ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

MEDIÁLNÍ STUDIA / MEDIA STUDIES SPECIAL ISSUE (Autumn 2022) 

Submission deadline: March 15, 2022

Guest Editors: Marisa Torres da Silva (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, ICNOVA, Portugal), Maria José Brites (Universidade Lusófona, CICANT, Portugal) & Miguel Vicente (Universidad de Valladolid, Spain)

Article submission deadline: March 15, 2022

Expected publication date: October/November 2022

This special issue of Mediální Studia / Media Studies aims to address forms on how online incivility and toxic talk are contributing to change public participation and questions attitudes and practices that publics and audiences develop to surpass these contexts. How is online incivility and toxic talk changing public participation? Which attitudes towards incivility are developed by publics and audiences? What kind of (formal or informal) norms are set to counter incivility?

As a transformed media environment has brought more opportunities for public debate and discussion, the rapid spread and amplified impact of incivility has become an important concern of scholars and citizens (Sobieraj & Berry, 2011; Coe, Kenski, & Rains, 2014). Although incivility is very difficult to define, with notable variations among scholars, it can be considered as a set of behaviors that threaten democracy and deny people their personal freedoms (Papacharissi, 2004), frequently including elements such as intimidation, disrespectful speech, hostility and hate speech. Incivilities traditionally associated with risk behaviors in the cities (Park, 1984; Roché, 1996) are now transposed to online environments with a huge impact in peoples’ lives. In contrast to the relatively regulated spaces of mainstream media (Waisbord, 2018) digital and social media offer accessibility to spheres that are often shaped by competition and conflict (Jakubovicz, 2017).

Incivility has effects on those who encounter it, whether as participants or observers often in negative ways (Kenski, Coe, & Rains, 2017), such as the “nasty effect” of encouraging negative perceptions of issues (Anderson et al., 2014, 2018) and political arguments (Mutz, 2007). Incivility also has a polarizing effect pushing people to extreme positions. However, although the phenomenon of incivility and its potential effects is rather extensively present in the scholarly literature, the ways by which publics and audiences interpret and act on incivility and online toxic environment (including non-participation, news avoidance, or digital disconnection) is a less visible topic.

Online incivilities call for social imaginaries of the media related to its engagement of people through conflict and contestation, through its potentially harmful or fatal consequences to individuals, society and democratic politics as well as being a source of moral panic anxieties (Critcher, 2008). Audiences use strategies of self-regulation against invasiveness (Syvertsen, 2017), also because they are seen as responsible for their online choices (Syvertsen, 2020), developing coping strategies to deal with unpleasant online experiences.

We encourage submissions which address topics such as (but not limited to):

● Incivility and the quality of public deliberation

● The desire to conflict and contest in mediated public spaces

● Incivility as a way to express strong views or to contest strongly held views

● Consequences of incivility in public discussions

● Generational audiences and online incivilities

● Nonparticipation or avoidance in the face of incivility and hate speech

● Digital disconnection as a consequence of media incivility and toxic environments

● Critical media literacy and the intent to surpass toxic environments

● Norms and rules developed against online incivility, developed by public institutions or Internet companies (SNS)

● Tracking and evaluation of norms and rules

● Audience attitudes, actions, and initiatives to fight against online incivility

● Political and media polarization as causes of incivility

KEY DATES

Article submission deadline: March 15, 2022 Editors’ decision on articles: May 2022

Expected publication date: October/November 2022

EDITION AND SUBMISSION

Mediální studia / Media Studies (ISSN 2464-4846) is a peer-reviewed, open access electronic journal, published in English, Czech and Slovak twice a year. Based in disciplines of media and communication studies, it focuses on analyses of media texts, media cultures, media professionals practices, and media audiences behaviour. We especially support the emphasis on the dynamics of local-global knowledge on media and its mutual connections. The journal is indexed in Scopus, MLA, Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL), and European Reference Index for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (ERIH PLUS).

