ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

Special monograph

Deadline: December 15, 2023

Through using extended reality (XR) technologies, users can engage in immersive environments and stories. With the hype of the metaverse, the usage of augmented reality (AR), mixed reality (MR), and particularly virtual reality (VR) technologies has expanded quickly in recent years. These technologies have applications in a variety of industries, including entertainment, education, and healthcare. An area of growing interest is its use as a prosocial tool, creating and experimenting with immersive VR content that aims to encourage positive social behaviors and interactions in the audience, even though its use and application has primarily been studied in the field of video games. Prosociality is developing as a key concept for the betterment of contemporary communities, in which individuals adopt more polarized views, in the present environment of the so-called era of misinformation. By expanding previous approaches to the term (Chacón, 1986; Amato, 1983; Olivar, 1998), González Portal (2000) defined prosocial behavior as "all positive social behavior with or without altruistic motivation" (quoted in Auné et al., 2014).

A well-known paradigm for analyzing how individuals learn and take on new behaviors is the social cognitive theory (SCT) (Bandura, 1986, 1991, 2001). According to SCT, behavior is impacted by a mix of personal (such beliefs and attitudes) and environmental (like social norms and modeling) elements. Technology may be considered as a technique of manipulating these environmental characteristics in the context of immersive prosocial media to increase the transmission of positive social attitudes and values. The immersive nature of immersive media allows for the experience of situations and environments that may be difficult or impossible to replicate in the real world. VR enables the user to become an active participant in the story they are experiencing, improving the relationship between the audience and the storytelling while inspiring positive attitudes and feelings in them, such as empathy, compassion, and collaboration. This experience can be strengthened through social modeling, in which users watch and mimic the behaviors of others in the VR environment, or by assuming the position of the other through perspective taking experiences (Herrera et al., 2018) by embodying the other through an avatar (embodiment).

According to the theory of embodiment cognition (Barsalou, 2008), physically experiences, such as interactions with our surroundings and other people, shape our ideas and behaviors. The immersive quality of VR may produce a sensation of presence that makes the virtual environment appear real and present in the given situation. The user's ideas, attitudes, behaviors, and social interactions can all be affected by this experience. Therefore, it can be viewed as an addition to SCT as a framework for comprehending the use of VR as a prosocial tool. Numerous cognitive and emotional processes can be influenced by embodied experiences, according to research. For instance, VR simulations of walking help elderly persons' cognitive performance (Riva et al., 2017). Immersive virtual reality (VR) experiences of intergroup encounter have been utilized to foster prosocial behavior by boosting empathy and lowering stress and prejudice in such circumstances (Banakou et al., 2016; González-Franco et al., 2016; Stelzmann et al., 2021; Tassinari et al., 2022). Despite the growing research efforts and interest in the potential prosocial effects of immersive VR technologies, it is important to continue investigating these issues as well as any potential ethical and moral ramifications of their use in the field of communication.

This monographic issue proposes a critical examination of the production of immersive content and its application to prosocial goals. We, therefore, seeking proposals that contribute to the investigation and analysis of the impacts of prosocial immersive VR storytelling from the perspective of communication and media effects. From their production and consumption models, methods that concentrate on both technological factors and the formal characteristics required for their formulation. We invite participation with empirical and theoretical research. We encourage a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches, experimental research and case studies that fall within the following thematic lines and potential research questions, but are not restricted to them:

Thematic lines:

- Examining immersive VR, AR, and MR content to improve contemporary communities.

- Historical traces of prosocial usage and applications of immersive technology.

- Studies of the scientific literature on the use of immersive technologies and their prosocial effects, including scoping reviews, systematic reviews, and meta-analyses.

- The use of immersive technology as social change agents.

- Prosocial immersive narrative analysis.

- The use of immersive technology for social advocacy/activism.

- Measuring experiences of the prosocial effects of immersive narratives.

- Researching media impact measurement techniques in the realm of immersive storytelling.

- Methodological approaches for evaluating the effects of immersive prosocial narratives.

- Research on the formal and technological aspects of immersive prosocial storytelling.

- The development of hybrid immersive audiovisual creations.

