ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

November 2-3, 2021

Oslo, Norway

Deadline: August 15, 2021

The research group MEKK at Oslo Metropolitan University

The term ‘infodemics’ had its breakthrough in 2020. The term – a combination of information and pandemics – describes a rapid and important spread of both factual and false information in a situation marked by uncertainty, also for those who are expected to disseminate information about the pandemic. In some countries journalists are being deprived of the right to report on the pandemic and experience increased risk associated with covering the governments’ social and economic policies. Several organizations working with the safety of journalists, such as Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF) have repeatedly documented in 2020 attacks and direct violence against journalists covering Covid-19. This includes both coverage of the actual situation at a given time, as well as for instance coverage of demonstrations against strict Covid measures.

Desinformation, so-called fake news and conspiracy theories were central topics in the public debate already before the arrival of the pandemic. Over the last year, the world has indeed experienced how dangerous it may get when there is a lack of safety in journalists’ work environment while disinformation and conspiracies about infection, actions and consequences flourish. The pandemic brought excellent conditions for disinformation and conspiracy theories to grow. They can contribute to weakening confidence in the media and can in some cases be increasing hostility towards journalists.

RSF’s survey for 2020 shows that as the number of journalists killed in war situations decreases, increasingly more journalists (2/3 of those who lost their lives) are killed in countries not at “war”, and more and more often while investigating sensitive issues. Those behind the attacks on journalists and free media are rarely prosecuted and we know little about who they are.

One of the conference tracks will be dedicated to gaining more information and knowledge about those behind threats against journalists, with an emphasis on times of pandemics and crises We are particularly interested in studies of cases where journalists have joined forces to complete investigations started by journalists being harassed or even assassinated, aiming to keep stories alive, refusing to surrender to censorship. The conference will emphasize that protecting journalists and media workers, in addition to physical security, also is about their financial and legal security.

The purpose of the conference is to produce knowledge about measures that can improve the situation for journalists and journalism. This can be linked both to what journalists can do to protect themselves, both individually and in groups, and to collective and structural measures to protect journalists to end impunity for violence against them. The conference is also open for papers on more general safety issues for journalists and media workers.

We call for papers on topics such as (but not limited to)

• Consequences of infodemics on the safety of journalists
• Risks to journalists caused by false information
• Digital security
• Education and safety of journalists
• The safety of journalists in authoritarian “democracies”
• Effects of campaigns and other actions to improve the safety of journalists
• Teaching safety in journalism education
• Killing the journalist won’t kill the story – studies on collaborations in to protect journalism
• Safety measures, both individually and collectively

We encourage studies with gender perspectives.

Paper presentations:

If you want to participate with a paper, an abstract of maximum 250 words and a short bio focusing on possible earlier experience with research/practice in the field of safety of journalists/digital safety should be uploaded to https://nettskjema.no/…737 before August 15, 2021. Please include your full name, institutional affiliation, and email. There is no registration fee and the participants are expected to cover their own costs for travel and accommodation.

A limited number of scholarships to cover flight and/or accommodation is available for Ph.D. students and researchers from low-income countries. Applications for scholarships should be submitted with the abstract together with a short CV.

The best papers will be considered for a forthcoming peer reviewed publication. Questions should be directed to safetyofjournalists@oslomet.no

June 21, 2021

Paul Hodkinson and Ranjana Das welcome you to the online launch event for their new book - New Fathers, Mental Health and Digital Communication, at 11 am UK time on 21st June. This launch event will feature a discussion of the main themes of the book by the authors, and commentaries from our invited guests and the opportunity for all attendees to ask questions. We will also be able to offer a publisher's discount from Palgrave Macmillan on the day.

Speakers:

• Paul Hodkinson and Ranjana Das (Authors, University of Surrey)
• Steven Roberts (Monash University, Australia)
• Rikke Andreassen (Roskilde University, Denmark)
• Andrew Mayers (Bournemouth University, UK)
• Kathy Jones (The Fatherhood Institute)
• Chair: Faith Gibson (University of Surrey)

About the Book:

New Fathers, Mental Health and Digital Communication - explores the experiences of new fathers struggling with mental health difficulties and focuses on the role of digital media as part of their approaches to coping. Hodkinson and Das show how the ways new fathers are positioned by society can make it hard for them to recognize their struggles as legitimate, or reach out for help. The book explores a range of different uses of digital communication by struggling fathers, from selective forms of disconnection, to the seeking out of online information or support. The authors highlight the significance even of the smallest digital acts as part of coping journeys and outline the development of tentative or hidden attempts to reach out for help, and the potential for supportive digital interactions to emerge. The book’s conclusions highlight the agentic possibilities digital media might offer for struggling new fathers, while emphasizing the need for improvements in how they are prepared and supported by health services and others.

