7C0%7C0%7C638035982592869376%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=xTrhdePdQbQlxAOMXU31o9yQ1Kax3P6aPVkRoACWc3c%3D&reserved=0)

Format: 90mins panel of 3 x 20mins OR 4 x 15mins thematically linked solo or co-presented research papers followed by questions. 

    3)      Pre-constituted Roundtables (https://eur01.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fform.jotform.com%2F223083000136338&data=05%7C01%7CAndrew2.Spicer%40uwe.ac.uk%7C62738e0b715f4a4e4d6908dac2587e4b%7C07ef1208413c4b5e9cdd64ef305754f0%7C0%7C0%7C638035982592869376%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=16l68tHVGw1K2mMd%2Bndd20%2Bbz7PvnpOY4i8w52XcIno%3D&reserved=0)

Format: 90mins interactive forum led by a chair bringing together 4 to 6 participants (including the chair as a participant if speaking as well as chairing) to offer short (up to 6 minute) position statements or interventions designed to trigger discussions around a central theme, issue, or problem. As such, a roundtable does not involve the presentation of formal research papers but rather is designed to create a forum for the participants and audience to engage in a shared discussion. The format is flexible and can be adapted to allow members of the roundtable to introduce exercises or other activities where appropriate.

Delegates can make TWO contributions to the conference but only ONE in any category, i.e., presenting an open call paper and participating in a roundtable will be permitted but presenting two open call papers will not be. Chairing a panel or roundtable will NOT count as one of those contributions.

Papers (either open call or as part of a pre-constituted panel) maybe presented individually or by a pair of co-presenters. 

When submitting a proposal, each presenter/co-presenter/participant is required to provide:

    •        name

    •        institutional affiliation (if any)

    •        contact e-mail address

    •        short professional biography (max. 100 words)

In addition, different proposal categories require the following: 

    1)      Open Call Papers

    •        title

    •        abstract of no more than 400 words

    •        3-5 keywords

    •        3-5 sources relevant to the paper

    2)      Pre-constituted Panels

    •        nominated chair (either one of the presenters or another delegate)

    •        panel rationale of no more than 400 words

    •        3-5 key words

    •        individual proposals (presenter/co-presenter details, title, abstract, keywords, sources) for 3 x 20mins OR 4 x 15mins research papers 

    3)      Pre-constituted Roundtables

    •        nominated chair (either one of the presenters or another delegate)

    •        rationale of no more than 400 words

    •        3-5 key words

    •        details for each participant accompanied by a statement of no more than 100 words outlining a participant’s intended contribution

Paul McDonald (Paul.McDonald@kcl.ac.uk)

Andrew Spicer (Andrew2.Spicer@uwe.ac.uk)

January 9, 2023

Join the IAMCR Presidential PhD Research Webinar

https://iamcr.org/phd-webinars/media-literacy

IAMCR will be hosting the Presidential PhD Research Webinar titled “Media Literacy: A Critical Pedagogy in Difficult Times of War, Pandemic and Beyond”.

This webinar will bring together doctoral scholars to promote a global dialogue highlighting the role of digital media and media literacy during the difficult times the world faces and to identify the tools and techniques for combating these issues and challenges.

Date and Time: 09 January 2023, at 08h00 UTC

All IAMCR members are invited to participate. There is no charge for IAMCR members. Pre-registration is required by 07 January. Visit the page to register.

Call for Book Chapter Manuscripts

Deadline: February 15, 2023

We are inviting authors to submit chapter manuscripts for a forthcoming handbook, tentatively titled The Handbook of Communication in (pre & post)Pandemics: South Asian Perspectives on Securing Health and Well-Being, under consideration by Routledge and edited by Gita Bamezai (Former Head, Communication Research, Indian Institute of Mass Communication), Pradeep Sopory (Wayne State University), and Uttaran Dutta (Arizona State University).

Research on health communication in South Asia tends to center around media health campaigns and media health discourse analysis. The proposed handbook seeks to shift the focus from the media as a site of health communication to other contexts such as communities, organizations, work groups, and family. It seeks to highlight everyday South Asian experiences of communicative exchanges about health and well-being in these contexts, which may be located in both the geographical South Asia as well as its Diasporas, through de-colonial, indigenous, and de-westernized perspectives.