- The transition of linear products in the audiovisual medium to immersive settings and experiences.

Research questions:

- How are processes of change toward prosocial behavior impacted by VR, AR, and/or MR?

- What techniques and arrangements are used in the design and production of immersive experiences to produce a prosocial influence on the audience?

- What aspects of an immersive piece of content's design could work against its ability to have a positive social impact?

- What experimental approaches are best suitable for evaluating the effects of immersive storytelling from an ecological perspective?

- What specific measures or evaluation tools are effective for assessing the prosocial impact of immersive VR content?

- How may immersive story interfaces for VR, AR, and/or MR be created to maximize their beneficial effects? 

- What ethical and moral ramifications can immersive audiovisual projects for good causes have, and should they be considered?

- What risks and effects result from the use of these technologies to the development of prosocial models?

Multidisciplinary approaches are possible and can originate from a variety of fields, including human-computer interaction, psychology, digital humanities, and communication.

This special monograph is a component of the "Immersive prosocial audiovisual narratives: measuring their impact on society and analysing their formal and technological characteristics" project, which is supported by the AICO call of the Conselleria d'Innovació, Universitats, Ciència i Societat Digital de la Generalitat Valenciana (CIAICO/2021/258, 2022-2044).

References

Amato, P. R. (1983). Helping behavior in urban and rural environments: Field studies based on a taxonomic organization of helping episodes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45(3), 571.

Auné, S. E., Blum, G. D., Abal, F. J. P., Lozzia, G. S., & Attorresi, H. F. (2014). La conducta prosocial: Estado actual de la investigación. Perspectivas en Psicología, 11(2), 21-33.

Banakou, D., Hanumanthu, P. D., & Slater, M. (2016). Virtual embodiment of white people in a black virtual body leads to a sustained reduction in their implicit racial bias. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 601.

Bandura, A. (1986). Social foundations of thought and action: A social cognitive theory.

Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall

Bandura, A. (1991). Social cognitive theory of moral thought and action. En W. M. Kurtines & J. L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Handbook of moral behavior and development: Theory, research and applications (Vol. 1, pp. 71-129). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Bandura, A. (2001). Social cognitive theory of mass communication. Media psychology, 3(3), 265-299.

Barsalou, L. W. (2008). Grounded cognition. Annual Review of Psychology, 59, 617-645.

Chacón, F. (1986). Una aproximación al concepto psicosocial de altruismo. Boletín de Psicología, 11, 41-62.

Gonzalez-Franco, M., Bellido, A. I., Blom, K. J., Slater, M., & Rodriguez-Fornells, A. (2016). The neurological traces of look-alike avatars. Frontiers in human neuroscience, 10, 392.

González Portal, M. D. (2000). Conducta prosocial: Evaluación e Intervención. Madrid: Morata.

Herrera, F., Bailenson, J., Weisz, E., Ogle, E., & Zaki, J. (2018). Building long-term empathy: A large-scale comparison of traditional and virtual reality perspective-taking. PloS one, 13(10), e0204494.

Olivar, R. R. (1998). El uso educativo de la televisión como optimizadora de la prosocialidad. Psychosocial Intervention, 7(3), 363-378.

Riva, G. (2017). Virtual reality in the treatment of eating and weight disorders. Psychological Medicine, 47(14), 2567-2568.

Stelzmann, D., Toth, R., & Schieferdecker, D. (2021). Can intergroup contact in virtual reality (VR) reduce stigmatization against people with schizophrenia?. Journal of clinical medicine, 10(13), 2961.

Tassinari, M., Aulbach, M. B., & Jasinskaja-Lahti, I. (2022). Investigating the influence of intergroup contact in virtual reality on empathy: an exploratory study using AltspaceVR. Frontiers in Psychology, 12, 815497.

Coordinator:

Dr. Francisco-Julián Martínez-Cano – Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (francisco.martinezc@umh.es).

Begoña Ivárs-Nicolás – Universidad Miguel Hernández de Elche (bivars@umh.es).

Richard Lachman – Toronto Metropolitan University (richlach@torontomu.ca).

Editor of the monograph: Nereida López Vidales (nereida.lopez@uva.es).

