European Communication Research and Education Association
University of Zurich, Department of Communication and Media Research (IKMZ)
The doctoral position is based in the division "International and Comparative Communication Research" headed by Professor Frank Esser. This division is part of the Department of Communication and Media Research at the University of Zurich (IKMZ). The department offers an outstanding research and teaching environment, a wide range of work areas and an inspiring intellectual climate.
Your responsibilities
Completion of a dissertation in three to four years
Collaborating in existing projects and developing new projects with members of the team "International and Comparative Communication Research"
Research and teaching in innovative areas of political communication, digital journalism, news audience research and neighboring areas
Teaching in German at BA level
Your profile
Excellent Master's degree in Communication Studies
Strong interest in international comparative communication research
Experience with quantitative methods and data analysis (e.g. content analysis, surveys, experiments); interest in computational methods
Fluent in English and German
What we offer
An outstanding research and teaching Environment
A wide range of work areas and an inspiring intellectual climate
A culture of cooperation and mutual support
Excellent opportunities for national and international networking
Place of work
Andreasstrasse 15, 8050 Zurich
Start of employment
Start of employment is November 1, 2020 or later
Please send us the following documents through the button below:
A letter of motivation addressing the match between your profile and the position
Deadline: October 23, 2020
Further information
Prof. Dr. Frank Esser
Apply here: https://jobs.uzh.ch/offene-stellen/research-and-teaching-assistant/a3eba080-3914-44ac-ab1f-cd7f0734d403?fbclid=IwAR0ytv3owRePejTCTD80PfuDKFeGsxMECNWeC0lzrUFBWX7Z5d9OLRXNPOQ
December 4, 2020
University of applied sciences Kufstein Tyrol (Kufstein, Austria)
Deadline: October 10, 2020
Online academic conference “Trends in Business Communication 2020” (TIBCOM), December 4th, 2020.
Launched in 2013, our academic conference “Trends in Business Communication” (TIBCOM) has developed over the years into a benchmark in the scientific marketing and communication scene in Austria. Every year, scientific issues and case studies in the field of communication and marketing are being dealt with at the conference.
This year for the first time we are organising an online only conference with the focus on scientific research in the fields of Marketing and Communication. A peer review process ensures the quality of the submitted contributions. All accepted full papers will be published in a conference proceedings at the prestigious publisher Springer Gabler.
Please refer to the detailed Call for Papers and your options for participating in the Download Center at the bottom of this page (https://www.fhkufstein.ac.at/eng/Events/TIBCOM-2020).
We are looking forward to welcoming you in Kufstein!
May 26-28, 2021
Eberhard Karls University, Tübingen, Germany
Deadline: October 31, 2020
8th Rhetoric in Society Conference
Organized by the Rhetoric Society of Europe in collaboration with the Institute for General Rhetoric and the Institute for Media Studies at Tübingen University
http://ris8.org/
We are very happy to announce that proposals are now invited for panels, papers, roundtables, and other forms of presentation to be delivered at Rhetoric in Society 8, which is the biannual conference organized by the Rhetoric Society of Europe. The conference is scheduled to take place from May 26th to 28th 2021 at Eberhard Karls University in Tübingen, Germany.
The incalculable nature of the COVID-19 pandemic obliges us to remain precautious. As the safety of our conference participants is of highest concern, we ought to point out that in an event of the pandemic extending into the late spring of 2021, the conference will be postponed. However, we remain optimistic and encourage you to submit your papers and panels and are looking forward to welcoming you in Tübingen.
We invite proposals for:
- Papers or panels which speak directly to the conference theme (explained below);
- Papers or panels which address general issues related to the theory, analysis & practice of rhetoric in society;
- Other kinds of presentations such as roundtables, world cafés or debates.
