ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Edited by Daniel Jackson, Alina Bernstein, Michael Butterworth, Younghan Cho, Danielle Sarver Coombs, Michael Devlin and Chuka Onwumechili

Featuring 114 contributors from leading academics from around the world, this publication captures the immediate thoughts, reflections, and insights from the 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games from the cutting edge of sport, communication and media research.

Published in the wake of the Tokyo 2020 Games, these contributions are short and accessible. Authors provide authoritative analysis of the Olympics and Paralympics, including research findings and new theoretical insights. Contributions come from a rich array of disciplinary influences, including media, communication studies, cultural studies, sociology, political science, and psychology.

As always, these reports are free to access.

The report can be found on https://olympicanalysis.org

Direct pdf download is available at:

https://bit.ly/Olympic_Paralympic_Analysis-2020_large

https://bit.ly/Olympic_Paralympic_Analysis-2020_small

The table of contents is below.

Section 1: Tokyo & Mega-Events

1. The typhoon games (Toby Miller)

2. A green Olympic legacy for future generations? (Brett Hutchins and Ben Glasson)

3. The rise of critical consciousness in Japan: An intangible and unintended legacy of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Koji Kobayashi)

4. Host city and mega-events: Olympic legacy in Japan (John Horne)

5. Lessons from Tokyo: the impact of the Paralympics in Japan (Dennis J. Frost)

6. Let’s play! Inspiring an inclusive mindset with a hands-on Paralympic experience for children and teenagers in Japan (Olga Kolotouchkina and Carmen Llorente-Barroso)

7. The Olympic & Paralympic sponsorship without category exclusivity: Background of sponsorship exclusivity in Olympic and Paralympic Games (OPG) (Shintaro Sato)

8. Power sharing: Olympic sponsorship and the athlete’s personal brand (Bettina Cornwell)

9. What happened to Rule 40 at Tokyo 2020? (John Grady)

10. The Olympic Games and ambush marketing via social media (Gashaw Abeza)

11. The soft power of the Olympics in the age of Covid 19 (J. Simon Rofe)

12. Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, nationalism, identity and soft power (Gayle McPherson and Solomon Ilevbare)

13. Tokyo 2020, East Asian geopolitics and Olympic diplomacy (Jung Woo Lee)

14. Cultural programming at Tokyo 2020: the impossible Olympic festival city? (Beatriz Garcia)

15. Anti-sex beds? Fake news! : why this video went massively viral? (Maki Hirayama)

16. Counting cases, counting medals: Containing the Olympic contagion during the Tokyo Games (Courtney M. Cox)

17. Public relations as the key in the 2020 Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games (Argyro Elisavet Manoli and Sungkyung Kim)

18. The Tokyo 2020 Organizing Committee’s veil of effective public relations to help save itself and the start of the Games (Karen Hartman)

19. Environmental leadership showcased in the Olympic Games (Brian P. McCullough)

20. Simone Biles and prioritizing athlete well-being (Kathleen Bachynski)

21. Pride and burden of striving for perfection at the Olympics (Wycliffe Njonorai)

22. Deliver a medal or apologize: A daunting task imposed on Japanese Olympians (Hatsuko Itaya)

Section 2: Media Coverage & Representation

23. What place is this? Tokyo’s made-for-television Olympics (David Rowe)

24. How do we truly interpret the Tokyo Olympic ratings? (Andrew C. Billings)

25. ‘A Games like no other’: The demise of FTA live Olympic sport? (Raymond Boyle)

26. The fleeting nature of an Olympic meme: Virality and IOC TV rights (Merryn Sherwood)

27. Tokyo 2021: the TV Olympics (Peter English)

28. The Olympic Channel: insights on its distinctive role in Tokyo 2020 (Xavier Ramon)

29. Reshaping the Olympics media coverage through innovation (José Luis Rojas Torrijos)

30. Temporality of emotionalizing athletes (Sae Oshima)

31. New Olympic sports: the mediatization of action sports through the Olympic Games 2020 Tokyo (Thomas Horky)

32. Media wins medal for coverage of athletes as people, instead of entertainers (Ryan Broussard)

33. Reporting at a distance. Stricter working conditions and demands on sports journalists during the Olympics (Jana Wiske)

34. Nigeria: Olympic Games a mystery for rural dwellers in Lagos (Unwana Akpan)

35. Tokyo 2020: A look through the screen of Brazilian television (William Douglas de Almeida and Katia Rubio)

36. Equestrian sports in media through hundred Olympic years. A roundtrip from focus to shade and back again? (Susanna Hedenborg and Aage Radmann)

37. An Olympic utopia: separating politics and sport. Primary notes after analyzing the opening ceremony media coverage of mainstream Spanish sport newspapers (Xavier Ginesta)

38. “Everything seemed very complicated”: Journalist experiences of covering the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games (Veronika Mackova)

39. “A ceremony for television”: the Tokyo 2020 media ritual (Andressa Fontes Guimarães-Mataruna, Adriano Lopes de Souza, Renan Petersen-Wagner, Doiara Silva dos Santos, Leonardo José Mataruna-Dos-Santos and Otávio Guimarães Tavares da Silva)

40. The paradox of the parade of nations: A South Korean network’s coverage of the opening ceremony at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (Ji-Hyun Ahn)

41. Simone Biles, journalistic authority, and the ideology of sports news (Michael Mirer)

42. Representing high performance: Brazilian sports journalists and mass communication professionals discuss their philosophies on producing progressive Paralympic coverage (Fernanda Silva and John Watson)