IMPORTANT DATES AND DEADLINE:

Deadline for receipt of articles: from December, 15, 2023 until January, 30, 2024.

Deadline by which authors will receive a response: Before March, 15, 2024.

Publication date of the monograph: June, 1, 2024.

SUBMISSION METHOD AND GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS:

1st) Articles must be submitted through the OJS platform, following the journal's rules and making sure to submit a blind version.

The articles will be evaluated by blind peers and must follow the journal's rules, which can be consulted at the following link: http://revistas.usal.es/cuatro/index.php/2172-9077/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

In order for the article to be reviewed, it is compulsory that:

- the article arrives adapted to the template. (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MM_zDxj3z94jCRmNZjO0BbPPe8iI1v7x/edit)

- the article comes in a blind version.

- the document of transfer of rights is attached.

- the article is accompanied by a Turnitin report (or similar), prepared by the author (articles with more than 35% similarity, excluding the bibliography, will not be accepted).

2º) Once sent to OJS, an email will be sent to the editor of the monograph, who will acknowledge receipt within a maximum period of one week.

Doubts about this monograph can also be resolved through the above e-mail addresses. 

A maximum of 7 articles will be published.

IMPORTANT AT THE SUBMISSION STAGE

In addition to being uploaded to the platform (OJS), the articles have to be sent simultaneously to the following 4 addresses: fjcrevista@usal.es, francisco.martinezc@umh.es, bivars@umh.es, richlach@torontomu.ca, richlach@torontomu.ca and nereida.lopez@uva.es

Articles will be peer-reviewed and must follow the journal's guidelines, which can be found at the following link:

http://revistas.usal.es/cuatro/index.php/2172-9077/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

Lund University, Faculty of Social Sciences

Login and apply

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top 100 universities. The University has around 46 000 students and more than 8 000 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset.

We are now looking for a PhD student in Media and Communication Studies with a focus on strategic communication and psychological defense.

Work duties

The main duties are to devote themselves to their own research education, which includes both own research and third cycle courses. In addition to doctoral studies, participation in teaching and other departmental work (max 20%) may also be included. 

Strategic communication deals with the study of organizations' conscious communication efforts to achieve their overall goals. The research will highlight, create an understanding of and critically examine the communication processes that govern and shape organizations in our society and the effects of strategic communication.

The Department of Strategic Communication has a newly established research institute for psychological defence (psychologicaldefence.lu.se). Psychological defense is society's common ability to identify and resist undue information influence and other misleading information directed against Sweden in order to influence our decisions, perceptions or behaviors. The research institute receives basic funding from the Swedish Agency for Psychological Defence.

The Psychological Defence Research Institute conducts research within the field of strategic communication with a focus on malign information influence and foreign interference. Malign information influence supports the interests of foreign powers’ and aims to influence vulnerabilities in society. The Research Institute focuses on security issues such as civil defence, hybrid threats, social media platforms, and open-source intelligence, and develops research-based guidelines, tools, and analyses to identify and counteract malign information influence. Applications are expected to contribute to the development of the research field of strategic communication through the investigation of psychological defence. The PhD student will actively contribute to the work and development of the Research Institute.

The doctoral programme in Media and Communication Studies at Lund University is given jointly by the Department of Strategic Communication and the Department of Communication and Media. For more information about doctoral education, see the website.

Eligibility

General eligibility for third-cycle studies requires that the applicant has completed: a second-cycle degree, completed course requirements of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are fromsecond-cycle level, or in some other way in Sweden or abroad acquired largely equivalent knowledge.

In addition to the general entry requirements for third-cycle studies, the doctoral student must have at least 30 credits in the main field of study Media and Communication Studies at advanced level or acquired equivalent knowledge in Sweden or abroad. 

The doctoral student must also have completed independent projects of at least 15 credits at second-cycle level. 

The applicant should have such knowledge of English that he/she can assimilate research literature, third-cycle courses and participate actively in seminar activities.

Assessment criteria

When appointing, consideration shall primarily be given to the degree of ability to benefit from the doctoral education.