Rhetoric as Strategic Thinking
With its focus on ‘strategy’ and ‘strategic thinking,’ the Rhetoric in Society 8 conference discusses the ways we define rhetoric as a specific form of communication, argumentation, persuasion, or mediation. Strategic thinking as a complex cognitive activity involves the mental representation of a goal as well as an understanding of the ways and means to achieve this goal through communicative action. Rhetors are expected to imagine a number of possible scenarios before deciding on a specific strategy and even to adjust this strategy during a campaign or even during a single speech. As Quintilian famously put it in his Institutio oratoria (II, 13, 2, transl. Butler): “If the whole of rhetoric could be thus embodied in one compact code, it would be an easy task of little compass: but most rules are liable to be altered by the nature of the case, circumstances time and place, and by hard necessity itself. Consequently, the allimportant gift for an orator is a wise adaptability since he is called upon to meet the most varied emergencies.” The bellicose metaphor of the commander (strategos) is often used in ancient rhetorical theories to conceive of the orator’s ability to adjust a strategic plan to specific circumstances or specific audiences. Like the commander, Quintilian’s orator has to find answers “in the circumstances of the case.” (Institutio oratoria, II, 13, 5, transl. Butler)
The conference endeavors to discuss rhetoric as strategic thinking in order to both define and question a key characteristic of rhetorical communication. It does so by exploring different concepts from different disciplinary backgrounds, such as argumentation, strategic maneuvering, imagination and mental simulation, rhetorical agency, situational rhetoric, literature and linguistics, political theory, communication and media studies, organizational rhetoric/communication, public relations, philosophy of language and many more. We would also like to discuss the blurring boundaries between rhetoric and other forms of strategic communication such as manipulation, propaganda, or populism, to assess the strategies applied by human and non-human actors in scripted or artificial media environments, and to explore the conditions responsible for the success or failure of rhetorical strategies and tactics in societies that are increasingly coping with polarization, radicalization and deception.
General papers
We also invite proposals for papers and panels more generally concerned with the theory, practice or analysis of rhetoric. This may include, for example, historical scholarship, theoretical analysis and contemporary cultural or political critique; work grounded in political theory, philosophy, languages and linguistics, argumentation, literary studies, communication studies, composition, media studies, psychology, sociology, history, cultural studies and more. Papers might be comparative, national or international in focus, concerned with particular orators, ideologies or movements and focus on spoken, written or audio-visual communication.
Alternative presentations
We welcome proposals for forms of presentation other than panels and papers. This might include: roundtables addressing key rhetorical themes, works or phenomena; debates between contending positions; other, novel and effective ways of communicating research findings, claims and arguments.
How to submit a proposal
Please submit your paper proposals by September 31, 2020 to ris8@rhetorik.unituebingen.de
We will inform you about our decision in December 2020.
Please do not submit more than two proposals. Panel proposals should not comprise more than four individual papers.
Individual Paper Proposals
All individual paper proposals must be written in English and submitted to the Committee with the following information:
- Title
- Author name
- Email address
- Affiliation
- Abstract (300 words maximum)
Session Proposals
Session Organizers should submit session proposals written in English to the Committee with the following information:
- Session title
- Session abstract of 300 words maximum
- List of participants including chair, presenters and discussants (if applicable), their email addresses, and the names of the institutions that they are associated with
- The related paper abstracts (300 words maximum/ paper)
Ashley Riggs
This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. It is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation.
This book demonstrates the central role played by the stylistic features of online news in constructing meaning and shaping cultural representations of people and places – in particular, France and Muslims/Islam. Taking the 2016 violent attack in Nice, France as a case study, Ashley Riggs analyses online news coverage of the attack from the UK, Spain, and Switzerland, three distinct linguistic and cultural spaces. An innovative mixed-methods approach, including content analysis and elements of translation criticism and comparative stylistics, is used to analyse this corpus, revealing the frequency and influence of stylistic devices found in online news and exploring how they help to shape reader interpretations.
Drawing conclusions about journalistic practices by place and interrogating the notions of 'European identity' and 'European journalism', Stylistic Deceptions in Online News reveals how stylistic features may vary according to both political leanings and national and regional contexts, and the influence these features have upon readers.