Articles must be submitted by email to the guest editors of this special issue:

marisatorresilva@fcsh.unl.pt , mariajosebrites@ulp.pt , miguel.vicente@uva.es

Additional queries can be submitted to medialnistudia@fsv.cuni.cz

Please carefully read the journal’s submission guidelines before sending your contribution.

Roskilde University

Apply here: https://candidate.hr-manager.net/ApplicationInit.aspx?cid=1310&ProjectId=146662&DepartmentId=18969&MediaId=4619&SkipAdvertisement=False&uiculture=en

The Department of Communication and Arts, Roskilde University, invites applications for a vacant three-year PhD fellowship in Communication and Artificial Intelligence. The successful applicant is expected to start 1 September 2022 or as soon as possible thereafter.

The fellowship is part of the research project Strategizing Communication and Artificial Intelligence (SCAI), funded by THE VELUX FOUNDATIONS. The project focuses on how artificially intelligent communication technologies affect human agency in relation to professional discretion and ethical judgement. With particular attention to professional communicators’ strategy-practices the project aims to provide novel research-based knowledge on the impact of intelligent computing on strategic communication, and advance societal know-how related to the governance of AI technology. The project is realized in close collaboration with industry partners. Click here for more information about the project.

In alignment with the project’s focus, the Department invites original proposals for a PhD project aimed at investigating how professional communicators utilise artificially intelligent communication technologies – that is, how they interact with and use AI in their everyday strategy-work. In developing the PhD project proposal, applicants are encouraged to employ a mixture of methods to collect and analyse empirical data related to the use of AI technologies. Further, the proposal should outline how the PhD project can be accomplished theoretically and specify how it relates to the overall objectives of the SCAI project.

The successful applicant will work in close collaboration with Associate Professor Ib T. Gulbrandsen, the principal investigator (PI) of SCAI, as well as other members of the project team, and will be associated with the research group Organizing Communication and Digitalization, in addition to the Centre for Digital Citizenship and Digital Media Lab. Further, the fellowship offers the possibility to be actively involved in public communication and outreach. And there will be opportunities to attend international conferences and workshops as well as to participate in media and methods training.

The PhD Fellow will be enrolled at The Doctoral School of Communication and Arts, Roskilde University. The Doctoral school offers an active, dynamic, and cross-disciplinary research environment. Click here for more information.

Responsibilities and tasks

The main responsibilities and tasks of the PhD fellow will be:

• Completing an article-based PhD dissertation by the end of the three-year fellowship. This includes writing scientific journal articles and/or book chapters of which some may be co-authored with the project’s principal investigator, members of the project team, and/or other scholars
• Contributing to and actively partaking in the SCAI project. This includes meetings, workshops, and public outreach events
• Participating and actively engaging in activities at the Doctoral School and the Department

The stated responsibilities and tasks are in accordance the Ministerial Order on the PhD Programme at the Universities and Certain Higher Artistic Educational Institutions.

Qualifications

The Department will give priority to applicants with the following qualifications:

• Timely completion of a master’ degree in Media and Communication Studies, Computer Science, Organization Studies, Sociology, Digital Humanities, or related disciplines
• Excellent academic record, as shown by a list of master’s level grades
• Full professional proficiency in English and good communication skills
• Stated interest in and experience with engaging in disciplinary and interdisciplinary academic discussions

Assessment

In the assessment regarding employment consideration will be given to:

• Relevant master’s degree or equivalent (according to Danish Qualifications Framework for Higher Education)
• Any additional academic requirements stated in the job advertisement

In the assessment regarding enrolment consideration will also be given to:

• Quality and relevance of the project proposal, including the quality and relevance of the methodological and theoretical choices, as well as the feasibility of the proposal
• Relevance of educational skills and additional professional qualifications
• Grade level of master’s thesis or equivalent
• Ability to work independently and in collaboration with members of the project team
• Interest in being part of an international research community

Terms of employment

The PhD scholarship runs for a period of three years and includes teaching obligations equivalent to six months’ work (840 work hours). It is fully salaried and includes tuition fees, as well as a fixed allowance for courses and travel costs. Salary level is set in accordance with the Ministry of Finance's agreement with the Academics' Central Organization.