Overview:

The proposed edited handbook will examine communication related to physical and mental health and wellbeing during (and beyond) the Covid-19 pandemic in South Asia. The region comprises eight countries (Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Maldives) that share many geopolitical, socio-structural, and cultural characteristics. Its citizens face a range of noncommunicable and communicable disease burdens in the context of a dense population (1.9 billion people, 25% of global population) and an inadequate health infrastructure. The Covid-19 (& post) pandemic scenario has added to the health burdens and posed significant short- and long-term challenges to people’s physical and mental wellbeing. The handbook chapters will cover the full range of communication contexts from intrapersonal to societal/cultural, with a focus on communities, organizations, work groups, and family, to examine communicative contents, structures, and processes that both enhance and harm health and well-being in South Asian countries and its diasporas.

Contributions from different disciplines, such as anthropology, economics, political science, psychology, public health, and sociology, examining different aspects of health communication are highly welcome. We solicit both theoretical and empirical works. The handbook is open to all quantitative, qualitative, and rhetorical/critical/cultural methodological approaches.

Topics:

Communication about health and well-being can be investigated in several contexts, including intrapersonal, interpersonal, family, work group, organization, community, media, and societal/cultural. Contributors are expected to examine communicative exchanges to create meanings about physical and mental health and well-being predominantly in contexts other than media. Our expectation is that contributors will examine the structure and content of common South Asian communicative experiences and their relationships to health for topics such as, but not limited to, the following:

Adverse health news and disease diagnosis; Community interactions and relations; Conflict and resistance; Disabilities; Disasters and public health emergency events; Doctor interactions with nurses and medical staff; Education and training curriculum and practices; Environmental health issues; Extended and “joint” multi-generational families and clans; Fear appeals and vaccine hesitancy; Food, hunger, and poverty; Gossip and taunting; Hate and discriminatory talk; Health activism and social justice; Health for all and access to health infrastructures; Health literacy; Healthy practices; Hierarchy of communication structures; History and health communication; Information/digital divide; Inter-organization and -agency coordination and collaborations; Intersectionality (caste, class, gender, ethnicity, and sexual orientation) and its implications; Mental health and suicide; Migration; Participatory approaches; Patient rage toward doctors and medical staff; Patient-health provider interactions; Positive deviancy approaches to behavior and social change; Provider interactions with families of patients; Ragging/hazing in educational institutions; Risk communication and pandemics. Sexual harassment in public and work settings; Spirituality, religion, and faith; Sports and physical health activities; Technology of communication, including mHealth and e-health; Terminal health condition and end-of-life; Traffic accidents and road rage; Underserved and marginalized communities; Work-family negotiation.

Proposal Submission Guidelines:

Chapter proposals should have the following components and be combined into a single document for submission:

1. Title page with contact information for all authors;

2. Abstract (300-500 words, excluding references) clearly explaining:

a. Purpose and the contents of the proposed chapter; and

b. How the proposed chapter relates to the overall objectives of the book.

3. Working bibliography for the chapter in APA style (7th edition); and,

4. Brief author biographical statement (max. 150 words) written in the third person that includes:

a. Current position and affiliation;

b. Highest degree held, field, and institution granting that degree; and c. Relevant area of research and/or relevant research project.

Proposals should be submitted by February 15th, 2023 (for other important dates see below).

Submissions and Inquiries:

Chapter proposal submissions and inquiries for further information should be sent to Gita Bamezai,gitabamezai@gmail.com; Pradeep Sopory, dz3594@wayne.edu; or, Uttaran Dutta, uttaran.dutta@asu.edu.

Full-Chapter Guidelines:

Full chapters should, at the minimum, include an introduction to the main identified communicative issue, theoretical postulates and conceptual framework(s) in the context of health communication, review of literature (paying attention to contemporary debates/discussions in the domain of health communication), suggestions for a research agenda, and implications for policy and system changes. The chapter should be located/grounded in the South Asian experience. Full chapters should be between 5,000-7,000 words, including abstract (125 words), references, tables, and figures.

Important Dates (with some flexibility):

Chapter proposal due: February15th, 2023

Notification of acceptance sent to authors: March31st, 2023 First draft of full chapter manuscripts due: August 1st, 2023 Manuscript reviews sent to authors: October 1, 2023

Revised draft of chapter manuscripts due: December 15th, 2023 Final manuscript decisions sent to authors: January 15th, 2024

Additional Note:

Submitted work must not have been previously published or be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Eventual publication will be subject to the outcome of editorial and peer review.