Table of contents
1. Introduction
2. Terrorism in “European” News: What Role for Translation Studies?
3. Comparing British, Spanish and Swiss Societies: Politics, Social Attitudes, Language and the News
4. Analysis of Stylistic Features in British, Spanish and French-Language Swiss News
5. Comparative Conclusions
6. Stylistic Features of News as a Catalyst for Change? Lessons for Journalism, Translation Studies and “Europe”
Reviews
“This book delves into media representations of Islamic terrorism in three Western societies (Britain, Spain and Switzerland) and analyses journalistic translation from a novel perspective. Combining cultural, linguistic and political approaches, the author demonstrates the important role played by the stylistic features of modality, alliteration and metaphor in the reproduction of stereotyped images of Muslims via news production and translation. A must-read for all those interested in journalistic translation, news media, and image studies.” – Roberto A. Valdeón, Professor of English, University of Oviedo, Spain
“This book analyses news reports on terrorist attacks in France in media from different countries, focussing on their stylistic features and the role of translation in re-presenting events and cultures. It reveals the significance of the journalists' stylistic choices in shaping the messages. This focus on style makes an original contribution to news translation research.” – Christina Schäffner, Emeritus Professor of Translation Studies, Aston University, UK
“Focusing on details of language use in the online media coverage of violence, Ashley Riggs convincingly shows how stylistic choice reverberates – and can foster – intercultural (mis-)understanding. In a nutshell: style matters, and so does this book.” – Daniel Perrin, Professor of Applied Linguistics, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland
“Weaving a rich tapestry of data and examples and adopting a broad definition of translation, Ashley Riggs's book challenges many of our core assumptions about stylistic choices and their influential role in shaping the messages conveyed by news articles and the readers' representations.” – María José Hernández Guerrero, Professor of Translation and Interpreting, University of Malaga, Spain
University of Washington
Academic Personnel: College of Arts and Sciences: SOCIAL SCIENCES DIVISION: Communication
Location: Seattle, WA
Open Date: Sep 17, 2020
Description
The Department of Communication seeks a tenure-track assistant professor of political communication. This position will utilize a strong grounding in theories of public opinion to establish and maintain a dynamic research agenda that illuminates the media’s role in attitude formation and opinion management in democratic societies and how these processes play out across lines of social and political difference.
This full-time position has an anticipated start date of September 16, 2021 and will have a nine-month service period. Tenure-track faculty in the department are expected to produce a significant line of research, teach undergraduate and graduate classes, work with graduate students at the master’s and doctoral levels, and engage in departmental, university, and disciplinary service.
The Department of Communication is founded on the principles of intellectual and cultural pluralism, equity, interdisciplinarity, innovation through collaboration, and public scholarship. The Department’s statement on difference and equity can be found at http://www.com.washington.edu/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/Difference-and-Equity-Statement.pdf.
Information about the faculty, departmental centers (Center for Journalism, Media and Democracy as well as the Center for Communication, Difference, and Equity), degree programs, and course offerings can be found at http://www.com.washington.edu.
Qualifications
Candidates must have a Ph.D., or foreign equivalent, in Communication or a related field by the start of the appointment.
Application Instructions
Candidates should submit the following: (1) a two-page letter of interest outlining the candidate’s research trajectory in political communication and explaining how that research meets the job criteria and complements/extends existing strengths in the department; (2) a separate two-page teaching statement that includes the candidate’s pedagogical philosophy and identifies existing and new courses the candidate is qualified to teach; (3) a two-page diversity statement that describes the candidate’s experiences with and commitments to difference, race, equity, and social justice in research, teaching, and/or service; (4) a curriculum vitae; (5) two article-length academic writing samples; and (6) the names and contact information of three referees. Application materials must be submitted online through
Interfolio. Priority will be given to applications received before October 18, 2020. Inquiries can be directed to the search committee chairs Patricia Moy (pmoy@uw.edu) and Matthew Powers (mjpowers@uw.edu).