The applicant must have a basic education related to and experience in strategic communication, media and communication studies, rhetoric or equivalent. Great emphasis is placed on the applicant's master's thesis (or equivalent degree project) and the presented thesis idea.

The assessment will also take into account the ability to work independently and structured, but also the ability to contribute to good collaboration and a good research environment at the department.

Type of employment

Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD-studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. The employment is limited to 4 years in the case of full-time studies. In the case of teaching and other departmental duties, the employment is extended correspondingly, but not more than 5 years (at 20 % departmental duties). Doctoral student employment is regulated in the Ordinance SFS 1993:100 (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Section 7). The position is planned to start January 2024 or according to agreement.

Instructions on how to apply

The application must be attached:

1) CV with certified copies of degree certificates, academic grades and other relevant certificates 2) a copy of the Master's thesis and, where applicable, the applicant's other scientific 

publications (e.g. articles in scientific journals)

3) a personal letter describing the applicant's background, interest in the subject and intention of the doctoral education

4) a thesis sketch where the applicant presents an idea for the thesis (maximum five pages)

5) contact information for two reference persons.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Welcome with your application!

The Faculty of Social Sciences at Lund University is one of the leading education and research institutions in Sweden and operates both in Lund and Helsingborg.

The Department of Strategic Communication runs Sweden’s largest education and research activities in the field of strategic communication. The department is also one of the largest in the field in Europe. The activities of the department are based at Campus Helsingborg, which is characterised by the authenticity of Lund University in a young and dynamic environment with an interdisciplinary approach. Another characteristic of the activities at Campus Helsingborg is strong engagement with the business sector and the public sector in both education and research.

The Department of Strategic Communication offers three popular undergraduate and Master’s degree programmes. At present, the department has almost 25 staff and around 330 full-time equivalent students. The department conducts successful research in various areas, including crisis communication, branding processes, organizational communication, public diplomacy and information warfare, and new media and democracy. The research environment is growing strongly, has active international contact and welcomes cross-disciplinary initiatives. The work environment at the department is characterised by cooperation in teaching teams, active work on strategy and development, and an international environment where communication in English is a natural part of the everyday.

We kindly decline all sales and marketing contacts.

Type of employment: Temporary position

Salary: Monthly salary

Number of positions: 1

Full-time equivalent: 100

City: Helsingborg

County: Skåne län

Country: Sweden

Reference number: PA2023/1314

Contact:

• Mozhgan Zachrison, +4642356529
  
• Åsa Thelander, +4642356628
  
• Anna Borg, +46462224806
  

Union representative

• OFR/ST:Fackförbundet ST:s kansli, 046-2229362
  
• SACO:Saco-s-rådet vid Lunds universitet, kansli@saco-s.lu.se
  
• SEKO: Seko Civil, 046-2229366
  

Last application date15.Jun.2023 11:59 PM CEST

Lund University, Faculty of Social Sciences

Login and apply

Lund University was founded in 1666 and is repeatedly ranked among the world’s top 100 universities. The University has around 46 000 students and more than 8 000 staff based in Lund, Helsingborg and Malmö. We are united in our efforts to understand, explain and improve our world and the human condition.

Lund University welcomes applicants with diverse backgrounds and experiences. We regard gender equality and diversity as a strength and an asset.

We are now looking for a phd student in Media and Communication Studies with a focus on strategic communication.

Work duties

The main duties are to devote themselves to their own research education, which includes both own research and third cycle courses. In addition to doctoral studies, participation in teaching and other departmental work (max 20 %) may also be included. 

Strategic communication deals with the study of organizations' conscious communication efforts to achieve their overall goals. The research will highlight, create an understanding of and critically examine the communication processes that govern and shape organizations in our society and the effects of strategic communication. 

The research at the department is in a number of different sub-areas within the field, but mainly in the areas of organizational communication, political communication, disinformation (information influence), crisis communication, visual communication, corporate branding and digital media (for more information see our website isk.lu.se).  

The doctoral programme in Media and Communication Studies at Lund University is given jointly by the Department of Strategic Communication and the Department of Communication and Media. For more information about the doctoral programme, see here.  