43. How digital content creators are shaping meanings about world class para-athletes (Carolyn Jackson-Brown)

44. Is the Paralympic Games a second-class event? (Tatiane Hilgemberg)

45. Representations of gender in media coverage of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games (Toni Bruce)

46. Reshaping the superhuman to the super ordinary: Observations on the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic games through Australian broadcasting coverage (Simon Darcy and Tracey J. Dickson)

47. Super heroes among us: A brief discussion of using the superhero genre to promote Paralympic Games and athletes (Cody T. Havard)

48. ”Unity in Diversity” – The varying media representations of female Olympic athletes (Riikka Turtiainen)

49. Why we need to see the “ugly” in women’s sports (Erin Whiteside)

50. Twitter conversations on Indian female athletes in Tokyo (Kulveen Trehan)

51. Between sexualization and de-sexualization: the representation of female athletes in Tokyo 2020 (Jörg-Uwe Nieland)

52. Megan Rapinoe: The scary Bear for many Americans? (Molly Yanity)

53. Representations of gender in the live broadcast of the Tokyo Olympics (Toni Bruce)

54. “The gender-equal games” vs “The IOC is failing black women”: narratives of progress and failure of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (Cheryl Cooky)

55. The male and female sports journalists divide on the Twittersphere during Tokyo 2020 (Haim Hagay and Alina Bernstein)

Section 3: Performance & Identity

56. ‘The Games they are a-changin’’: footnotes on Olympic athletics in transition post-Tokyo 2020 (Christopher D. Tulloch)

57. Tokyo 2020: athlete welfare and coping with new anxieties (Emma Kavanagh and Keith D. Parry)

58. Tokyo Olympics: When athletes are faced with the impossible (Dikaia Chatziefstathiou)

59. Twitter helps normalize discussions on mental health beyond athletes (Yuya Kiuchi)

60. Communication of athlete risk with head injuries in the 2020 Olympics (David Cassilio)

61. Racist slurs, stubborn animals, and colonial fear (Karsten Senkbeil)

62. Tokyo 2021 and the LGBTQ athlete (Rory Magrath)

63. The media coverage of the Tokyo 2021 Paralympic Games: Visibility, progress and politics (Emma Pullen, Laura Mora and Michael Silk)

64. It’s complicated: Disability media and the Paralympic Games (Katie Ellis)

65. Companies escape attention as debate on women’s uniform rages (Steve Bien-Aime, Melanie Formentin and Michelle Crowley)

66. Policing the uniforms and sportswear of Tokyo 2020: Commercialism in the name of competition (Linda Fuller)

67. Despite “Gender Equal Olympics,” focus still on what women are wearing (Adrianne Grubic)

68. Black women and Tokyo 2020 games: a continued legacy of racial insensitivity and exclusion (Manase Kudzai Chiweshe)

69. Naomi Osaka Bearing the Torch for a Mixed Race Japan (Jennifer McClearen)

70. Bodies of change: Women’s artistic gymnastics in Tokyo 2021 (Carly Stewart and Natalie Barker-Ruchti)

71. How the female athletes of the Tokyo Olympics are reframing the way we think about motherhood (Kim Bissell and Tyana Ellis)

72. When women aren’t women enough to compete (Anne Osborne)

Section 4: Fandom & National Identity

73. Home advantage in the Summer Olympic Games: evidence from Tokyo 2020 and prospects for Paris 2024 (Girish Ramchandani)

74. Fans as MVP, or the need for sensuous audiences in sport (Meredith Bagley)

75. Silence in the stands: Does it matter for fans? (Dorothy Collins)

76. Red, white, and rivalry: A brief discussion of United States rivalry at the Tokyo Olympic Games (Cody Havard)

77. Empty stadiums and the other sites of Olympic fandom (Lou Antolihao)

78. Sports betting and the branded purity of the Olympics (Jason Lopez)

79. National and ethnic Chinese identities on the Indonesian badminton court (Friederike Trotier)

80. How much is too much home-nation focus in Olympic coverage? (Andrew Billings)

81. The Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: British imperial identity affirmed (Edward Loveman)

82. Communicating corporate social responsibility at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games (Jake Kucek)

83. Americans on ideological left more engaged in Summer Olympics (Darin W. White)

84. South Korea’s changing status and perspective on Japan (Seok Lee)

85. The Men’s 1500 metres: Not quite erasing the ghosts of history (Garry Whannel)

86. Ghana: Poor local organizing, and absence of football team dampens interest (Ernest Acheampong and Ralph Frimpong)

87. Historical disputes, national identity, and the South Korea-Japan summit that did not happen (Guy Podoler)

88. Pop culture diplomacy: Japan’s use of videogames, anime to promote the Olympics and appeal to younger audiences (Adolfo Gracia Vázquez)

89. At the intersection of COVID-19 and Tokyo Olympics 2020: Vlogs and the expression of Chinese nationalist sentiments (Tianwei Ren)

90. Fandom and digital media during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games: A Brazilian perspective using @TimeBrasil Twitter data (Renan Petersen-Wagner, Andressa Fontes Guimarães-Mataruna, Adriano Lopes de Souza, Doiara Silva dos Santos, Leonardo José Mataruna-Dos-Santos and Otávio Guimarães Tavares da Silva)