The PhD Fellow will refer to Dean Julie Sommerlund.

For further information about the SCAI-project, please contact PI, Ib T. Gulbrandsen: ibtunby@ruc.dk

For further information about the Doctoral School, please contact the Head of the PhD school, Ida Willig: +45 4674 3751 or idaw@ruc.dk.

The position will be filled according to the Agreement between the Danish Ministry of Finance and the Danish Confederation of Professional Associations (AC) and Job Structure for Academic Staff at Universities.

Application procedure

After the deadline for applications the Dean will shortlist applicants for assessment with assistance from the recruitment committee including the chairperson of the assessment committee.

Shortly after the application deadline all applicants will be notified whether or not their application has been selected for assessment. The shortlisted applicants will be informed about the composition of the assessment committee, and each applicant will be given the opportunity to comment on the composition of the committee and - later on - their assessment.

Once the recruitment process is completed, all applicants will be informed of the outcome of their application.

Application

To apply for the position go to www.ruc.dk/en/job/

Only applications in English are accepted.

Applications must include:

1. Project description (max. 5 pages including time schedule)

2. CV

3. Documentation of education including grades from Master’s programme or equivalent

4. If applicable: Documentation for any research experience, work experience or publications.

Please submit your application no later than April 11, 2022.

Material received after this date will not be taken into consideration.

Roskilde University wishes to reflect the diversity of society and welcomes applications from all qualified candidates regardless of personal background.

Institute for Culture and Society, University of Navarra (Spain)

Open date: Feb 23, 2022. Deadline: Mar 28, 2022.

Description:

The Institute for Culture and Society (ICS) at the University of Navarra seeks candidates interested in contributing to a productive, critical and interdisciplinary dialogue about “youth, their relationships and their psychological well-being”. The (ICS) of the University of Navarra will offer grants to researchers who wish to conduct a research stay at the Institute. ICS is a highly interdisciplinary humanities and social science research center.

The Challenge 22-23: "Youth, relationships and psychological well-being" was chosen as the 2022-2023 ICS Challenge. We aim to study psychological well-being in adolescence and youth with an emphasis on interpersonal relationships. This topic is examined from an interdisciplinary perspective that considers anthropology, sociology, linguistics, psychology and epidemiology, as well as any other discipline that can contribute new approaches to the study thereof.

More information: https://en.unav.edu/web/institute-for-culture-and-society/reto-2022-2023/

The research stays that result from this grant should be a minimum of 3 months and a maximum of 10 months, and must be between 1 September, 2022 and 30 June, 2023.

This grant includes the following:

- A monthly accommodation and maintenance stipend of up to 2,000 euros per month or the proportional amount should the stay not cover full months.

- Up to €1,200 will be awarded for travel and initial set-up costs.

Deadline: May 1, 2022

Link: t.uzh.ch/1il

We are looking for authors who would like to contribute an entry to the new Database of Variables for Content Analysis (DOCA) → www.hope.uzh.ch/doca

The open access database compiles, systematizes and evaluates relevant content-analytical variables of communication and political science research areas and topics. The aim of DOCA is to provide easily accessible examples of variables and their categories (values) used in content analysis. These examples can serve as a basis for further research projects. DOCA provides entries for single variables (e.g. actors, issues,...) and more complex theoretical constructs (often measured by more than one variable e.g., americanization).

The database offers a starting point for the operationalization of content-analytical questions and provides a basis for standardization (where possible and useful) and also comparability of content analytic studies. Furthermore, the database aims to contribute to equal opportunities between all researchers in this field by providing free access to important resources.

