European Communication Research and Education Association
Zrinjka Peruško, Dina Vozab, Antonija Čuvalo
https://www.routledge.com/Comparing-Post-Socialist-Media-Systems-The-Case-of-Southeast-Europe/Perusko-Vozab-Cuvalo/p/book/9780367226787
This book explains divergent media system trajectories in the countries in southeast Europe, and challenges the presumption that the common socialist experience critically influences a common outcome in media development after democratic transformations, by showing different remote and proximate configuration of conditions that influence their contemporary shape.
Applying an innovative longitudinal set-theoretical methodological approach, the book contributes to the theory of media systems with a novel theoretical framework for the comparative analysis of post-socialist media systems. This theory builds on the theory of historical institutionalism and the notion of critical junctures and path dependency in searching for an explanation for similarities or differences among media systems in the Eastern European region.
Extending the understanding of media systems beyond a political journalism focus, this book is a valuable contribution to the literature on comparative media systems in the areas of media systems studies, political science, Southeast and Central European studies, post-socialist studies and communication studies.
Table of Contents
Introduction 2. Explaining the transformations of post-socialist media systems 3. Prelude to modernity 4.Media systems in socialist modernity 5. Towards democracy: Post-socialist media systems in digital modernity 6. Why the media systems are the way they are
Reviews
This is a conceptually rich, methodologically sophisticated, and interdisciplinary analysis of south-east European media systems that explains continuity, change and divergence between the six cases. It deserves to be read not only by scholars of the region but by those considering how to approach more generally the study of comparative media systems and cultures.
John Downey, Professor of Comparative Media Analysis, Loughborough University
There was the need to fill a gap in the study of media systems in Southeast Europe. This book is doing this in a very convincing way. Peruško and colleagues support their discussion of the media systems in Southeast Europe with a rich and often complex interpretative apparatus deriving both from media studies and political science. Undoubtedly this mixture represents a major enrichment of their attempt that opens the doors to other possible applications, avoiding the frequent self-reference that often characterizes media studies.
Paolo Mancini
This book reveals major changes in media systems in the six post-socialist countries of Southeast Europe between their early development in the late 19th century and the end of the socialist period (1945-1990) after World War II, and the breakup of their common state of Yugoslavia (1918-1990). The authors follow common threads of changes in contemporary media policy and media systems from the prolific challenges they pose to democracies to the appalling combination of conditions that reinforce media dependence on agents of political and economic power in what they call a "hybrid and competitive authoritarian media systems". This is an important contribution to comparative media studies, providing an exciting insight into media culture across diverse national contexts and advancing a theoretical understanding of the complex and little-known changes in the post-socialist countries of the former Yugoslavia.
Slavko Splichal, University of Ljubljana
Peruško, Vozab and Čuvalo’s book focusing on one of the most troubled regions of European history is an important contribution to the study of comparative media systems. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, this excellent study offers historical depth, conceptual innovation and methodological sophistication and will be a benchmark for future comparative research in the field. A fascinating read for everybody interested in the transformation of media systems in emerging democracies!
Katrin Voltmer, Professor of Communication and Democracy, University of Leeds
Aeron Davis, Natalie Fenton, Des Freedman and Gholam Khiabany
Sage, October 2020
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/1526456966/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_hsch_vapi_tu00_p1_i4
When we a re told so regularly that we live in a ‘post truth’ age and are surrounded by ‘fake news’, it can be tempting to think of politics as primarily media ted. Discussion and analysis of public affairs is preoccupied with the power and reach of platforms or the passion and rage of social media exchanges. As important as these issues may be, a focus on the communicative risks downgrading the political.
Media, Democracy and Social Change puts politics back into political communications. It shows how within a digital media ecology, the wider context of neoliberal capitalism remains essential for understanding what political communications is and can hope to be.
Tackling broad themes of structural inequality, technological change, political realignment and social transformation, the book explores political communications as it relates to debates around the state, infrastructures, elites, populism, political parties, activism, the legacies of colonialism, and more.
It is both an expert introduction to the field of political communications, and a critical intervention to help re-imagine what a democratic politics might mean in a digital age. It will be essential reading for students, researchers and activists.
Aeron Davis, Natalie Fenton, Des Freedman and Gholam Khiabany all work at the Department of Media and Communication at Goldsmiths, University of London, where they teach together on the MA in Political Communications.