June 21-23, 2021
Rome (IT)
Deadline: November 15, 2020
Conference Website: https://www.detect-project.eu/detect2021/
CONFIRMED KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
More info about the speakers: http://www.detect-project.eu/keynote-speakers/
Among the different expressions of popular culture, no other genre more than crime – meant as a composite made up of many different variants or subgenres -- has proved able to travel and expand its reach into international markets and with audiences. Nor has any other genre been more adept at laying bare the conflicts and contradictions – social, political and historical – that characterise contemporary European societies. The Detecting Europe conference offers an open forum to explore and discuss how narratives of crime and investigation, as well as their production and reception, have helped define the major industrial, commercial, thematic and stylistic trends of European popular culture since 1989, fostering both the transnational circulation of its products and the appearance of new transcultural representations in line with the emergence
of new social identities. We welcome proposals that interrogate the notion of Europeanness as a critical category, and its viability for the study of contemporary popular culture, both in print and screen media. We wish to explore both the scope and limits of the interrelated notions of transnational identity and cosmopolitanism when applied to the works of European crime fiction, including print fiction, film, and TV.
A few general — but not exclusive — questions may be asked. Are we to conceive of cosmopolitanism and the process of European transculturation merely as unifying factors, fostering the generation of a shared and uniform transnational identity? Or should we better acknowledge the existence of a variety of European transcultural identities, expressed in different writing and audio-visual styles, characteristic narrative models, place-specific production cultures and distribution and consumption patterns? What is the impact of national media ecologies in shaping the idea of the European, and how the national translate the European when foreign products appear in its mediascape? Should hybridization and transculturation be assumed as markers and powerful drivers of cultural homologation? Or rather the opposite is true, namely that cultural hybridization entails a growing differentiation of narrative forms and styles, contents and formats, production and reception practices, thus contributing to the emergence of a post-national assemblage of multiple and possibly diverging cosmopolitan identities? We deem it important, at this particular time, that the notion of Europeanness and its eventual instantiations in contemporary crime narratives is approached having in mind the multiple crises that are currently affecting the continent and its population.
We invite proposals from multiple fields of cultural studies, including representation studies, industry and production studies, and reception and audience studies. Possible topics may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Conference Chairs
Monica Dall’Asta (University of Bologna), Federico Pagello (University of Chieti-Pescara), Valentina Re (Link Campus University)
Organizing Committee
Luca Antoniazzi (University of Bologna), Sara Casoli (University of Bologna), Massimiliano Coviello (Link Campus University), Paola De Rosa (Link Campus University), Lorenzo Orlando (Link Campus University)
Advisory Board
Stefano Arduini (Link Campus University), Maurizio Ascari (University of Bologna), Jan Baetens (KU Leuven), Luca Barra (University of Bologna), Stefano Baschiera (Queen’s University Belfast), Giulia Carluccio (University of Turin), Silvana Colella (University of Macerata), Caius Dobrescu (University of Bucharest), Andrea Esser (University of Roehampton), Nicola Ferrigni (Link Campus University), Katarina Gregersdotter (Umeå University), Kim Toft Hansen (Aalborg University), Annette Hill (University of Lund), Dominique Jeannerod (Queen’s University Belfast), Sandor Kalai (University of Debrecen), Matthieu Letourneux (University Paris Nanterre), Natacha Levet (University of Limoges), Giacomo Manzoli (University of Bologna), Janet McCabe (Birkbeck University), Jacques Migozzi (University of Limoges), Andrew Pepper (Queen’s University Belfast), Marica Spalletta (Link Campus University)
Submissions guidelines
Submissions are welcome as individual papers (max. 20 minutes) and pre-constituted panels (3/4 papers).
Individual presenters are required to provide their name, email address, the title of the paper, an abstract (max. 300 words), references (max. 200 words), and a short bio (max. 150 words).