Procedure regarding the call:

• Please send suggestions for further variables to mfg@ikmz.uzh.ch by 15.04.2022 at the latest. The entries for variables or constructs that are already on the database can be found under the following link www.hope.uzh.ch/doca
• You will then receive an immediate reply as to whether the suggested constructs or variables can be included and, if applicable, author instructions for the preparation of the entry.
• Please submit your entry (approx. 2 pages in length) by May 01, 2022 at the latest. Every entry will be peer reviewed by 2 reviewers.
• If accepted, we will take over the typesetting, design and publication of the entry. Each entry receives a DOI number.
• Publication is free of charge.

We are very much looking forward to your submissions.

Franziska Oehmer (principal editor), University of Zurich & University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons; Sabrina H. Kessler, University of Zurich; Edda Humprecht, University of Zurich; Katharina Sommer, ZHAW; Laia Castro Herrero, Universitat Internacional de Catalunya & University of Zurich

September 2-3, 2022

University of Padova (Italy)

Deadline: April 28, 2022

We invite doctoral researchers and early career scholars who are working in the following fields to participate in the Digital Intimacies and Emerging Adults in Southern Europe two-day workshop which will take place at University of Padova (Italy) on 02 and 03 September 2022:

• Sexual content production and consumption
• Sex workers and digital platforms
• Discourses about platformed sex labour
• Sex industry and representations of the sexual body
• Intersections of age, gender, race and sexuality
• Sex work as aesthetic labour
• Intimacy repertoires in public and private spaces
• Social movement organizations around sex work and / or digital platforms
• Debates about labour precarity and digital forms of work
• Digital / online harassment connected to sex work
• Censorship and regulation of the sex industry
• The impact of mainstream financial companies in the pursuit of self-managed sex work
• The multiple meanings of pornography, post-pornography and diversity in sexuality representation
• The roles of physical media in a digital, networked, society
• Porn literacies and intimate citizenship

For this Call, please kindly use the following link to submit, in no more than 1000 (a thousand) words:

• A short overview of the area of work you’re developing or plan to develop
• A short overview of the type of data that you are collecting, and that you would like to discuss and present during the Workshop
• A few ideas about the type of feedback that you would like to receive during this Workshop by the research specialists that will be attending
• A short rationale about why you think this workshop will considerably develop your research skills and how it aligns with the topics and framework(s) you are currently working on, or intend to work on.

We also ask you to include your current academic status (e.g., postdoctoral research fellow, PhD student), your host institution(s), country of origin, and whether you have any specific accessibility requirements that might impact your participation in this event.

Please send your submissions by 28th April 2022 to: daniel.cardoso+isrfws@ulusofona.pt

The team:

Daniel Cardoso - Universidade Lusófona, Portugal; Nova University of Lisbon, Portugal (daniel.cardoso@ulusofona.pt)

Despina Chronaki - Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece (dchronaki@jour.auth.gr)

Cosimo Marco Scarcelli - University of Padova, Italy (cosimomarco.scarcelli@unipd.it)

Online Conference Series

Co-organization: ICNOVA (Universidade Nova de Lisboa) and CECC (Universidade Católica Portuguesa)

The development and application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies in the audiovisual sector has been growing in recent years. Over-the-top services (OTT), distributed directly to viewers via the Internet, are particularly associated with a shift towards automation through algorithmic mediation in audiovisual content, led by platforms such as Amazon Prime Video, Disney+, HBO Max, Hulu, Netflix, among others. In this series of conferences throughout 2022, international experts will share state-of-the-art knowledge about the impact of algorithmic systems on the design, production, and reception of audiovisual content. We aim to initiate a conversation between researchers, professionals, and viewers that, being directly about the audiovisual and cinematic experience, inevitably touches themes such as the datafication of society, the transformation of the meaning of culture, and the governance of automation systems.