1 Putting Politics Back Into Political Communications
2 Infrastructures of Political Communications
3 The State of Political Communications
4 Elites, Experts, Power and Democracy
5 Democracy Without Political Parties?
6 The Violence of an Illiberal Liberalism
7 Political Communications, Civil Society and the Commons
8 Intellectuals and the Re-imagining of Political Communications
October 22 – November 12, 2020
International Symposium
Hosted by Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University
https://www.westernsydney.edu.au/ics/events/contagion_design
Organizers: Gay Hawkins and Ned Rossiter
Summary
How is contagion designed? How do labour, migration, habits and data configure contagion? Across a program of four weeks of discussion and debate, this event explores the current conjuncture through these vectors to address issues of rising unemployment, restricted movement increasing governance of populations through data systems and the compulsory redesign of habits. Design logics underscore both biological contagion and political technologies. Contagion is redesigning how labour and migration are differentially governed, experienced and indeed produced. Habits generate modes of exposure and protection from contagion and become a resource for managing biological and social life.
Data turns contagion into models that make a virus actionable and calculable. But can the logic of pre-emption and prediction ever accommodate and control the contingencies of a virus? The aim of this event is to explore these issues and their implications for cultural, social and political research. If contagion never abandons the scene of the present, if it persists as a constitutive force in the production of social life, how might we redesign the viral as the friend we love to hate?
This event organised by the Institute for Culture and Society at Western Sydney University includes speakers from the ICS together with national and international colleagues.
Please note: there are 4 events held over a 4-week period. The details of each event are included below, including the links to register. You may register for all or some of the events. Please register separately for each event you would like to attend.
Full pdf of the symposium program can be downloaded from the url above.
Migration and Labour
22 October, 11:30am – 1pm
Register on Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/yyyhns6s
Chair: Brett Neilson
Ritajyoti Bandyopadhyay, ‘Economic Informality and Democracy in India at the Time of Covid-19’
Joyce Liu, ‘What Comes After the Lockdown? A New Wave of Nationalisation and the Local Divide’
Anne McNevin, ‘Temporal Contagion as an Antidote to Renationalization’
Contagious Mutualities
29 October, 4–5.30pm
Register on Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/y6x2brga
Chair: Katherine Gibson
Stephen Healy and Declan Kuch, ‘Contagious Mutuality: Spreading Postcapitalist Possibilities’
Peter North, ‘Building Back Better in the UK or Back to Work?’
Teppo Eskelinen, ‘Redefining Community in Nordic Countries After the Pandemic’
Habits of Contagion
4 November, 4–5.30pm
Register on Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/y4yto3jo
Chair: Tony Bennett
Franck Cochoy, ‘On the Art of Burying One's Face in a Band: How the Sanitary Mask Encounters the Habits of Laypersons and Experts’
Ben Dibley, ‘Demophobia and the Infrastructures of Infection’ Gay Hawkins, ‘Social Distance: Security, Suggestion, Insecurity’
Data Contagion
12 November, 11am – 12.30pm
Register on Eventbrite: https://tinyurl.com/y5ed2lb6
Chair: Ned Rossiter
Mark Andrejevic, ‘Biometrics “at-a-distance”: Touchlessness and the Securitization of Circulation’
Rolien Hoyng, ‘Datafication and Contingency in Circular Economies’ Orit Halpern, ‘Resilient Natures: Algorithmic Finance, Radical Events and Ecological Models’
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society
Are you interested and engaged in the social and political debates on AI? Do you question why the trolley problem has been at the centre of these debates for so long and wonder whether AI is more than just deep learning? Are you interested and experienced in interdisciplinary research on digitisation and society? Then we look forward to receiving your application!
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) is looking for a committed PhD candidate for the Shaping AI project.
The successful candidate will work in the research project “Shaping 21st Century AI. Controversies and Closure in Media, Policy, and Research” (SHAPING AI) for 3 years, in an 65% capacity (TVL 13). Family & travel support, as well as support for the procurement of research materials are included. Starting date for the position is February 1, 2021.
This international joint project – with partners in the UK, France and Canada – empirically investigates the formation of “artificial intelligence” (AI) as a central socio-technical institution in contemporary societies. Over a ten-year period (2012-2021), we will conduct a comparative study of the issue career, framing and problematisation of AI in the four participating countries and in three domains: media, politics and technical research. The HIIG will act as consortium lead.
Key Responsibilities
• Development of a dissertation topic within the scope of the project
• Independent implementation of sub studies within the project (e.g. on policy debates and regulation of AI, on media debate and on technical research in Germany)
• Contributions to design and implementation of the research project
• Collaboration and communication with international project partners
• Publication of scientific articles in relevant journals, submission of conference papers and development of formats for knowledge transfer to a wider public, e.g. through events, blog posts, etc.