Eligibility

General eligibility for third-cycle studies requires that the applicant has completed: a second-cycle degree, completed courses of at least 240 credits, of which at least 60 credits are from second-cycle level, or in some other way in Sweden or abroad acquired largely equivalent knowledge.

In addition to the general entry requirements for third-cycle studies, the doctoral student must have at least 30 credits in the main field of study Media and Communication Studies at advanced level or acquired equivalent knowledge (for example in strategic communication) in Sweden or abroad. 

The doctoral student must also have completed independent projects of at least 15 credits at second-cycle level. 

The applicant should have such knowledge of English that he/she can assimilate research literature, third-cycle courses and participate actively in seminar activities.

Assessment criteria

When appointing, consideration shall primarily be given to the degree of ability to benefit from the doctoral education.

The applicant must have a basic education related to and experience in strategic communication, media and communication studies, rhetoric or equivalent. Great emphasis is placed on the applicant's master's thesis (or equivalent degree project) and the presented thesis idea.

The assessment will also take into account the ability to work independently and structured, but also the ability to contribute to good collaboration and a good research environment at the department.

Type of employment

Only those who are or have been admitted to PhD- studies may be appointed to doctoral studentships. The employment is limited to 4 years in the case of full-time studies. In the case of teaching and other departmental duties, the employment is extended correspondingly, but not more than 5 years (at 20 % departmental duties). Doctoral student employment is regulated in the Ordinance SFS 1993:100 (Higher Education Ordinance, Chapter 5, Section 7). The position is planned to start in January 2024 or according to agreement.

Instructions on how to apply

The application must be attached: 

1) CV with certified copies of degree certificates, academic grades and other relevant certificates 2) a copy of the Master's thesis and, where applicable, the applicant's other scientific publications (e.g. articles in scientific journals)

3) a personal letter describing the applicant's background, interest in the subject and intention of the doctoral education

4) a thesis sketch where the applicant presents an idea for the thesis (maximum five pages)

5) contact information for two reference persons.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Welcome with your application!

The Faculty of Social Sciences at Lund University is one of the leading education and research institutions in Sweden and operates both in Lund and Helsingborg.

The Department of Strategic Communication runs Sweden’s largest education and research activities in the field of strategic communication. The department is also one of the largest in the field in Europe. The activities of the department are based at Campus Helsingborg, which is characterised by the authenticity of Lund University in a young and dynamic environment with an interdisciplinary approach. Another characteristic of the activities at Campus Helsingborg is strong engagement with the business sector and the public sector in both education and research.

The Department of Strategic Communication offers three popular undergraduate and Master’s degree programmes. At present, the department has almost 25 staff and around 330 full-time equivalent students. The department conducts successful research in various areas, including crisis communication, branding processes, organizational communication, public diplomacy and information warfare, and new media and democracy. The research environment is growing strongly, has active international contact and welcomes cross-disciplinary initiatives. The work environment at the department is characterised by cooperation in teaching teams, active work on strategy and development, and an international environment where communication in English is a natural part of the everyday.

We kindly decline all sales and marketing contacts.