Submit your paper proposal here
Submit your panel proposal here (panel organizers are also asked to submit a panel title and a short description of the panel (max. 300 words).
Deadlines and practicalities
Regular conference fee: €120
Reduced conference fee (PhD students, Postdoctoral researchers): €90
Further information: info@detect-project.eu
At present, we are still planning to hold the conference in person at Link Campus University, taking all the necessary health and safety precautions required by Italian authorities. We will also be monitoring national and international guidelines for health and safety to communicate any changes in a timely manner.
(Fees include: coffee breaks, 2 light lunches, 1 light dinner, 1 welcome drink).
The conference is supported by CUC – Consulta Universitaria del Cinema, Italy
January 20–22, 2021
DAMSLab, University of Bologna
Deadline: October 30, 2020
International conference promoted by the Department of the Arts, Alma Mater Studiorum – University of Bologna, Universidad de Murcia and IULM University, Milan.
Open Arts is an international conference aimed at exploring new forms of circulation of the cultural heritage and the arts. These result on one side from the increasing interest of the film and media industry, and on the other from the employment of multimedia technologies and the Internet by artists, museum institutions and exhibition spaces. In this regard, specific attention is devoted to the strategies developed in response to the COVID crisis. For this first edition, we are looking for papers that offer a reflection on the new audiovisual forms of valorization, dissemination, and circulation of the cultural heritage and the visual and performing arts. Through their contributions, scholars, artists and media professionals will reflect on a range of audiovisual products and multimedia strategies, questioning both their content and their media dimension. The conference will be accompanied by a cycle of screenings and the publication of a volume.
Following a growing sensitivity towards the sustainability of cultural heritage, or the economic and social balance of the labor of all the subjects working to enhance artistic heritage, the visual and performing arts today – contrarily to the avant-gardes of the last century – have not sought legitimacy by distancing themselves from popular culture. On the contrary, between the search for sponsorship and the needs related to the support of tourism, arts education or art literacy, they remain closer than ever to the media industry in an attempt to reach a wider audience. Documentaries and biopics on contemporary art and artists, the cultural heritage, architecture and the performing arts, as well as new streaming services for artists’ films and videos, and the use of multimedia devices in museums: these are no longer seen as tools that invalidate the intellectual dimension of art, but as strategic components for its circulation and appreciation.
An increasingly diverse media scenario allows artists and cultural operators to experiment with new forms of research, knowledge, and uses of the arts without having to clash with the logic of mass entertainment. This promotes a democratization of art, which becomes an increasingly less elitist and more relevant area in public life. The recurring issues that emerge include the renewed position of the audience, the use of social media and interactive technological devices in exhibition spaces, and the opening of contemporary artistic practices to an increasingly widespread visual culture. For this first edition of the conference, particular attention will be paid to the various multimedia strategies developed by museum institutions and exhibition spaces during the emergency period of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, characterized by an acceleration of new forms of experience and knowledge in order to respect social distancing and domestic isolation.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
Proposals should include:
We are seeking for speakers from different scholarly fields such as art history, film studies, media studies, visual studies, museum studies, architecture, and the performing arts. To propose a paper for a 20 minute talk, please send an abstract of no more than 300 words and a short bio of 150 words in a single PDF no later than 30 October 2020 to m.cucco@unibo.it and francesco.spampinato@unibo.it
Speakers will be notified by November 16th. Both on-line and in person presentations are allowed. Organizers will confirm that the possibility to physically attend the conference by November 30th.
Presentations can be in English or Italian.
Steering committee: Joaquin Cànovas Belchì (Universidad de Murcia), Giacomo Manzoli (University of Bologna), Anna Rosellini (University of Bologna), Vincenzo Trione (IULM University, Milan).
Organizing committee: José Javier Aliaga Cárceles (Universidad de Murcia), Marco Cucco (University of Bologna), Anna Luigia De Simone (IULM University, Milan), Francesco Spampinato (University of Bologna), with the collaboration of Giorgio Avezzù (University of Bologna), Elisa Mandelli (Link Campus University, Rome) and Edoardo Milan (University of Bologna).