About the authors:

Dr Paul Hodkinson is Reader in Sociology at the University of Surrey, UK. His research encompasses fathers and fatherhood, youth cultures, and the role of digital media in contemporary societies. He recently authored (with Rachel Brooks) Sharing Care: Equal and Primary Carer Fathers and Early Years Parenting (2020). Dr Ranjana Das is Reader in Media and Communication at the University of Surrey, UK. She researches uses and consequences of communication technologies, with a recent focus on parenthood. She explores what the digital turn has meant for new mothers in her latest book: Early Motherhood in Digital Societies (2019).

If you would like to attend, please register via our Eventbrite link: Book Launch: New Fathers, Mental Health and Digital Communication Tickets, Mon 21 Jun 2021 at 11:00 | Eventbrite

“The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant impacts on our lives, including how we experience our fandoms. Cons were moved online or cancelled. New movies came out on streaming apps at the same time as theatrical releases. Online gaming replaced in-person gaming. And people turned to their fandoms to cope with the pandemic.

Krysten Stein and  CarrieLynn D. Reinhard are academics interested in understanding how fans have responded to the pandemic and how they see the pandemic impacting their fandoms. This questionnaire asks you to reflect on your experiences over the past year for how they relate to your fandom experiences before the pandemic – as well as your hopes for how to experience your fandom after the pandemic.

The questionnaire is completely anonymous and anything you tell us will be kept confidential. We are hoping to publish the results of this questionnaire but will do our best to remove any identifying information before publishing.

We expect the questionnaire to take 15-20 minutes to complete, but your time may vary depending on how much you want to tell us. And if you have any questions or problems with the questionnaire and/or study, you can contact me, CarrieLynn D. Reinhard, at creinhard@dom.edu.

You must be at least 18 years old to participate in the study, and the primarily language for the questionnaire is English.

If you are interested in providing us with your experiences and opinions, then please click on this link to start.

This year’s motto: perseverance.

June 15-16, 2021

The conference focuses on a particular but extremely significant theme in the social sciences: the concepts of “footprint” and “trace”.

Usually associated with the digital world, the very idea of footprints clearly gives the image of what one leaves behind without being aware of it, a by-product of other (differently focused and oriented) actions that remains empirically imprinted on reality.

The topic of traces will be analyzed in a broad and interdisciplinary way, adopting quantitative and qualitative approaches, from different disciplinary angles: sociology, semiotics, social psychology, anthropology, legal studies, etc.

The conference will host 5 keynote speakers and 80 panelists from more than twenty Countries.

Free registration: https://forms.gle/bfL6XkCxoYtPfKac8

Full programme: https://web.uniroma1.it/whatpeopleleavebehind/conference-program

Contacts:

wplb2020.coris@uniroma1.it

web.uniroma1.it/whatpeopleleavebehind/

facebook.com/whatpeople.leavebehind/

University of Antwerp

The University of Antwerp's Department of Communication Studies is seeking to fill a full-time vacancy as senior academic staff member (starting October 1st, 2021) in the following domain:

Digital media and strategic communication

You will contribute to the University of Antwerp’s three core tasks: education (40%), research (40%) and service (20%). Your role also includes organisational and managerial aspects.

Education

• You will provide high-quality education within Communication Sciences.
• Your teaching role will evolve along with the study programmes. The courses you will teach include courses in Emerging Communication Technologies (Bachelor, 6 credits), Effectiveness Research in Strategic Communication (Master, 6 credits), Methods of Communication Research (Master, 6 credits, with co-titular, module Experiments and Computational Methods).
• You will play a role in developing activating, student-centred and competence-driven programme components and study programmes.
• You will supervise students in their Bachelor and Master dissertations.