University of Bremen

At the University of Bremen, the Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research/ Department 9 - Cultural Studies - in the ZeMKI Lab "Datafication and Mediatization" of Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp has a vacancy from 1.3.2023, subject to funding approval, for a

Research Associate (f/m/d) for Software Development

- pay group 13 TV-L – for a period of 3 years.

The temporary position is within the framework of a project for the validation and further development of the molo.news platform (https://molo.news).

We are looking for a person (f/m/d) who will further develop the backend of the molo.news platform on the basis of their own and research in the project team on participatory approaches (co-creation) and who would like to work in a committed team that deals with the latest media change (including automation and datafication of communication, pioneer journalism, pioneer/developer communities).

Tasks:

• Independent research-based development of the backend of molo.news in Django

• Research on and implementation of automation of tagging in molo.news based on machine learning

• Implementation of a location feature for molo.news

• Independent development of a monetisation tool for freelance journalists (incl. user management and payment interface)

• Product ownership vis-à-vis frontend

• Collaboration in co-creation workshops in a geographically dispersed project with locations in Bremen, Hamburg and Leipzig and neighbouring cities and communities.

Recruitment requirements:

• Completed relevant academic degree (M.A., M.Sc., Magister, Diplom)

• Experience in backend development

• Experience in Python

• Experience in project management

• Experience in software development

• High level of commitment and initiative

• Ability to work in a team, meticulous and reliable

• Willingness to participate in academic self-administration

• If possible:

The University of Bremen intends to increase the proportion of women in science and therefore explicitly invites women to apply. Severely disabled applicants will be given priority if they have essentially the same professional and personal qualifications. Applications from people with a migration background are welcome.

Questions should be addressed to Prof. Dr. Andreas Hepp (andreas.hepp@uni-bremen.de).

The deadline for applications is January 31, 2023, quoting the reference number A361/22. Applications have to be sent to

University of Bremen

Centre for Media, Communication and Information Research (ZeMKI) FAO Ms. Heide Pawlik

PO Box 33 04 40

28334 Bremen

or via e-mail as PDF to: heide.pawlik@vw.uni-bremen.de

In addition to a covering letter outlining the motivation, the application should be accompanied by a curriculum vitae, final certificates and the final thesis or other publications, if applicable.

Special issue of Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society

Deadline: February 28, 2023

(editors of the special issue: Leopoldina Fortunati, Autumn Edwards & Janet Abbate)

This call for papers will take stock of the historical entanglement of gender and the Internet/Web. Facing a critical juncture both in terms of the technological development of the Internet (e.g., the nascent Web 3.0, radical decentralization, the integration of AI and machine learning) and also in terms of sociopolitical struggle on the part of women and gender-linked identity groups on local and global levels, we ask: How can we root the analysis of gender and the Internet on a historical level? How can histories that integrate gender and the Internet/Web help us comprehend the sociological, cultural, and political meaning and dimensions of each?

This special issue will explore these questions and many others through a diachronic approach that includes global, transnational, national, regional, and local histories.

Suggested topics:

• The construction of gender, including its intersectionality with race, on the Internet
  
• Feminism on the web, gender activism, and social movements
  
• Masculine cultures and the Internet/Web
  
• Participation of women online, including structural/cultural obstacles and varying national patterns
  
• Women’s expertise as Internet builders (e.g., Jake Feinler), managers, hackers, influencers, bloggers, content moderators, coders, etc.
  
• Gender and imaginaries of the Internet, including advertising
  
• Gender communities and social solidarity, including LGBTQ+ communities
  
• Gendered controversies and anti-woman movements online (e.g., trolling, gamergate, #metoo, etc.)
  
• Gender and the Internet of Things
  
• Gender and the mobile Internet
  
• Gender and online gaming
  
• Gender and the immaterial labor of domestic reproduction
  
• Gender and digital labor, including relational/affective labor
  

In addition, we encourage and welcome other topics and perspectives on gender and Internet/ Web Histories. 