• Support or expansion of existing scientific networks of the institute
Requirements and Preferred Qualifications
• Eligible candidates will have a very good university degree, ideally based in the social sciences with a topic related to the above-mentioned field
• Initial experience in social-science based Internet research, ideally with a focus on one or more of the following fields: AI, regulation/governance/ethics, science communication, controversies about science and technology.
• Initial empirical experience with document analysis, discourse analysis and/or critical data and algorithm research, including digital methods, is desirable
• Great interest in interdisciplinary research, first experiences in interdisciplinary cooperation are desirable
• Open-mindedness for international scientific cooperation, ideally substantiated by experience abroad
• Independence, creative will, sense of responsibility, motivation and teamwork
• Business fluency in German and very good knowledge of English are mandatory
Resources & Benefits
• Independent research and creative opportunities to develop your own scientific profile, gain visibility and publish at a high level
• Participation in the development and establishment of a new research project with room for own ideas in cooperation with the project management
• International project context with a highly visible and relevant topic
• Strong international and interdisciplinary networking and cooperation with renowned project partners
• The opportunity to gain a doctorate, participation in the doctoral programme and the mentoring programme and other excellent exchange and networking opportunities
• An attractive and family-friendly working environment with flexible working hours, flat hierarchies in an embodied alternative to the traditional science business
• A highly motivated team that works very closely together and committed colleagues from various disciplines in a forward-looking institute in the heart of Berlin
Application Instructions
Do you recognise yourself in the profile described? Then we look forward to receiving your application with a letter of motivation, CV and relevant certificates. Please enclose a 1-2 page sketch with first ideas for a doctoral thesis topic within the project “Shaping AI”. Please submit the documents using the online form below. The review of applications will start on November 2, 2020. The call for applications will remain online and thus open until a suitable applicant is found. The careful screening and selection of our new team members is very important to us and we ask for your understanding that we will conduct several selection interviews during the process. If you have any questions regarding the content of the position, please contact Dr. Christian Katzenbach (christian.katzenbach@hiig.de).
https://www.hiig.de/en/doktorandin-m-w-d-fuer-das-projekt-shaping-ai/
The Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Internet and Society (HIIG) is looking for a committed postdoc for the Shaping AI project.
The successful candidate will work in the research project “Shaping 21st Century AI. Controversies and Closure in Media, Policy, and Research” (SHAPING AI) for 3 years, in an 80% capacity (TVL 13 or 14, depending on your qualification) in cooperation with the head of research programme “The evolving digital society” and in close coordination with the research directorate. Family & travel support, as well as support for the procurement of research materials are included. Starting date for the position is February 1, 2021.
• Joint responsibility and scope for development in the design of the research topic and the implementation of the research project
• Coordination of the international research network together with project management, cooperation in communication and coordination with project partners
• Development of comparative research designs for the comparison of empirical results at the consortium level
• Supervision of sub-studies, executed by PhD candidate and graduate students (e.g. on policy debates and regulation of AI, on media debate and on technical research in Germany)
• Publication of scientific articles in leading international journals, submission of conference papers and development of formats of knowledge transfer for a broader public, e.g. through events, blog posts, etc.
• Support and expansion of existing scientific networks of the institute
• Monitoring of funding lines and tenders, raising of third-party funds by participating in public tenders or by supporting the fundraising activities of the HIIG, especially in the field of AI and society
• Eligible candidates will have an outstanding university degree and a completed doctorate in social sciences, ideally related to the above-mentioned field
• Experience in social-science based internet research, documented by relevant publications and lectures, ideally with a focus on one or more of the following fields: AI, regulation/governance/ethics, science communication, controversies about science and technology.
• Empirical experience with document analysis, discourse analysis and/or critical data and algorithm research, including digital methods, are desirable
• Great interest in interdisciplinary research, ideally already experience in interdisciplinary cooperation
• Open-mindedness for international scientific cooperation, ideally substantiated by relevant experience abroad or within existing cooperations
• Initial experience in project management and the coordination of distributed work processes as well as very good communication skills are desirable
• Fluent business English is mandatory, good command of German is desirable
• Development and establishment of a new research project with leeway for your own ideas and agenda in cooperation with the research programme manager and in close coordination with the research directorate
Do you recognize yourself in the profile described? Then we are looking forward to receiving your application along with a letter of motivation, curriculum vitae, and relevant certificates. Please include a 1-2 page research sketch with first ideas of how you imagine the empirical implementation of the above mentioned topics of the project “Shaping AI”. Please submit the documents using the online form below. The review of applications will start on November 2, 2020 and the call for applications will remain open until a suitable applicant is found. The careful screening and selection of our new team members is very important to us and we ask for your patience that we will conduct several interviews during the process. If you have any questions regarding the content of the job advertisement, please contact project lead Dr. Christian Katzenbach (katzenbach@hiig.de).
https://www.hiig.de/en/postdoktorandin-m-w-d-fuer-das-projekt-shaping-ai/
University of Sheffield
I am currently hiring a postdoc to work with me on my new project.