Grisold, Andrea and Paschal Preston (Eds.)
Oxford Univ. Press, 2020
ABSTRACT
Despite the rediscovery of the inequality topic by economists and other social scientists in recent times, relatively little is known about how economic inequality is mediated to the wider public. That is precisely where this book steps in: it examines how mainstream news media discuss, respond to, and engage with such important trends. The book addresses significant ‘blind spots’ in the two disciplinary areas most related to this book—political economy and media/journalism studies. Firstly, key issues related to economic inequalities tend to be neglected in media and journalism studies field. Secondly, mainstream economics have paid relatively little attention to the evolving scope and role of mediated communication.
CONTENTS:
Front Matter
1 Introduction, Paschal Preston and Andrea Grisold
2 Trends in Economic Inequality and News Mediascape, Hendrik Theine and Daniel Grabner
3 Inequality, Mediatization, and Critical Takes on Making the News, Paschal Preston
4 Media and Economic Inequality, Andrea Grisold and Hendrik Theine
5 Social Semiotics and Journalistic Discourses on Economics and Inequality, Maria Rieder and Henry Silke
6 Media Coverage of Economic Inequality, Maria Rieder, Henry Silke, and Hendrik Theine
7 Meritocracy, Markets, Social Mobility, Andrea Grisold and Henry Silke
8 Stagnation, Social Tensions, Unfairness, Daniel Grabner, Andrea Grisold, and Hendrik Theine
9 Is This Feasible?, Andrea Grisold, Maria Rieder, and Hendrik Theine
10 News Media and Economic Inequality, Andrea Grisold and Paschal Preston
Appendix 1 Newspapers Selected for Empirical Study
Appendix 2 The Coding Scheme Developed and Applied
Notes
References
Index
KEYWORDS:
Economic inequality, media and inequality, redistribution policies, news media and economic affairs, wealth taxes, economic journalism, critical discourse analysis, significant silences, journalism and inequality, discourse and power, transdisciplinary research, meritocracy, mediated public sphere
For Further Information, see: https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780190053901.001.0001/oso-9780190053901
University of Texas at Austin (U.S.)
The Department of Communication Studies at the University of Texas at Austin invites applications for an open rank, full-time, tenure-track faculty member interested in teaching and research on topics broadly related to interpersonal communication. The appointment will begin in August, 2021. Applicants must have completed a Ph.D. at the time of the appointment.
We define interpersonal communication broadly and welcome a diversity of epistemological and methodological perspectives. We seek an applicant who complements our current interpersonal faculty but would be particularly interested in those whose research focuses on topics such as health disparities and health equity, intercultural or interracial communication, bias, marginalized identities (LGBTQ+, Latinx, Black, and/or Indigenous identities), conflict and negotiation (e.g., dispute resolution, crisis management, bullying), social influence, nonverbal communication, and/or technology and relationships (e.g., technologically-mediated communication, virtual relationships, artificial intelligence and interpersonal communication). In addition to teaching graduate seminars, the ability to teach large undergraduate lecture classes and web-based courses on interpersonal communication topics is preferred.
Interested applicants should submit a letter of interest, current curriculum vitae, links to or copies of three representative publications, evidence of teaching effectiveness, and the names of at least three individuals to contact for letters of recommendation. Three confidential letters of recommendation will be requested of finalists.
Applicants are also required to submit a separate diversity statement, addressing their commitment to inclusivity and support for diverse populations, along with information on their past contributions to this work and their future plans in these areas.
The Department of Communication Studies and the Moody College of Communication are committed to achieving diversity in its faculty, students, and curricula, and we welcome applicants who can help achieve these objectives. For more information, please see: https://moody.utexas.edu/…ity
The committee will begin considering candidates onOctober 15, 2020 and will review applications until the position is filled. Applications must be made via Interfolio's ByCommittee solution at https://apply.interfolio.com/…422
If you do not have a Dossier account with Interfolio, you will be prompted to create one prior to applying for the position. If you have questions about using Interfolio, please email help@interfolio.com or call (877) 997-8807. Please note that a final determination on filling this position will be contingent on funding availability.