 Submissions

The proposals are to be submitted to

• leopoldina.fortunati@uniud.it
  
• autumn.edwards@wmich.edu
  
• abbate@vt.edu
  

explicitly mentioning CFP Gender and Internet/Web History

They need to be a maximum of 250 words, detail an explicit angle of analysis and outline, and integrate a short bibliography.

Selected authors will be invited to submit a full paper through the editorial system, which will undergo full peer review and determine acceptance of papers for publication.

No payment from the authors will be required.

Time schedule

• Deadline for the submission of proposals: February 28th, 2023
  
• Notification of proposal acceptance: April 1st, 2023
  
• Submissions of the full paper (6000-8000 words): March 1st, 2024
  
• Feedback based on reviews: May 31st, 2024
  
• Deadline for Revisions: August 31st, 2024
  
• Publication will begin in 2025
  

Journal Information

Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society is an international, inter-disciplinary peer-reviewed journal concerned with research on the cultural, social, political and technological histories of the internet and associated digital cultures.

More information on the journal

Instructions for Authors 

Should you have any questions regarding this CfP, please feel free to contact us: leopoldina.fortunati@uniud.it; autumn.edwards@wmich.edu; abbate@vt.edu

About the Guest Editors

Leopoldina Fortunati, senior professor, teaches Social Robotics at the University of Udine, Italy. She is ICA fellow and member of the Academia Europaea. She is associate editor of the journal The Information Society.  Her research interests focus on feminist and gender perspective in respect to the adoption and appropriation of digital technologies, on the role especially of the mobile phone and the Internet on co-constructing social relationships, and on analogue and digital journalism. Leopoldina is author and editor of numerous publications including 5 monographs, over 100 peer reviewed articles and 15 edited volumes: most recently, The Oxford Handbook of Mobile Communication, Culture, and Information (OUP, 2020), jointly with Rich Ling, Gerard Goggin, Sun Sun Lim & Yuling Li. Her works have been published in twelve languages.

Autumn Edwards is professor of communication at Western Michigan University where she also co-directs the Communication and Social Robotics Labs. At present, she is Theodore von Kármán Fellow at RWTH Aachen University. She is the founding editor-in-chief of the journal Human-Machine Communication, which focuses on the theory and practice of communication with and about digital interlocutors, including social robots, technologically-augmented persons (cyborgs), and communication in augmented, virtual, and mixed-reality environments. Her research addresses human-machine communication with an emphasis on how ontological considerations, or beliefs about the nature of communicators and communication, both shape and are shaped by interactions with digital technologies, including in the contexts of computer-mediated communication and in communication with social robots, voice-based assistants, chatbots, and spoken dialogue systems. She is the author of over 60 research articles and book chapters.

Janet Abbate is Professor of Science, Technology and Society at Virginia Tech and Co-director of the STS graduate program in Northern Virginia. Her research focuses on the history, culture, and politics of computing and the Internet. Her 2012 book Recoding Gender: Women’s Changing Participation in Computing explores how gender has shaped computing and how the experiences of female software pioneers can inform current efforts to broaden participation in science and technology. Other major publications include Inventing the Internet (1999) and Abstractions and Embodiments: New Histories of Computing and Society (with co-editor Stephanie Dick, 2022). Her current research interests include gender and computing; how perceptions of expertise and opportunity contribute to underrepresentation of women and minorities; and the history and cultural significance of computer science as an intellectual discipline. 

Find more information about Internet Histories: Digital Technology, Culture and Society at https://www.tandfonline.com/journals/rint20

Human-Machine communication (Special Issue)

Deadline: March 15, 2023

Editors

- Göran Bolin (Södertörn University)

- Andreas Hepp (ZeMKI, University of Bremen)

- Wiebke Loosen (Leibniz Institute for Media Research)

Description:

Mediatization research has long been concerned with the interrelationship between the transformation of media and communication on the one hand, and culture and so-ciety on the other (Bolin & Hepp 2017; Couldry & Hepp 2013; Ekström et al. 2016; Hjarvard 2013; Krotz 2009). With the spread of “communicative AI” (Guzman & Lewis 2020) – understood as AI-based systems whose function is to communicate with hu-mans (Esposito 2022) – we are currently experiencing the beginning of yet one more change to our media environment. The foundations of this change can be seen in the emergence of “social bots” (Gehl & Bakardjieva 2016) on various platforms, the spread of “artificial companions” such as Apple Siri or Amazon’s Alexa (Thorne 2020), the al-gorithmic response suggestions (Hancock et al. 2020), or the “work bots” (Hepp 2020) that produce automated journalism (Diakopoulos 2019; Loosen 2018). A further tech-nical boost to all this is the recent development of ChatGPT and GPT-3.5. The increas-ing success of machine learning and other AI technologies suggests that this is merely the first step toward the automation of communication (Gunkel 2020; Taipale & Fortu-nati 2018).