91. National hierarchy in Israeli Olympic discourses (Ilan Tamir)

Section 5: Politics of Sport

92. At Tokyo Games, athlete activism takes front row seat despite IOC’s attempts to silence athletes (Yannick Kluch, Nina Siegfried, Mary A. Hums and Eli A. Wolff)

93. Transgender participation at the Tokyo Olympics: Laurel Hubbard and a media tempest (Holly Thorpe, Shannon Scovel and Monica Nelson)

94. The sacred space of the Olympics (Anthony Cavaiani)

95. Media frames and the ‘humanity’ of athletes (Adam Rugg)

96. We want reform (Shaun M. Anderson)

97. In search of voice: behind the remarkable lack of protest at the Tokyo Paralympics (Filippo Trevisan)

98. The revolt of the Black athlete continues (Letisha Engracia Cardoso Brown)

99. WeThe15 shines a spotlight on disability activism (Damian Haslett and Brett Smith)

100. Will #WeThe85 finally include #WeThe15 as a legacy of Tokyo 2020? (Simon Darcy and Tracey J. Dickson)

101. Activism starts with representation: IPC Section 2.2 and the Paralympics as a platform for social justice (Nina Siegfried, Dr. Yannick Kluch, Mary A. Hums and Eli A. Wolff)

102. The colonization of the athletic body (Billy Hawkins)

103. Forced hijab and female athletes in postrevolutionary Iran (Shahrzad Enderle)

104. Pay equity & the Tokyo 2020 Olympics (Ellen Staurowsky)

105. Equal remuneration for a Paralympian (Mark Brooke)

106. Rooting for U.S. Olympians: Patriotism or polarization? (Amy Bass)

107. Anti-Olympics activism (Jules Boykoff)

108. The new kids on the block: Action sports at the Tokyo Olympic Games (Holly Thorpe and Belinda Wheaton)

109. Is there space on the podium for us all? (Jan Burns)

110. Softball’s field of Olympic dreams (Pamela Creedon)

111. Now you see them, now you don’t: Absent nations at Tokyo Paralympic Games (Nancy Quinn and Laura Misener)

112. The Tokyo Paralympics as a platform for change? Falling well short of sport and media ‘opportunities for all’ (Gerard Goggin and Brett Hutchins)

113. Tokyo 2020 Paralympics: inspirations and legacies (David McGillivray)

114. What social media outrage about Sha’Carri Richardson’s suspension could mean for the future of anti-doping policies (Natalie Brown-Devlin, Gary Wilcox, and Kristen Leah Sussman)

March 2, 2022

Utrecht, Netherlands

Submission deadline for abstracts: November 7, 2021

The YECREA Journalism Studies Section invites doctoral students to submit their proposals for the 3rd PhD-Workshop hosted at the ECREA Journalism Studies Section Conference 2022 at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. This workshop aims to connect up-and-coming journalism researchers with experienced colleagues in the field.

The colloquium will take place on March 2, 2022, at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht. The aim is to provide mentorship to doctoral student members of the Journalism Studies Section. Participants will get the opportunity to present their PhD projects and receive detailed feedback from scholars working on related topics.

We welcome all theoretical and empirical PhD projects focusing on journalism research. We also strongly support submissions from PhD candidates at the beginning or in the middle of their project as they benefit from feedback the most.

Interested PhD students should submit the following:

• an abstract of 500 words outlining the 1) topic, 2) rationale, 3) theoretical approach, and 4), if applicable, empirical application,
• a separate document with the name, affiliation, expected graduation date and supervisor,
• a ranked list of five potential respondents (please try to choose scholars likely to attend a section conference in the European context).

Please send your submissions e-mail to Phoebe Maares (phoebe.maares@univie.ac.at) no later than November 7, 2021. Submissions will be reviewed in a double-blind review process, and we will send a notice of acceptance until December 2021. There will be no fee for the attendance of the workshop as Research Centre Quality Journalism in Digital Transition at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht kindly supports the workshop. To join the ECREA JSS Conference, participants will need to register and pay the conference fee separately.

Participants whose abstracts are successful in the blind review process will be asked to submit a full paper of up to 6000 words by February 2, 2022 (mandatory for participation). It will be sent to the selected respondents to provide them with a comprehensive picture of the project.

Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon

Job offer for a Junior doctoral researcher (with exclusivity clause) for a maximum period of three years in Communication Sciences, with special focus on Science Communication.

Research activities will be carried out at the Center for Communication and Culture Studies (CECC), part of the School of Human Sciences of Universidade Católica Portuguesa, in Lisbon, under CECC’s funding programme (UIDP/00126/2020).

The appointed researcher shall actively contribute to the development of the strategic plan defined for the Center for Communication and Culture Studies for the 2019-2024 sexennium, and shall propose projects in the areas of Culture Studies or Literary Studies and carry out initiatives aimed at increasing the Center’s internationalization. Duties include: developing and monitoring scientific projects, enhancing research networks and submitting projects to national and international competitions between 2021 and 2024; organizing workshops, conferences and seminars during the contract term.

Applications are welcome from 20/09/2021 until 30/09/2021 (at 5pm, Lisbon time).

Benefits

Gross monthly pay is €2,128.34 plus meal allowance, to which will be added annual holiday and Christmas allowances.

Eligibility criteria

The following may apply: any national, foreign or stateless candidates who hold a PhD in Communication Sciences or related scientific fields and who furthermore hold a scientific and professional CV that reveals a profile appropriate to the activities to be developed.