Drones in Visual Culture: Developing a New Theory of Visual Mobile Communication, led by Dr Elisa Serafinelli (me) & funded by the AHRC, aims to understand whether and how the use of drone technology in society is changing the way people see the world and our visual culture more broadly, and to extend and innovate current theoretical approaches to visual mobile communication. More information can be found here: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FT012528%2F1 .
I am appointing a post-doctoral research associate for one year, 50% FTE. The successful applicant will have, or be in the process of submitting, a PhD in a relevant area. Knowledge of relevant theories in the fields of visual communication, cultural studies and digital media, along with experience in qualitative research and visual analysis would be advantageous. Experience of conducting research under the national research ethics framework is essential. Effective communication skills, both written and verbal, report writing skills, and experience of delivering presentations are also essential along with strong IT skills.
Job Reference Number: UOS026614
Contract Type: Fixed-term for 12 months
Working Pattern: Part-time working 50% FTE, days of working to be agreed
Salary: Grade 7: £31,866 - £34,804 pro-rata per annum.
Closing Date: 11th November 2020
More details of the post can be found HERE, or you can email me (e.serafinelli@sheffield.ac.uk)
Call for Chapters: Edited Collection
Deadline: December 21, 2020
Co-editors:
Calling for chapters for an edited collection for proposal to the Palgrave Series on Screenwriting devoted to the concepts, practices, challenges and opportunities associated with narrative screenwriting for virtual reality media.
In recent years, a new wave of virtual reality technologies has transformed the notion of immersive narrative-based storytelling, creating powerful opportunities for the creation of embodied works that foreground the experience of the viewer/user. Drawing upon the visual language and tropes inherited from film and television, video games, theatre, video art, historical and contemporary art/architecture, VR technologies allow writers and creators to reimagine relationships between narrative agents and audience and to explore new forms of screen-based interactivity. Such writing calls for new considerations of ‘story world,’ point of view and viewer agency.
Writing on screenwriting in the digital age in 2014, Kathryn Millard observes that “screenwriting is a living art, constantly in transition” uncovering innovative forms of development, collaborative ecologies, and digital writing tools. Emerging scholarship published in the /Journal of Screenwriting/ expands this notion for the VR context (see Dooley 2018; Larsen 2018; Ross and Munt 2018) and now calls for the undertaking of further research to illuminate this exciting and dynamic area of screenwriting for virtual reality.
This edited collection will explore how VR technologies such as 360-degree production, game engines, and development software continue to evolve the notion of writing for the screen, defined by innovative and creative approaches and/or divergences from screenwriting/screenplay practices associated with prior media. What can emerging screenwriting practices in this new domain tell us about the future of screenwriting – and the screenplay redesign for immersive contexts?
We seek reflections on creative approaches, analysis of narrative strategies and case-studies in screenwriting, scripting and the screenplay for virtual reality media. Chapters may include (but are not limited to) the following topics:
Submission Guidelines:
Please send an abstract of 350 words, along with a brief bibliography (3-5 sources) demonstrating the proposed chapter’s theoretical foundations, and a short biography (100 words) by Monday 21st December 2020 to Dr Kath Dooley (kath.dooley@curtin.edu.au) and Dr Alex Munt (alex.munt@uts.edu.au).
Please include “Screenwriting for Virtual Reality Media” in the subject header, and copy both editors on initial submissions and any further correspondence.
Chapter Guidelines:
Once abstracts are collected, they will be proposed to series editors and the publisher, Palgrave Macmillan, for a collection to be included in their ‘Studies in Screenwriting ’series. No payment from authors is required.
After abstract acceptance from the publisher, selected authors will be asked to write chapters of 7,000 to 8,000 words including references by an agreed-upon date to be determined (depending on publisher’s timetable) aligned with the Palgrave house style for the series.
References
Dooley, K. (2018). Scripting the virtual: Formats and development paths for recent Australian narrative 360-degree virtual reality projects. /Journal of Screenwriting/, /9/(2), 175-189.