Against this background, it seems obvious that research into mediatization and hu-man-machine communication enters into a dialogue that, in the best case, mutually enriches empirical research and the theoretical discussion, helping us to better under-stand the current changes to media and communication and their consequences. This Special Issue aims to create a starting point for just such a dialogue. The objective is to discuss the following questions based on empirical studies and theoretical considera-tions:

• To what extent do current phenomena of automated communication represent me-diatization re-asserting itself? 

• How can approaches to and theories of HMC and mediatization research mutually relate to and enrich one other?

• What will be the consequences to theorizing media and empirical research?

For more information or questions, please contact Andreas Hepp (ahepp@uni-bremen.de).

Keywords: Human-Machine Communication, Mediatization, communicative AI, 

Deadline: Submissions are due March 15th, 2023, and the publication will be in Sep-tember, 2023. All manuscripts should be submitted via the journal’s online submission system (https://hmcjournal.com) with the remark, “Special Issue” in the cover letter. In the online submission system, there will be a drop-down menu under Document Type. Please choose “Special Issue Submission.” For formatting and length specifications, please see the journal’s Instructions for Authors. 

References:

Bolin, G., & Hepp, A. (2017). The complexities of mediatization: Charting the road ahead. In O. Driessens, G. Bolin, A. Hepp, & S. Hjarvard (Eds.), Dynamics of mediatization (pp. 315-331). London: Palgrave. 

Couldry, N., & Hepp, A. (2013). Conceptualising mediatization: Contexts, traditions, arguments. Communication Theory, 23(3), 191-202. 

Diakopoulos, N. (2019). Automating the news. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 

Ekström, M., Fornäs, J., Jansson, A., & Jerslev, A. (2016). Three tasks for mediatization research: contributions to an open agenda. Media, Culture & Society, 38(7), 1090-1108.

Esposito, E. (2022). Artificial communication. Cambridge: MIT. 

Gehl, R. W., & Bakardjieva, M. (Eds.). (2016). Socialbots and their friends: Digital media and the au-tomation of sociality. London: Routledge.

Gunkel, D. J. (2020). An introduction to communication and artificial intelligence. Cambridge: Polity. 

Guzman, A. L., & Lewis, S. C. (2020). Artificial intelligence and communication: A Human-Machine Communication research agenda. New Media & Society, 22(1), 70-86. 

Hancock, J. T., Naaman, M., & Levy, K. (2020). AI-Mediated communication: Definition, research agenda, and ethical considerations. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 25(1), 89-100. 

Hepp, A. (2020). Deep mediatization. London: Routledge. 

Hjarvard, S. (2013). The mediatization of culture and society. London: Routledge. 

Krotz, F. (2009). Mediatization: A concept with which to grasp media and societal change. In K. Lundby (Ed.), Mediatization: Concept, changes, consequences (pp. 19-38). New York: Peter Lang. 

Loosen, W. (2018). Four forms of datafied journalism. Journalism’s response to the datafication of society. Communicative figurations working paper, 18, 1-10. 

Taipale, S., & Fortunati, L. (2018). Communicating with machines: Robots as the next new media. In A. L. Guzman (Ed.), Human-machine communication (pp. 201-220). New York: Peter Lang. 

Thorne, S. (2020). Hey Siri, tell me a story: Digital storytelling and AI authorship. Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, doi:10.1177/1354856520913866

Deadline (EXTENDED): January 29, 2023

Edited volume Helsinki University Press (HUP)

Helsinki University Press (HUP). David Ramírez Plascencia (University of Guadalajara) and David Dalton (University of North Carolina at Charlotte) invite abstracts for the edited collection The pandemic of the Forgotten: strategies of endurance among deprived groups in Ibero-America during the COVID-19 emergency, which will be submitted to Helsinki University Press (HUP). The University press area has already expressed great interest in the project. 