Selection process

Assessment criteria are as follows: scientific production and its relevance; the quality, topicality and impact of academic path; participation in scientific projects and conferences; scientific outreach and knowledge transfer activities; and any other relevant activity and experience.

In the assessment of candidates’ scientific and professional path, the following aspects shall be taken into consideration: research experience; fluency in English and Portuguese, both written and spoken; experience in preparing, submitting and managing research projects; degree of initiative and autonomy shown in conducting scientific work.

The final candidate classification shall be given on a scale of 0 to 100. This value shall be invariably calculated taking into account that, for each item, only those activities relevant to the field of the present invitation to tender are to be considered, with the following weighting:

Scientific and curricular path (SP)

Scientific output: 60%;

Collaboration in scientific projects: 10%;

Project management experience: 5%

Experience in outreach activities and knowledge transfer: 5%

Research plan: 20%

An interview (I) will be conducted with the top three placed candidates, intended to clarify aspects related to their scientific and professional path.

Interviewed candidates will be awarded a new classification in addition to the one initially indicated, based on the following formula:

Final classification = 90% (SP) + 10% (I)

Additional comments

How to apply:

Candidates must send a motivation letter in digital format to the following address: concursos.cecc@fch.lisboa.ucp.pt.

Applications must include the following documentation:

CV;

Research Plan (The plan must include the activities that the candidate intends to develop at CECC during the funding term);

PhD completion certificate, with indication of date of completion.

Where the PhD degree has been awarded by a foreign Higher Education institution, said degree must comply with the provisions of Portuguese legislation regarding recognition of foreign degrees, as set out in Decree-Law no. 66/2018 of 16 August. Entering into a contract with the selected candidate is conditional on the submission of the formal document.

For additional information on this matter candidates are advised to consult the website of the Directorate-General for Higher Education (DGES):

https://www.dges.gov.pt/pt/pagina/reconhecimento.

For more details visit: https://fch.lisboa.ucp.pt/faculty-knowledge/research-centres/research-centre-communication-and-culture/activities/scolarships-positions-and-funding-opportunities

November 24-29, 2021

Online

Deadline: September 24, 2021

The Media Literacy and Civic Cultures (MeLCi Lab) Autumn School “Science bootcamp to improve research hands-on skills”, to be held 24th to 29th November 2021, aims to capacitate PhD students with a set of hands-on research skills that help them in their projects, supporting their professional development. The school will include keynotes from Emiliano Treré, Julian McDougall, Kaska Porayska-Pomsta, and Pille Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt.

By adopting an integrative and multidisciplinary approach, the School will bring together several scholars for a set of workshops and communications to foster research skills related to scientific writing and innovative methodologies. We will address topics about civic engagement, arts-based research, participation, citizen science, datafication, and ethics research. Moreover, the school also intends to be a space for the production of tangible outcomes, through its “72h Paper Development Marathon”. MeLCi Autumn School intends to be an inclusive space, and three equity grants will be available for students from underrepresented communities.

MeLCi Lab is currently looking for proposals of PhD students who want to apply for the Autumn School. These applications can be submitted until the 24th of September.

More information and application: https://cicant.ulusofona.pt/agenda-news/news-events/396-melci-lab-autumn-school

Hugh Downs School of Human Communication

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (HDSHC) in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences on the Tempe Campus of Arizona State University invites applications for a full-time, tenure-track position as Advanced Assistant or Associate Professor who will be required to teach in-person on the Tempe campus with an anticipated start date of August 2022. Applicants at the Advanced Assistant or Associate level are encouraged to apply. We are particularly interested in applicants whose scholarship and teaching focus is in rhetorical and critical-cultural communication studies. Salary will be competitive based on qualifications.

The successful candidate will join a dynamic faculty working to advance innovative research and excellence in teaching through their efforts with a diverse and growing undergraduate and graduate student population at Arizona State University. The School's mission is to produce transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary scholarship and teaching that responds to pressing issues in the world today. We invite you to learn more about the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication and Arizona State University by visiting https://humancommunication.asu.edu/ and https://newamericanuniversity.asu.edu/, respectively.

The successful candidate will be expected to develop and maintain a rigorous research program; teach courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels; contribute to curriculum development and graduate advising; serve on school, college, and university committees; and provide service to the school, professional associations, and the community.

Department Statement

A uniquely collaborative group, in 2019 the HDSHC completed a School-wide program review that showcased their notable breadth of teaching and research, collegial and interdisciplinary nature and outlined shared strategic aspirations for the coming years. The HDSHC is comprised of 28 distinguished core faculty and offers BA, BS, MA, and Ph.D. degrees. Our faculty are recognized for teaching and research excellence in areas of Human Communication including: health, intercultural, interpersonal, organizational, performance studies, critical/cultural studies, and rhetoric. Online programs, including a minor, BS, BA and MA, have experienced exponential growth and the School looks forward to continuing the upward trajectory. The HDSHC offers laboratory facilities, computer resources, project support, grant development support, and a performance studio.

ASU's location offers the resources of a major metropolitan area (5+ million) in a state with spectacular natural scenery and recreational areas, sublime winters, and a culturally rich population. Learn more about the HDSHC and ASU at https://humancommunication.asu.edu/ and https://newamericanuniversity.asu.edu/, respectively. Learn more about what The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has to offer by visiting https://thecollege.asu.edu/faculty.