Agenda:

Niko Pajkovic (May 5th, 4 PM GMT): Algorithms and taste-making: Exposing the Netflix Recommender System's operational logics

Fatima Gaw (May 26th, 11 AM GMT): Algorithmic logics and the construction of cultural taste of the Netflix Recommender System

Annemarie Navar-Gill (September 27th, 11 AM GMT): The Golden Ratio of Algorithms to Artists? Streaming Services and the Platformization of Creativity in American Television Production

João Lacerda Matos (October 26th, 5:30 PM GMT): The OPTO/SIC case study

All conferences are held online and require pre-registration in the following form: https://www.shorturl.at/fac34. Registered participants will receive the link to the virtual conference room the day before the conference.

Questions and requests for further information can be directed to: Prof. Paulo Nuno Vicente (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, pnvicente@fcsh.unl.pt) and Prof. Catarina Duff Burnay (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, cburnay@ucp.pt).

10-12 August 2022

University of Jyväskylä, Finland (onsite and online)

Submission deadline: 14 March 2022 (EXTENDED)

54th Annual Conference of the International Visual Literacy Association (IVLA)

The past two years of ongoing restrictions caused by the worldwide pandemic have shown the importance of the visual in the everyday. Our lives have become more visual than ever before – from intense visual-sharing practices with relatives and friends, video conferencing and online education, to the visual presence of pandemic contexts in cityscapes, artistic practices in local communities, media feeds including charts and graphs, and creation of remixed images as a commentary to the crises. It has become clear that we increasingly need visual literacy in terms of image creation, reception and visual thinking. Therefore, in these current unpredictable (visual) times, we aim for the impossible – to envision the futures of visual literacy.

We invite scholars, educators, students, and practitioners from all over the world to discuss theoretical insights and to share research, artistic, and educational practices around the concept of visual literacy and/or in dialogue with multimodality, multi-sensory experiences and multiliteracies. The concept of visual literacy has been used for over five decades in education, art, museum studies, information design, photography, and new literacies research, but currently we have reached the point when we need to (re)build and (re)discover the (new) connections between the variety of theories, disciplinary traditions and educational practices in visual literacy and beyond.

Presentation types

• Paper presentation (onsite and online)

Presentations (20 min + 10 min discussion) by one or more speakers are meant to introduce ongoing or completed projects related to visual literacy in any discipline or area of practice. Theoretical contributions are also welcome. For this format participants can choose to present online if they are not able to travel to the conference site. There will be an online session stream in addition to the onsite parallel sessions.

• Multimedia paper presentation

The Multimedia Paper Session (60 min) will have a dedicated slot in the program without any parallel sessions. Each presenter will have a separate spot to display any materials through which they want to present their work, e.g., poster(s), photographs, drawings, multimedia, etc. This format is a less formal opportunity to discuss work-in-progress, educational experiments, pedagogical practices, or introduce completed projects to the audience in a more interactive way. Presenters will have about one minute for a pitch talk, after which they will have the possibility to discuss their work with the members of the audience, supported by the multimedia artifacts of their choice.

• Workshop (60-90 min)

Workshop proposals should briefly describe the topic and the plan for the workshop. We encourage interactive formats that engage the workshop participants into either creation or sharing of ideas and experiences. Conference organizers can provide basic office supplies, if needed.

• Online Juried Art Exhibition

There is a possibility to submit art work of any kind in a digital format for the curated Online Art Exhibition that will be introduced during the conference. In addition, artists will have a possibility to introduce their work during the conference in a roundtable discussion. For more details, see the separate Call for Artists.

Proposal submission and deadline

Proposals for the paper presentations, multimedia papers and workshops should be submitted online as 300-500 -word abstracts with the title (using this form: https://registration.contio.fi/jyu/Registration/Login?id=2475-KONG_KIVI-1604).Submissions for the Virtual Art Exhibition should be made using this form: https://forms.gle/xrCTZ1F9yr6eLYez5. We will not consider any submissions sent by email.

Submission deadline: 14 March 2022 (extended!)