Larsen, M. (2018). Virtual sidekick: Second-person POV in narrative VR. /Journal of screenwriting/, /9/(1), 73-83.
Millard, K. (2014). /Screenwriting in a digital era/. Springer.
Ross, M., & Munt, A. (2018). Cinematic virtual reality: Towards the spatialized screenplay. /Journal of Screenwriting/, /9/(2), 191-209.
October 26-29, 2020
ICRRA online conference
Please see below details of a forthcoming international conference that is being convened by The International Cultural Relations Research Alliance (ICRRA) - a global network of researchers and practitioners from across the world who are interested in research on international cultural relations.
Free to attend and open to all, but advance registration required. To register, visit: https://www.ifa.de/en/conference/cultural-relations-and-crisis/
This ICRRA conference examines the state, shape and role of international cultural relations at a time of global crisis. The Covid-19 pandemic and other longstanding global challenges and crises and the intersections between them – including the climate emergency, rising geopolitical tensions, population displacement, and persistent social injustice and inequality – are having a profound impact on efforts to build trust, enhance cooperation and understanding across national borders, and develop intercultural dialogue. How should cultural relations researchers and practitioners respond to this? What can we learn from each other? What are the emerging themes and priorities for future research, practice and policy insight? From 26-29 October 2020 researchers, practitioners, policy makers and others interested in the above topics and questions are warmly invited to join ICRRA members to discuss international cultural relations under the overarching theme ‘Cultural Relations and Crisis: Results, Impact, New Questions’.
Keynote speakers:
Other contributions include members of the ICRRA network and a panel discussion drawing on the experiences of those actively involved in shaping cultural relations through programmes, movements, actions and initiatives on the ground in different parts of the world.
We look forward to seeing you at the conference!
Programme Coordinator,
Dialogue and Research “Culture and Foreign Policy”
ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen)
Senior Research Advisor
Research & Policy Insight
British Council
(On behalf of ICRRA)
University of Houston
The Jack J. Valenti School of Communication at the University of Houston invites applications for a tenure-track assistant professor position to teach courses in media production beginning in Fall of 2021.
The candidate will need to have demonstrated a substantive record of research, or the potential thereof. The successful candidate would be expected to teach undergraduate courses in media production and/or multimedia and visual journalism, and graduate courses in journalism/mass communication. The successful candidate will have teaching or professional experience in areas such as narrative or documentary production, broadcast journalism, multimedia storytelling, podcasting, and/or data visualization. We welcome candidates whose experience in teaching, research, or community service has prepared them to contribute to our commitment to diversity and excellence.
Valenti hosts ~500 undergraduate students majoring in media production, and these students gain real-world experience taking classes and producing content in our Lance T. Funston Communication Center, which is a state-of-the-art media and content production facility at the Valenti School of Communication (https://uh.edu/…CC/). The Center encompasses 3,300 square-feet of production space between its two studios, complete with high definition studio camera.
The University of Houston is responsive to the needs of dual career couples. The University of Houston is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action employer. Minorities, women, veterans, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.
Qualifications: The successful candidate will have teaching or professional experience in areas such as narrative or documentary production, broadcast journalism, multimedia storytelling, podcasting, and/or data visualization. A Ph.D. is required.
Notes to Applicant: Official transcripts are required for a faculty appointment and will be requested upon selection of final candidate. All positions at the University of Houston are security sensitive and will require a criminal history check. Incomplete applications may not be considered.
Required Attachments by Candidate: Curriculum Vitae, Cover Letter/Letter of Application
For more information, visit: https://uhs.taleo.net/…497
You can also contact the chair of the Search Committee, Dr. Beth Olson (bmolson@Central.UH.EDU)
Journal: Media and Communication
Submission of Abstracts: December 15, 2020
Submission of Full Papers: April 15-30, 2021
Publication of the Issue: October/December 2021
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication
Editors: Salla-Maaria Laaksonen (University of Helsinki, Finland) and Mikko Villi (University of Jyväskylä, Finland)
The thematic issue explores the widening scope of media work and the institutional and organizational conditions that support new forms of media work. Media work has been affected, for example, by the emergence of new digital players and changes in consumers’ media behavior. The changes give rise to new forms of work in the media but also to media work in organizations in other fields. Forms of media work are emerging, for example, in various organizations who aim for professional, media-like content production as a part of their communication strategy, or communications agencies who produce communication and marketing content for their customers.
For this issue, we invite theoretical and empirical papers that study the changing nature of media work as well as the new institutional environments for media work from different perspectives, including but not limited to:
More information: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/nextissues#NewFormsMedia
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