Minimum Qualifications:

* Ph.D. in Communication or a closely related field by the time of appointment

* Scholarship (research and/or creative activity) and teaching focused in rhetorical and critical-cultural communication studies

Desired Qualifications:

* Research and teaching focus in one or more of the following: Latinx and Chicanx Rhetoric, Indigenous and Settler Rhetorics, Racial Rhetorical Criticism, Digital and Technological Rhetorical Communication, BIPOC Rhetorics

* A strong record of publication in the applicant's area(s) of specialization

* Evidence of commitment to service to the university, discipline and community

* Evidence of excellence in graduate and/or advanced undergraduate teaching in area(s) of specialization

* Experience mentoring graduate or advanced undergraduate students' independent research projects

* Ability to contribute to research and teaching in one or more of the School's core areas (rhetoric/public communication, performance studies, intercultural, organizational, or interpersonal)

* Ability to contribute to research and teaching in one or more of the School's research collaboratives (The Intersections of Civil, Critical, and Creative Communication Collective, The Transformation Project, Health Communication Initiative, Intercultural Communication and Global Engagement (ICGlobal) or the Center for Strategic Communication)

* Evidence of the potential to seek external funding

* Demonstrated success meeting the needs of diverse student populations and/or reaching out to diverse communities

* Evidence of commitment to creating and maintaining an inclusive environment

How to Apply:

To apply, please submit the following:

1. A cover letter specifying interest in the position and how qualifications match the required and desired qualifications

2. Curriculum vitae

3. Evidence of excellence in teaching (e.g., syllabi, teaching evaluations)

4. Evidence of excellence in scholarship (e.g., reprints of no more than three articles or book chapters)

5. Two letters of recommendation (to be submitted through Interfolio)

6. A statement on how your past and/or potential contributions to diversity and inclusion will advance ASU's commitment to inclusive excellence

Instructions to apply can be accessed here: http://apply.interfolio.com/94493

The initial deadline to apply is Thursday, October 28, 2021. If not filled, applications will be evaluated every week thereafter until the search is closed.

For additional information:

Email search committee chair: Dr. Jess Alberts at Janet.Alberts@asu.edu

The College values our cultural and intellectual diversity, and continually strives to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment. We are especially interested in applicants who can strengthen the diversity of the academic community.

A background check is required for employment. Arizona State University is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law.

(https://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/acd/acd401.html and https://www.asu.edu/titleIX/)

In compliance with federal law, ASU prepares an annual report on campus security and fire safety programs and resources. ASU's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available online at https://www.asu.edu/police/PDFs/ASU-Clery-Report.pdf. You may request a hard copy of the report by contacting the ASU Police Department at 480-965-3456.

EJHC Special Issue

Deadline: February 28, 2022

European Journal of Health Communication (EJHC) invites submissions to a Special Issue on “Online Health Communities in the Vortex of Healthcare Controversies: Theoretical Frameworks and Empirical Studies” (Guest Editors: Gregor Petrič & Sara Atanasova, University of Ljubljana).

Online health communities (OHCs) are dynamic and insightful places where a variety of communicative processes can be detected; these processes are linked to tensions between different levels of accessibility, different forms of interaction, various streams of knowledge, tensions between low and high e-health literacy, conflicts between expert and patient expertise, positive and negative aspects of patient empowerment, and the like. This special issue aims to address the tensions, opportunities, and perils of OHCs that have important effects on individuals such as patients, caregivers, and health professionals as well as on patient-health professional interaction, the healthcare system and its services. This special issue is open but not limited to studies that intersect or interconnect with the following topics:

• Communicative dynamics in OHCs and their controversial outcomes
• Quality, validity, credibility of health-related information in OHCs
• Causes and consequences of (dis)trust and (mis)information in OHCs
• Patient empowerment and disempowerment and their effects on the self-management of health issues, decision making processes, and trust in health experts
• Empowerment of health-professionals participating in OHCs
• Impact of patient-health professional interaction in OHCs on offline patient-health professional relationships
• The potential of OHCs for co-creation processes in the context of healthcare policies and businesses
• OHCs’ role in informing policy, regulators, and health decision makers
• Other topics related to OHCs

This special issue welcomes innovative studies and invites both theoretical and empirical papers with qualitative, quantitative, or mixed method approaches, so long as they address at least one of the above topics.

More information about the call: https://ejhc.org/calls/SI-OnlineHealthCommunities. 

October 14, 2021

Webinar

I am pleased to invite you to the next in the series of IPRA Thought Leadership webinars. The webinar PR for today’s world: relationship management of multiple stakeholders by Dr Takashi Inoue, Chairman & CEO of Inoue Public Relations, Japan on Thursday 14 October 2021 at 12.00 GMT/UCT (unadjusted).

What is the webinar content?

In an age of hyper-change, PR is about multiple-stakeholder relationship management and requires constant self-correction. The webinar with Dr Takashi Inoue, will explore relationship management and reflect on how this is complex in a world characterized by hyper-globalization. The webinar draws on the presenter’s book published in 2018 and the presenter’s experience in the Japanese high-tech industries.

The webinar will be followed by an interactive Q&A session.

How to join

Register here at Airmeet.

A reminder will be sent 1 hour before the event.