Research

• You expand high-quality scientific research in the area of digital media effects (including social media, VR, apps, wearables, etc.) and other emerging technologies on people's behaviour in the context of strategic communication (marketing and corporate communication, health communication, governmental communication, social profit communication, and political communication). In addition to the well-established social science methods, you have demonstrable experience with more direct measures such as eye tracking, psychophysiology and/or computational methods (big data analysis, machine learning, social network analysis), and you will develop leading research in this area.
• You become a member of the research group Media & ICT in Organizations & Society (MIOS, https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/research-groups/mios/).
• You initiate new lines of research and coordinate the progress of scientific research projects. You will also participate in ongoing research programmes.
• You acquire and manage national and international research funding.
• You publish in international peer-reviewed journals within your field.
• You develop an international scientific network.
• You supervise PhD students and postdoctoral researchers.

Services

• You play a role in the provision of both academic services and service to society, within the institution and externally. You participate in student recruitment, boards and committees, and science communication.

Organisation and leadership

• You accept coordinating responsibilities in the areas of education, research and/or service provision and you will contribute to policy.
• Your leadership style is motivating and coaching. You are attentive to your employees’ growth and development processes.

More information on the job description, requirements, salary and other aspects can be found on:

https://www.uantwerpen.be/en/jobs/vacancies/academic-staff/?q=1524&descr=Senior-Academic-Staff-in-the-field-of-Digital-media-and-strategic-communication

Deadline for online submission of the candidatures is May 24, 2021.

Review of Communication Research Journal 

Deadline: July 15, 2021

The editorial team of Review of Communication Research invites submissions of literature reviews and meta-analyses that explore the role of communication and media technologies in fostering empathy and prosocial outcomes.

Media technologies such as computer games, multi-user environments, virtual and augmented realities have been studied as tools to promote positive outcomes by building empathy towards others and increasing prosocial attitudes and behaviours. We welcome papers that include, but are not limited to, the following areas:

• Perspective-taking and empathy
• Influence of communication technologies on prosocial outcomes
• Effects of media technologies on attitudes towards outgroups
• Empathy and communication and media technologies
• Telepresence and prosocial behaviour
• Underlying processes of media influence on prosocial outcomes
• Mediating factors between technology and empathy

The manuscript submission deadline is July 15th, 2021.

Authors should submit their manuscripts through the RCR editorial management system: www.rcommunicationr.org.

Paper proposals, questions, and comments should be addressed to Benjamin Li (benjyli@ntu.edu.sg) cc to editor@rcommunicationr.org.

About RCR:

Review of Communication Research publishes comprehensive and authoritative reviews of the current state of the main topics and the most significant developments in the field of Communication. These comprehensive critical reviews summarize the latest advances in the field, but also root out errors and will provoke intellectual discussions among scholars. The journal seeks both evaluative (theoretical) and quantitative (meta-analyses) papers that make a state of the art of issues in scientific communication. Integrative review articles that connect different areas of research are of special interest. RCR implements a continuous publication model, where articles are being published as each individual article completes production.

September 14-16, 2021

Brunel University London (UK)

Deadline: July 26, 2021

In 2015 we held  Kimposium! to great success. Now, as Keeping Up with the Kardashians draws to a close after twenty seasons, we revisit and renew our feminist thinking about these globally famous women. Renowned and reviled, loved and hated, the Kardashians are icons of early 21st century celebrity cultures. But this family represents and embodies so much more. Indeed, studying the Kardashians and their products leads to consideration of some of the most pressing social and cultural issues of our time.

Please submit your proposals of less than 300 words by 26 July 2021 to kimposium@brunel.ac.uk

For more information see https://www.brunel.ac.uk/…klk

Bournemouth University

The Faculty of Media and Communication at Bournemouth University is seeking to recruit a skilled and enthusiastic postdoctoral researcher to undertake a significant researching and coordinating role in the delivery of a new UKRI/AHRC-funded Covid-19 response project.

The project, “COJO for Covid-19 Recovery”, aims to investigate the way in which constructive journalism, especially solutions-focused journalism, can help the UK’s local/regional communities to transition to the “new normal” in the months ahead. It is an action research initiative led by Bournemouth University, in collaboration with Newsquest Media Company, the Solutions Journalism Network and the Association of British Science Writers.

For further information on the project, click here: https://cojouk.org.

The postholder will work with other members of the team to collect and analyse data as well as publish research reports and journal papers from there. The postholder will also act as the coordinator across the four institutional partners.

The ideal candidate should demonstrate knowledge of and skills in conducting in-depth interviews, survey and content analysis as well as in coordinating research activities across institutions. You will hold a PhD or equivalent in journalism, communication or a related area.

Expertise in quantitative data analysis will be desirable.