The irruption of the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 has brought several negative impacts on the world economically, socially, and in the realm of public health. Governments were forced to establish quarantines and other similar preventive measures to slow the expansion of the virus, people were required to work from home, and students continued their education virtually. Despite numerous efforts, both public and private, the effects of the pandemic were terrible: economic recession and inflation; the massive closure of companies; and, in many countries, a massive loss of jobs. According to World Health Organization, there have been about 600,000,000 identified cases of Covid-19 and 14.9 million people have died either directly or indirectly because of the virus. That said, the effects go much further. For example, many of those fortunate enough to have avoided infection have confronted mental health issues such as depression and anxiety. Covid-19 has differed from past pandemics because its outbreak appeared among a digitally interconnected background. Digital media allowed people to follow the expansion of the pandemic almost in real time and in first person. Many people broadcasted their experiences live on social media, while government officials and international organizations provided reliable information in a timely fashion. During the early months of the health emergency, the pandemic was a principal trending topic in digital and traditional media. It also became an important topic of academic production. Indeed, researchers explored all facets of the disease: from the development of a vaccine to the relationship between the pandemic and the rise of oppressive regulations and measures across the globe. Beyond this omnipresence of the pandemic in the mediatic coverture, little attention was given to those forgotten members of society. 

Here we refer to those who lived in a deprived situation. Many were racial and ethnic minorities, people marginalized due to their gender or sexuality, refugees, sex workers, disabled people, essential workers (drivers, medical, staff farm workers), elderly citizens living in nursing homes, mentally ill, homeless, etc. This edited book looks for contributions on relevant cases from Ibero-America (Latin America, Spain, and Portugal) that discuss the negative impact of the pandemic on forgotten members of society from marginalized groups. Possible topics include but are not limited to public repression, negligent attitudes, xenophobic attacks, negative media framing, human rights violations, labor exploitation, etc. Other topics include the strategies that marginalized individuals and communities employed to weather the economic, social and health challenges of the pandemic. Comparative studies related to past pandemics and historical studies focused on marginalized groups under a pandemic context are very welcomed as well. 

We are particularly interested in those proposals that focus on describing the resilience mechanisms developed by these groups. These may include examples of street and digital mobilizations, the use of social media to create solidarity, local and international solidarity networks, the role of social organizations and community initiatives, etc. We are open to receiving proposals from multidisciplinary, comparative, and historical approaches. You are warmly invited to provide a document with a brief bio (no more than 250 words with titles, affiliations, and contacts) and an abstract (500-750 words).

Please send the proposal to the following addresses: davidrapla@gmail.com and david.dalton@uncc.edu  

• Deadline January 29, 2023

Please feel free to contact us with any questions.

Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication, Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania

The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication at the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania invites applications for a “CARGC Postdoctoral Fellowship.” This is a one-year position renewable for a second year based on successful performance.

Overview

The Center for Advanced Research in Global Communication (CARGC) produces and promotes scholarly research on global communication and public life. Our work brings together “area studies” knowledge with theory and methodology in the humanities and social sciences to understand how local, lived experiences of people and communities are profoundly shaped by global media, cultural, and political-economic forces. This synthesis of deep regional expertise and interdisciplinary inquiry stimulates critical conversations about entrenched and emerging communicative structures, practices, flows, and struggles.

We explore new ways of understanding and explaining the world, including public scholarship, algorithmic culture, the arts, multi-modal scholarship, and digital archives. With a core commitment to the development of early career scholars worldwide, CARGC hosts postdoctoral, doctoral, undergraduate, and faculty fellows who collaborate in research groups, author CARGC Press publications, and organize talks, lectures, symposia, conferences, and summer institutes.

Ongoing research groups focus on media, migration, and diasporas; media environments and the climate crisis; media industries and cultural politics; and media history and theory. We recommend that applicants familiarize themselves with CARGC’s mission and research activities listed on our website: https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/center-for-advanced-research-in-global-communication/research. We are particularly interested in candidates whose work centers on the Global South.

Fellowship Details

CARGC postdoctoral fellows work on their own research while also participating in and leading ongoing research projects within CARGC. During the fellowship, they present their work as part of a postdoctoral colloquium and work closely with the Senior Research Manager on a plan for publishing their research. There are limited opportunities for teaching that are decided in consultation with Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies.