Background to IPRA

IPRA, the International Public Relations Association, was established in 1955, and is the leading global network for PR professionals in their personal capacity. IPRA aims to advance trusted communication and the ethical practice of public relations. We do this through networking, our code of conduct and intellectual leadership of the profession. IPRA is the organiser of public relations' annual global competition, the Golden World Awards for Excellence (GWA). IPRA's services enable PR professionals to collaborate and be recognised. Members create content via our Thought Leadership essays, social media and our consultative status with the United Nations. GWA winners demonstrate PR excellence. IPRA welcomes all those who share our aims and who wish to be part of the IPRA worldwide fellowship. For more see www.ipra.org

Background to Dr Takashi Inoue

Dr Takashi Inoue is Chairman and CEO of Inoue Public Relations Inc. in Japan. He is a visiting professor at Kyoto University. In 1997 his firm was the first in Asia to win the IPRA Golden World Awards Grand Prix. The company won subsequent Golden World Awards in 2015 (Japan regulatory changes for product innovation) and in 2021 (Corona manual). Dr Inoue is the author of Hyper-Globalization: essential relationship management published in 2018.

Contact

International Public Relations Association Secretariat

United Kingdom

secgen@ipra.orgTelephone +44 1634 818308

Hugh Downs School of Human Communication

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (The College) on the Tempe Campus of Arizona State University (ASU) invites inquiries, nominations, and applications for the position of Director of the Hugh Downs School of Human Communication (HDSHC) with a concurrent appointment as tenured Full Professor. The College values our cultural and intellectual diversity, and continually strives to foster a welcoming and inclusive environment. We are especially interested in applicants who can strengthen the diversity of the academic community.

The HDSHC is home to a dynamic group of faculty working to create innovative research and excellence in teaching through its efforts to address the complexity of human communication in the 21st century. The HDSHC's mission aims to place communication at the center of human activity while creating a culture of belonging that values diversity. The new Director will join a community passionate about the integration of justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion into all parts of the HDSHC's offerings and operations.

Our next Director will have a leadership style that aligns with the University's culture of invention and innovation, creates meaningful and enduring results, and encourages a passion for the social sciences as interconnected, inclusive, and impactful fields. The Director should cultivate a persuasive vision for the HDSHC's future that reflects our highest aspirations for the School and its role in civil discourse within and across communities and throughout society.

A uniquely collaborative group, in 2019 the HDSHC completed a School-wide program review that showcased their notable breadth of teaching and research, collegial and interdisciplinary nature and outlined shared strategic aspirations for the coming years. The HDSHC is comprised of 28 distinguished core faculty and offers BA, BS, MA, and Ph.D. degrees. Our faculty are recognized for teaching and research excellence in areas of Human Communication including: health, intercultural, interpersonal, organizational, performance studies, critical/cultural studies, and rhetoric. Online programs, including a minor, BS, BA and MA, have experienced exponential growth and the School looks forward to continuing the upward trajectory. The HDSHC offers laboratory facilities, computer resources, project support, grant development support, and a performance studio.

ASU's location offers the resources of a major metropolitan area (5+ million) in a state with spectacular natural scenery and recreational areas, sublime winters, and a culturally rich population. Learn more about the HDSHC and ASU at https://humancommunication.asu.edu/ and https://newamericanuniversity.asu.edu/, respectively. Learn more about what The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences has to offer by visiting https://thecollege.asu.edu/faculty.

Minimum Qualifications

* A Ph.D. degree in Communication Studies or a closely related or relevant field

* A scholarly record commensurate with the rank of tenured Full Professor in The Hugh Downs School of Human Communication

* A record of effective mentoring, in particular related to junior faculty as well as undergraduate and graduate students

* A record of leadership performing significant and effective financial oversight (i.e., group/center leader; department chair/director)

* Demonstrated commitment to principles of justice, equality, diversity, and inclusion; to attracting, recruiting, retaining, and promoting personnel in support of those principles, and in particular Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC) personnel

Desired Qualifications

* An internationally recognized program of research, a strong record of external funding, and experience supporting colleagues as they compete for funding

* Excellent interpersonal and strong, persuasive communication skills

* Ability to articulate the vision, mission, and future aims of the HDSHC in relationship to The College and the University

* Demonstrated an entrepreneurial approach to forming alliances and partnerships with other units and programs in the university, as well as outside organizations and external stakeholders, particularly those in racially and ethnically diverse and intersectional communities.

* A broad outlook and approach to new trends in Human Communication that capture a new learning paradigm of the communication process in post-pandemic higher education

* An interest in and commitment to fundraising and an ability to present a compelling story to potential donors, funding agencies, and external constituencies

Arizona State University is a leading public university ranked #1 Most Innovative School by U.S. News & World Report six years in a row and is leading a bold reinvention of higher education as the New American University. ASU is a research-intensive university and has developed numerous new programs and units that defy and bridge disciplinary boundaries to enable the exploration and discovery of new knowledge while developing solutions to the most challenging issues of our time. Located on four campuses and two research parks in the Phoenix metropolitan area, ASU is one of the largest universities in the United States and has strong and simultaneous commitments to educational access, research, and teaching excellence. With the University's location in the nation's fifth largest city, the Phoenix region provides a rich context for applied research and community engagement around issues of human communication.

Nominations, inquiries, and applications (a curriculum vitae; a letter of interest describing how you meet the qualifications noted above, and your vision for leadership of an interdisciplinary school; a statement addressing how your past and/or potential contributions to diversity and inclusion will advance ASU's commitment to inclusive excellence; and contact information, including email addresses, for five references [references may be contacted at a later stage of the search and only with the candidate's approval]) can be submitted online at http://apply.interfolio.com/94112. Applications will be reviewed beginning Friday, October 22, 2021; if not filled, reviews will occur every two weeks thereafter until the search is closed.