For more information on the conference, visit the conference website: https://ivlaconference.org

Important dates:

Abstract submission deadline: 14 March 2022

Notification of acceptance: 31 March 2022

Conference dates: 10-12 August 2022

Queensland University of Technology Digital Media Research Centre, Brisbane, Australia

Application deadline: 8 April 2022

Email: dmrc@qut.edu.au

More information here

13-14 May 2022

Virtual Conference

Deadline: March 15, 2022

Call for Contributions / Interdisciplinary PhD Communication Conference (IPCC 2022)

Organized by PhD in Communication Program at İstanbul Bilgi University

We are inviting paper abstracts and proposals for panels and round tables that revolve around, but not limited to, the following areas:

Transitions in Research and Learning Methods:

• Quasi long-distance research
• Digital ethnography
• Pedagogies

Transitions in Labor and Leisure:

• Changing landscapes and norms of labor
• Dating, and online dating norms
• Producing and storytelling, streaming and gatekeeping
• Data as labor

Transitions in Space:

• Transition of home, office, school, room, breakout room
• Social relations and the digital as a transformative space
• Queer spaces

Transitions in Sharing:

• Facts and fake news, the norm of sharing, humor and transgression
• Arguing, quarreling and reconciling in online spaces
• Representation
• Datafication

Transitions of the Self:

• Reconsidering experience and embodiment, also in research conduct
• Transition of the self as a researcher/ positionality
• On/off self and identity

Transitions in Politics:

• Platformization of politics
• Resistance and activism
• Resilience and vulnerability

Transitions and dichotomies can often conceptually define the process of communication and communication technologies and the pertinent ways through which we labor, resist and do research: online vs. offline, analog vs. digital, human vs. robot, public vs. private, political upheavals, neoliberalization of academia, transposing methodologies and scholarly learning methods. It is not always explicit however if we experience or perceive these dichotomies and transitions as either the locations of departure or arrival. As in the parable offered by David Foster Wallace, it is hard to live in the fish tank and also be able to describe the water we are in. There is always a degree of uncertainty while taking on the transitions as such, while questioning the effects and the relevance of the alleged departure point or while offering a conceptual understanding of the transitions we personally and as a community go through.

How should we think about the changing landscape of communication, laboring and social relations? And what might be the ethical implications? How should we reflect on being on-off-on-off-online? What is the relationship, if there is, between the analog and digital ways of social conduct and research? How to think about vulnerability and resilience in relation to digital/analog spaces divide? What are the changing norms of sharing and transmitting meaning? What does it mean to be ‘in communication’? Can it be a singular activity? What are the effects of such transitions on learning and research methods? And overall, should we consider transition as a matter of transfer, adaptation, co-existence, contradiction, transformation or synthesis?

We think it is also meritful to consider the transition and a certain degree of uncertainty involved here not as a drawback to be overcome but as a guiding challenge while taking on the issues that will be covered at the conference.

We invite PhD students or candidates as well as early-career researchers with PhDs earned in the last 5 years, who are interested in taking a step back or forward to re-think about the implications of the transitions within their field of interest, to submit their proposal and join the discussion.

In line with the mission of the PhD in Communication Program of Istanbul Bilgi University, IPCC priorities collaboration, dialogue and solidarity. Thus, the conference promotes a platform for the co-creation of knowledge, facilitated by the paper presentations, roundtable and free-form discussion sessions and workshops.

How can you apply?

We accept individual submission of a paper proposal, panel and round table proposal. Kindly send your submissions to ipcc@bilgi.edu.tr with an extended abstract of 500-750 words and a bio of 100 words by Monday, March 15, 2022.

Individual submission of a paper proposal should include an extended abstract of 500-750 words and a short bio of 100 words.

Panels with 3-4 paper presentations should consist of the panel title with a 500-750 words rationale followed by 150 words abstract of each paper presentations and short bios of the participants. Discussants can also be identified with a short bio.

A roundtable session provides an opportunity for participants to get together and explore issues related to the theme of the conference in an informal yet structured setting. If you are interested in hosting a round table, you can submit a topic or possible questions along with a 400-500 words rationale and a 100 words short bio of the facilitator(s).