This post is available on a fixed term basis until 22 June 2022.

Find the full job advert with person specification here: https://www.bournemouth.ac.uk/postdoctoral-researcher-fixed-term-0?fbclid=IwAR0ojeMII93_meyJ9U41-eKuNsUf1TguTFfhLyYLcywC3PWMgKZOnBFaUnY

For further information and discussion, please contact An Nguyen by email on anguyen@bournemouth.ac.uk .

Audencia Business School

As part of its new strategic plan, Audencia Business School is looking to expand its team. The School wishes to recruit an assistant or associate professor with an interest in research at the crossroads of information practices and CSR. The profile of the position can be adapted to the candidate, depending on his/her excellence in research, pedagogy, or in the development of programs or partnerships.

Prerequisites

The candidate will need to:

- Hold a doctoral degree (PhD).

In addition, the candidate will be able to:

- Propose research projects combining *information practices and organizational communication*, more specifically in a perspective of CSR. The candidate will show how these research proposals are in line with his or her own work, conducted for example in the fields of the media ecosystem, or journalistic practices, or media education, etc. ; Have an excellent academic research profile and a significant number of publications in reference journals or books in information and communication sciences or in management sciences.

- Demonstrate an excellent teaching performance. The courses taught will be part of the Communication and Media program (Audencia SciencesCom, a 5-year degree program approved by the MESRI). They can also be taught in other programs (Majors or MSc of the Grande Ecole program, etc.), but also in the framework of teachers' training or executive education. These courses include any subject related to the candidate's field of specialization. Other courses may also be requested, particularly in connection with research methodology and communication studies methodology.

- Demonstrate an ability to develop new courses/programs/projects, engage students, and invest in peripheral activities related to media and communication ; Contribute to the broad dissemination of its activities to the professional world. Thus, the ability to establish partnerships/activities with media actors is also required.

The contract is open-ended (CDI), the course load is adjusted according to the publication objectives. Salary is negotiable depending on experience and qualifications. The position comes with many benefits ranging from research bonuses (publication bonuses, research contract bonuses, etc.) and other managerial activities, social security coverage and company health insurance, etc. A good professional level in French is strongly required, but can be acquired and supported if needed.

General presentation

Our school, based in Nantes, is triple accredited with AACSB EQUIS and AMBA and is one of the best European schools. We offer a wide variety of programs such as BBA, MSC, MBA, Doctorate and Executive Education Programs, and have more than 120 permanent faculty members of 25 different nationalities.

The successful candidate will join the Communication & Culture department on the Mediacampus located on the island of Nantes, in the heart of the creative district (Stéréolux, Trempolino, Galerie des Machines, Creative Factory, Halles numériques, Schools of Design, Fine Arts, Architecture, Cinema, etc.).

Our campus is located in Nantes, a medium-sized city in western France served by an international airport and only 2 hours by train from Paris. With its many social and cultural events, the Atlantic coast 1 hour away by car and its castles and vineyards to the east, Nantes is a great place to live. With more than 1,330 companies based here, Nantes also boasts a rich industrial and economic identity.

How to apply

Candidates are invited to send their application by email until Friday, June 11, 2021 midnight: a cover letter, a resume (including a complete list of publications), 2 publications of their choice, details of their teaching level, and the names of 2 references to Thibaut Bardon, Academic and Research Director of Audencia, faculty-recruitment@audencia.com. Please indicate the reference of the announcement *C&C2021_Information_Responsible_EN *in the subject.

For more information, please contact

Research: Julien Pierre julienpierre@audencia.com

Pedagogy: Martha Abad-Grebert, mabadgrebert@audencia.com

Canterbury Christ Church University

The School of Creative Arts and Industries at Canterbury Christ Church University welcomes applications for full-time PhD scholarship (a stipend of £13,000 p.a., tuition fee waiver for three years and an expense allowance of £500 p. a.) in one of the following research areas: creative arts, performing arts, music, media and cultural studies.

We would like to encourage proposals with a focus on connecting with cultural or creative industries organisations in the Kent region, either through drawing on their resources (e.g. archives, broadly conceived) or engaging in collaborative and project work (e.g. collaborating on projects based around the development of creative artefacts, such as film, dance, or music) or exploring new areas for development and innovation (e.g. new ways to connect with audiences, new digital tools or applications, or new revenue or business models).

For further information please see here: https://www.canterbury.ac.uk/…ies