Questions about this position should be directed to Chris Stojanowski, Chair of the Search Committee via email cstojano@asu.edu.

A background check is required for employment.

ASU is a VEVRAA Federal Contractor and an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer. All qualified applicants will be considered without regard to race, color, sex, religion, national origin, disability, protected veteran status, or any other basis protected by law. For more information on ASU's policies, please see https://www.asu.edu/aad/manuals/acd/acd401.html and its complete non-discrimination statement at https:/www.asu.edu/titleIX/.

In compliance with federal law, ASU prepares an annual report on campus security and fire safety programs and resources. ASU's Annual Security and Fire Safety Report is available online at https://www.asu.edu/police/PDFs/ASU-Clery-Report.pdf. You may request a hard copy of the report by contacting the ASU Police Department at 480-965-3456.

Karslruher Institut für Technologie

Supporting the chair for Science Communication with a Focus on Effects / Transfer

Organizational unit: Institute for Technology Futures (ITZ)

Job description

We are looking for a team member that supports our research and teaching investigating the dynamics of public controversies over science, technology, and the environment. Among others, this includes the following: science of science communication, media effects research, media usage, diffusion of information, e.g., in debates over meat consumption, climate change, gene technology, future mobility, COVID-19, and many more.

Among others, we are interested in how media cover these issues, how information diffuses and reaches diverse audiences, which actors use which arguments, how particular messages affect specific audiences, groups of actors, or societal processes.

We are looking for a team member who can contribute to these topics in their research and teaching. Successful candidates will teach (4 hours/week during a semester), contribute to research projects and research proposals and will pursue their own qualification (doctoral dissertation or postdoctoral work).

Starting date: zum nächstmöglichen Zeitpunkt / as soon as possible

Personal qualification

Successful candidates have completed their Master’s degree (for doctoral position) or their doctorate (for postdoc position) in a social scientific subject with a focus on quantitative methods. They have worked on questions relating to communication research (e.g., Digital Media, Public Opinion, Media Psychology, Media Effects, News Diffusion, Political Communication, Reception Studies, Science Communication) and have acquired skills in quantitative social research methods (e.g., computational social science, social scientific experimental designs, survey research, quantitative media content analysis).

Salary

The remuneration occurs on the basis of the wage agreement of the civil service in TV-L E13, depending on the fulfillment of professional and personal requirements.

Contract duration: 36 months

Application up to: October 20th, 2021

Contact person in line-management

For further information, please contact Prof. Dr. Senja Post, e-mail: senja.post@kit.edu.

Application

Please submit the following in a single pdf document: letter of intent including research experience and interest, CV, transcripts of grades (high school diploma; Bachelor and Masters degree, doctoral certificate, if applicable), list of publications (if existent), one publication or a chapter from Master thesis as well as contact information for at least one academic reference.

Please submit your application in a single pdf document via email to senja.post@kit.edu.

vacancy number: 2043/2021

We prefer to balance the number of employees (f/m/d). Therefore, we kindly ask female applicants to apply for this job.

Recognized severely disabled persons will be preferred if they are equally qualified.

Please apply online using the button below for this vacancy number 2043/2021.

Ausschreibungsnummer: 2043/2021

Recognized severely disabled persons will be preferred if they are equally qualified.

Contact

Personnel Support is provided by:

Personalservice (PSE) - Human Resources

Ms Carrasco Sanchez

Phone: +49 721 608-42016,

Kaiserstr. 12, 76131 Karlsruhe

APLLY HERE: https://jobs.pse.kit.edu/en/jobs/10385/form

Christian Fuchs

SocietyNow Series. Bingley: Emerald. ISBN 9781801177238. 336 pages.

Date of publication: 6 September 2021

Order: Emerald (30% discount on purchase via Emerald, enter code EMERALD30 at checkout), Amazon UK, Amazon.com, Indiebound, Book Depository

Sample Chapter: Chapter 1: Pandemic Times (PDF)

Request a review copy

German publication in print (“Verschwörungstheorien in der Pandemie. Wie über COVID-19 im Internet kommuniziert wird”, UVK/utb)

The COVID-19 pandemic crisis has changed the way we live and communicate. The phases of lockdown brought about by the pandemic fundamentally changed the way we work, lead our everyday lives, and how we communicate, resulting in Internet platforms becoming more important than ever before. Communicating COVID-19 explores the impact of these changes on society and the way we communicate, and the effect this has had on the spread of misinformation.

Critical communication and Internet scholar Christian Fuchs analyses the changes of everyday communication in the COVID-19 crisis and how misinformation has spread online throughout the pandemic. He explores the foundations and rapid spread of conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination discourse on the Internet, paying particular attention to the vast amount of COVID-19 conspiracy theories about Bill Gates. He also interrogates Internet users’ reactions to these COVID-19 conspiracy theories as well as how Donald Trump communicated about COVID-19 on Twitter during the final year of his Presidency.