Questions can be directed to the chair of the search committee, Professor RenéDailey, at rdailey@austin.utexas.edu.
The University of Texas at Austin is a tobacco-free campus; for more information visit http://www.utexas.edu/…ee/
Department of Communication Studies: https://commstudies.utexas.edu/
Moody College of Communication: http://moody.utexas.edu/
Austin is a major center of governmental, technological, financial, health-related, environmental, and social-movement activities, along with hosting one of the leading public research universities in the world. The city is regularly rated as one of the best places to live in the U.S.
The University of Texas at Austin, as an equal opportunity/affirmative action employer, complies with all applicable federal and state laws regarding nondiscrimination and affirmative action. The University is committed to a policy of equal opportunity for all persons and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, disability, religion, or veteran status in employment, educational programs and activities, and admissions. This institution does not offer benefits to domestic partners. This institution offers benefits to spouses (including a common-law spouse with whom you’ve filed a Declaration of Informal Marriage).
March 26-27, 2021
Bucharest, Romania
Deadline: September 30, 2020
ECREA’s Political Communication Section Interim Conference
The Political Communication Section of ECREA invites abstracts of papers for the next Interim Conference to be held in Bucharest, March 26th-27th , 2021. For self-explanatory reasons, the theme of the conference is “Communicating crisis: Political communication in the age of uncertainty”. The organizers call for proposals in all sub-fields of political communication research, but particularly invite conceptual, empirical, and methodological proposals reflecting on the ‘plague year’ we are living in, or comparable crisis events, and the role of media and/or communication therein. The conference will reflect both empirically, and conceptually and methodologically focused work.
This is a timely and rich topic, and not only due to the tragic circumstances around Covid 19. The last 20 years have brought or aggravated several challenges to humanity: rapid population increase, climate change, war and conflict, humanitarian catastrophes, economic crises, growing inequalities, population ageing, and the uncertain future of work among them. These ongoing crises are now the background of a pandemic of proportions unseen in at least a century. In such turbulent times, communication in general and political communication in particular play a significant role in helping the public at large as well as volatile groups in society in particular to understand unfolding events, and in developing constructive attitudes and resilient behaviors regarding the crisis. Perspectives can even be adjusted or corrected, e.g. in reorienting audiences to reliable information outlets and away from possibly “polluted information” from untrustworthy sources.
The digital information ecosystem comes with further challenges to effective communication in times of crisis. Among them, the large variety of sources of information, the partisan bias of media organizations and outlets, the relatively high incidence of “polluted information” (i.e., dis-, mis-, and mal-information), the potential of each message to go viral due to the constant use of social networking sites and instant messaging platforms, the rapid circulation of conspiracy theories, the high potential of exposure to contradictory information, the almost instant access to interpersonal communication which might fuel various rumors, and so on. All these trends contribute to making people more vulnerable to accept and to disseminate various pieces of ideologically-driven, highly polarized information. Against this backdrop, communication is no longer used as a strategy to keep people well informed, but as an engine responsible for generalized skepticism and emotionally-driven attitudes. Addressing (political) communication changes and challenges during crises is of high relevance not only for scholars, policy-makers, and journalists, but also for citizens, as co-creators of content within the communication flow.
Papers & panels
The conference will feature both presentations of individual research papers, and thematic panels.
Paper submissions will be grouped in sessions of 4-5 papers by the conference program chair. A limited number of slots will be available for coherent panels where one topic is addressed in four to five presentations, followed by responses. Preference will be given to panels with presenters from diverse backgrounds and affiliations.
Submission
Deadlines
Local host
Nicoleta Corbu (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration, Bucharest, Romania), E-mail: nicoleta.corbu[at]comunicare[dot]ro
Section Management Team
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