Fellows are provided a stipend of $60,000, a research fund of $3000, individual health insurance and dependent coverage, a workspace, and a computer in CARGC’s office, and library access. In addition, CARGC will cover $1000 in domestic relocation expenses and $2000 if moving internationally. Please note all postdoctoral fellows must submit documentation to demonstrate eligibility to work in the United States. Non-US citizens selected for this position will be required to apply for an appropriate US visa. CARGC will provide the necessary supporting documentation and cover the SEVIS fee.

This is a residential fellowship. CARGC strives to be an inclusive community of scholars driven by intellectual curiosity and exchange rooted in the life of the Annenberg School, the University of Pennsylvania, and the city of Philadelphia. To foster mentoring and collaboration at all levels, we expect fellows to be fully engaged in the life of the center. Postdocs are therefore expected to work at our beautiful sixth-floor premises on the Penn campus.

Eligibility

We welcome applications from early career scholars with Ph.D. awarded by an institution other than the University of Pennsylvania. The appointment typically starts on August 15.

Submitting Your Application

A complete application consists of:

Cover Letter – Please include a section explaining how your research aligns with CARGC’s mission, fits with one or more CARGC research themes (https://www.asc.upenn.edu/research/centers/center-for-advanced-research-in-global-communication/research), and contributes to the field of global media and communication studies.

Research Statement - In no more than three double-spaced pages, please explain your core research interests and how you plan to build on your dissertation research. Include research questions, topic significance, theoretical framework and methods, clear description of primary sources and necessary language skills, and a tentative publishing plan.

CV (not to exceed three pages) – Please list degrees, peer-reviewed publications, academic non-peer-reviewed publications, public scholarship, invited talks, conference papers, other relevant qualifications, and specific research and language skills.

References – Please provide names and contact information for three references (including that of your dissertation supervisor). If your application is shortlisted, we will get in touch with your referees in mid-February 2023. Please make sure your advisors/supervisors are aware of this timeline.

One peer-reviewed publication – Please include a published peer-reviewed journal article or a chapter published in an anthology/edited collection. An article/chapter accepted for publication and forthcoming is acceptable (but not work that is under review).

Timeline

All materials must be sent as a single PDF document to cargc@asc.upenn.edu by February 1, 2023. Because of the volume of applications, we are unable to read drafts of submissions. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. We expect to contact finalists for Zoom interviews by the end of February and make final decisions shortly thereafter.

Additional Information

If you have additional questions, please email us at cargc@asc.upenn.edu. Kindly do not contact CARGC staff or the CARGC director individually.

The University of Pennsylvania is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment and will not be discriminated against on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, creed, national or ethnic origin, citizenship status, age, disability, veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. For more information, go to http://www.upenn.edu/affirm-action/eoaa.html.

January 9-13, 2023

University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

Deadline: January 5, 2023

The seventh edition of the SMART Data Sprint will be slightly different in 2023. We are flying from Lisbon to Amsterdam in a joint venture with the Digital Methods Winter School.

The pocket version of #SMARTDataSprint will explore digital methodologies for understanding computer vision.

The data sprint occurs between 9 and 13 January at the Media Studies department (Turfdraagsterpad, 9), University of Amsterdam.

To apply please send a letter of motivation, your CV, a headshot photo, a 100-word bio, and a copy of your passport (details page only) to smart.inovamedialab [at] fcsh.unl.pt, with a copy to winterschool [at] digitalmethods.net. Payment information is sent along with the acceptance notification. Applications are open until 5 January. Tuition fee: EUR 347.

All information at

 https://metodosdigitais.fcsh.unl.pt/?page_id=3104

 http://www.digitalmethodologies.org 

Organisers:

Janna Joceli Omena, Jason Chao, Ana Marta Flores, Rita Sepúlveda & Elias Bitencourt

iNOVA Media Lab, ICNOVA & Digital Methodologies Hub

SMART Data Sprint 2023 |  Pocket edition at DMI Winter School

Theme: Cross vision-API studies - digital methodologies for understanding computer vision

Date: 9 -13 January 2023

Venue: Media Studies | University of Amsterdam

Turfdraagsterpad 9

1012 XT Amsterdam

Applications deadline: 5 January 2023

Fee: EUR 347