Communicating COVID-19 is an essential work for anyone seeking to understand the role of digital technologies, changes in communication and the Internet, and the spread of conspiracy theories in the context of COVID-19.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1. Introduction: Pandemic Times

Chapter 2. Everyday Life and Everyday Communication in Coronavirus Capitalism

Chapter 3. Conspiracy Theories as Ideology

Chapter 4. Bill Gates Conspiracy Theories as Ideology in the Context of the COVID-19 Crisis

Chapter 5. Users’ Reactions to COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories on Social Media

Chapter 6. Donald Trump and COVID-19 on Twitter

Chapter 7. Conclusion: Digital Communication in Pandemic Times and Commontopia as the Potential Future of Communication and Society

Background

This book is a contribution to the analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic on society. It takes a sociological and communication studies approach for analysing the following question: How have society and the ways we communicate changed in the COVID-19 pandemic crisis?

This main question was broken down into a series of sub-questions. There is one chapter in this book dedicated to each sub-question:

Chapter 2: How have everyday life and everyday communication changed in the COVID-19 crisis? How has capitalism shape everyday life and everyday communication during this crisis?

Chapter 3: What is a conspiracy theory? How do conspiracy theories matter in the context of the COVID-19 crisis?

Chapter 4: How do COVID-19 conspiracy theories about Bill Gates work?

Chapter 5: How do Internet users react to COVID-19 conspiracy theories spread on social media?

Chapter 6: How has Donald Trump communicated about COVID-19 on Twitter? How have conspiracy theories influenced his Twitter communication about COVID-19?

The book is organised in the form of seven chapters. The introduction sets out the societal context of the study. Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 address the mentioned questions. Chapter 7 draws conclusions for the future of communication and society.

In 2020 and 2021, the pandemic crisis that emerged from the SARS-CoV-2 virus and the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) this virus causes shook the world. The virus originated in bats and was most likely transmitted to humans by the pangolin (Andersen et al. 2020), a subdomain of the mammal clade of Ferae to which besides the pangolin also carnivorans (e.g. dogs, bears, cats, big cats) belong. The virus first appeared in December 2019 on a food market in Wuhan, the capital of the Chinese province of Hubei and spread worldwide.

The 21st century has thus far been a century of multiple crises. At its start, 9/11 in 2001 created a political crisis that set off a vicious cycle of terror and war. In 2008, a new world economic crisis unfolded that had its origin in the systematic crisis-proneness of capitalism and the financialisation of the economy since the 1970s as response to falling profit rates. Many governments bailed out failing banks and corporations, which increased national debt so that they implemented austerity measures, from which workers and the poor suffered. In 2015, a humanitarian refugee crisis emerged in Europe that has been the consequence of war, natural disasters, and global inequalities. Following the world economic crisis, in a significant number of countries right-wing authoritarian political leaders came to power or strengthened their share of the vote, including Donald Trump in the USA. A crisis of democracy unfolded. In 2020, COVID-19 hit the world and created a simultaneous health crisis, economic crisis, political crisis, cultural crisis, moral crisis, and global crisis.

In order to prevent the pandemic getting out of control, many governments introduced lockdowns so that at times most people had to stay at home and all but absolutely essential shops and institutions had to stay closed. The result was a politically created economic crisis in the context of a major global health crisis. In 2020, the global gross domestic product shrunk according to estimations by 4.4 percent (data source: IMF World Economic Outlook, October 2020). At the political level, governments had to increase national debt in order to guarantee the survival of humans during lockdown phases. At the political and cultural level, difficult debates emerged about what sectors of society should remain opened or should be closed during COVID-19 waves. These debates affected realms such as education (schools, nurseries, universities), arts and culture, tourism, and gastronomy. In some countries, hospitals’ intensive care units reached their limits, which required that society and those taking decisions on medical ethics formulated guidelines in order to decide who should and who should not get an intensive care bed when there is a shortage. Social distancing increased feelings of loneliness and depression. At the level of ideology, COVID-19 conspiracy theory movements emerged that question the existence of the pandemic, the need for countervailing measures (social distancing, wearing masks, lockdown) and spread anti-vaccination propaganda. In turn, the danger emerged that fewer people get vaccinated against COVID-19 and that the health crisis is prolonged.

Capitalism is not the direct cause of SARS-CoV-2. COVID-19 conspiracy theories construct such a direct link by claiming that Bill Gates and pharmaceutical companies have secretly engineered the virus in order to make profits from vaccines. We will analyse such crude economistic ideology as part of this book. Such conspiracy theories have been appropriated and advanced by the far-right and the anti-vaccination movement. Capitalism is not the direct cause, but a context of COVID-19. Capitalist society has acted as context in several respects, namely: agricultural capitalism; the global spread of SARS-COV-2; points of change; governance; ideology; globalisation and de-globalisation; class relations in pandemic times; vaccine capitalism and vaccine nationalism.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about phases of lockdown that have changed the way humans work, lead their everyday lives, and how they communicate. Internet platforms have played an important role in this context. One aspect of Communicating COVID-19 is the analysis of changes everyday life and everyday communication have been undergoing. Times of deep crises create fears, risks, uncertainties, and changes. Crisis-ridden societies are therefore prone to the emergence of ideologies and conspiracy theories that instrumentalise such situations. In the COVID-19 pandemic crisis, right-wing ideology has joined together with conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination ideology for creating distinct COVID-19 conspiracy theories. Communicating COVID-19analyses how COVID-19 conspiracy theories have been communicated, received, spread, and contested on social media. This book shows that times of deep crisis are not just times of social change, but also times where communication and communication technologies matter in the production, dissemination, and challenge of ideologies.