Submissions will be notified via email by April, 15th.

For more information, please visit ipcc.bilgi.edu.tr

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

ECREA webinar

Wednesday 9 March 2022, 14:00 – 16:00 CET (Brussels time)

Link to the event: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/88205256966

Speakers:

• Precious Chatterje-Doody (The Open University)
• Tanya Lokot (Dublin City University)
• Elisabeth Schimpfoessl (Aston University)
• Joanna Szostek (University of Glasgow)

Moderated by ECREA President, John Downey (Loughborough University)

Precious Chatterje-Doody

Dr Precious Chatterje-Doody is a Lecturer in Politics and International Studies at the Open University. She taught previously at the Universities of Manchester and Birmingham, and worked for two years as a Research Associate on the AHRC-funded project Reframing Russia for the Global Mediasphere: from Cold War to 'Information War'?

Her research interests centre on questions of communication, perception and security, with a particular focus on Russia. Her work engages with the role of historical memory and identity in international relations; soft power, political communication and global media (particularly Russia's international broadcaster, RT); and critical approaches to security, including emotions and war.

Tanya Lokot

Tanya (Tetyana) Lokot is Associate Professor in Digital Media and Society at the School of Communications, Dublin City University. She researches threats to digital rights, networked authoritarianism, internet freedom, and internet governance in Eastern Europe. She is the author of Beyond the Protest Square: Digital Media and Augmented Dissent (Rowman & Littlefield, 2021), an in-depth study of protest and digital media in Ukraine and Russia.

Tanya has worked as a journalist, non-profit consultant, and media trainer in Ukraine, Belarus, and Georgia, and speaks fluent English, Russian, and Ukrainian. From 2014 to 2016 she was contributing editor for the RuNet Echo project at Global Voices. Previously, she was Assistant Professor and Head of New Media Sequence at Mohyla School of Journalism (NaUKMA, Kyiv, Ukraine). Tanya received her PhD from the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at the University of Maryland. Among other things, she chairs the ECREA Media, Cities and Space Section.

Elisabeth Schimpfoessl

Elisabeth Schimpfoessl is a senior lecturer at the School of Social Sciences and Humanities, Aston University Birmingham. In recent years she has focused on two research topics. First is research into the sociology of elites, power and social inequality, and, second, comparative research into media and journalism in post-communist Europe.

Her book Rich Russians: From Oligarchs to Bourgeoisie (Oxford University Press 2018) looks at the top 0.1 percent in Putin's Russia. In a follow-up project, a Leverhulme Early Career Fellowship, Elisabeth compared the practices of British and Russian philanthropists. The second strand of her research deals with post-communist journalism, which she carries out together with Ilya Yablokov from the University of Leeds. This research started in Russia and then expanded to Eastern Europe.

Joanna Szostek

Joanna Szostek is a lecturer in Political Communication at the University of Glasgow.

Her research interests centre on the role of mass media in relations between states, particularly in the post-Soviet region. Before moving to Glasgow she completed a three-year research project to investigate and explain the reception of competing political narratives among audiences in Ukraine. The project was funded by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie postdoctoral fellowship from the European Commission. It included an 18-month secondment to Kyiv Mohyla Academy in Ukraine and a five-month secondment to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Results from that project are published in leading international journals, including Perspectives on Politics and The International Journal of Press/Politics.

From 2019 Joanna works on a new research project investigating why levels of engagement with local, national and foreign/transnational media vary within and across ‘peripheral’ regions of Ukraine. The project, which is funded by the British Academy, is intended to shed light on how media use among ‘peripheral’ audiences can undermine and/or benefit state security, broadly defined. She holds a doctorate in Politics from the University of Oxford. Her professional experience includes several years at the BBC and many years of living and working in Russia and Ukraine. She is currently an associate fellow of the Russia and Eurasia Programme at Chatham House, The Royal Institute of International Affairs.