Type of employment: Temporary position

Contract type: Full time

Salary: Monthly salary

Number of positions: 1

Full-time equivalent: 100

City: Helsingborg

County: Skåne län

Country: Sweden

Reference number: PA2023/1290

Contact

• Åsa Thelander, +4642356628
  
• Mozhgan Zachrison, +4642356529
  
• Anna Borg, +46462224806
  

Union representative

• OFR/ST:Fackförbundet ST:s kansli, 046-2229362
  
• SACO:Saco-s-rådet vid Lunds universitet, kansli@saco-s.lu.se
  
• SEKO: Seko Civil, 046-2229366
  

Last application date: 15.Jun.2023 11:59 PM CEST

November 22-23, 2023

University of Glasgow, UK

The deadline for submissions: August 17, 2023

Media are integral to how we both remember and forget conflict.  While individuals refer to the family photo album, the collective memories of communities are often shaped by iconic photographs of traumatic events such as popular uprisings, terrorist attacks, and wars. This memory work was traditionally confined to repositories such as historical archives, museums and institutions. In recent years the ‘connective turn’ has ‘unmoored’ memory from these institutions, replacing traditional notions of collective memory with the searchable ‘memory of the multitude’ online (Hoskins, 2017). The automated systems of online platforms like Facebook ‘dig’ for memories on behalf of their users, including those of (Jacobsen and Beer, 2021). Historical photographs shared on photo sharing sites like Instagram facilitate informal learning about events such as the Holocaust among younger generations (Commane and Potton, 2019). This has empowered a new generation of memory activists who leverage the affordances of online platforms for commemoration rituals (Fridman, 2022). More recently, apps like Telegram have made it easier to document human rights violations during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, whilst simultaneously creating a curated, unsanitized ‘war feed’ for global audiences  (Hoskins and Shchelin, 2023). 

This hybrid workshop seeks to advance the discussion about the role of media in conflict memory work. We adopt a purposefully broad definition of conflict which includes (but is not limited to) armed insurrections, civil disorder, geopolitical interstate conflict, political violence in divided societies, terrorist attacks, and wars. 

We are looking for original and creative contributions that demonstrate the broad range of methodologies (e.g. qualitative, quantitative, digital) in this emergent field. Abstract submissions should explicitly address the role of media (e.g. newspapers, social media, television) in conflict memory. We will accept both theoretical and empirical studies provided they are relevant to the workshop’s key themes.

Possible topics for the workshop include:

• Conflict memory, media and education
  
• Mediatization of war, terrorism, armed conflict and civil disorder
  
• Journalistic practice and collective memories of conflict
  
• Media and conflict memory in post and neo-authoritarian societies
  
• Memory activism after conflict
  
• Radio, memory and conflict
  
• Social media and conflict memory
  
• Television news and audience understanding of conflict

We especially encourage submissions from early career researchers and those based in Global South countries. There will be a limited number of travel bursaries available for those traveling to Glasgow to attend in-person. 

Abstracts of 300-500 words, excluding references, should be sent to paul.reilly@glasgow.ac.uk and virpi.salojarvi@helsinki.fi. Please indicate on your submission whether you will attend in-person or online, and if you wish to be considered for a travel bursary should your abstract be accepted. There will be no registration fee for participants accepted for the workshop. Workshop participants will be invited to submit an abstract for a co-edited volume based on the workshop.

This event is co-sponsored by the Crisis, Security and Conflict Communication and Communication in Post and Neo-Authoritarian Societies Working Groups of the International Association of Media and Communication Researchers (IAMCR). 

If you have any questions about the workshop please contact the organisers:

• Dr. Paul Reilly, University of Glasgow (paul.reilly@glasgow.ac.uk)
  
• Dr. Virpi Salojärvi, University of Vaasa/University of Helsinki  (virpi.salojarvi@helsinki.fi)
  
• Dr. Katja Lehtisaari, Tampere University (katja.lehtisaari@tuni.fi)
  

The Department of Communication and Media Research (DCM) at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland (https://www.unifr.ch/dcm), is dedicated to research and teaching in the field of communication and media studies that adheres to the highest international standards. Researchers at the department cover research fields ranging from political communication, journalism, communication management, to communication history, business communication and new media, media systems and media effects.

A fund raised by the department’s founding fathers Dr. Max Gressly and Dr. Florian Fleck allows the DCM to offer an international visiting scholarship for post-doctoral researchers and non-tenured professors.

The scholarship addresses young internationally-orientated scholars who are on a research or a sabbatical leave. As a trilingual institution (French, German, English) the University of Fribourg provides a truly international research environment with plenty of opportunities to share ideas. Moreover, visiting scholars can benefit from enriching research opportunities in Switzerland. The remuneration consists of CHF 5.000, permitting a stay of two to three months. Visiting scholars will have the chance to collaborate with established scholars and to contribute to academic discussions at the department. 

The deadline for applications for a scholarship in 2024 is September 30, 2023. The complete call for applications is available here: https://www.unifr.ch/dcm/de/assets/public/files/flyers/Gressly-Fleck2024.pdf  

Dear colleagues, 

We are pleased to announce the forthcoming launch of a one-stop open online platform on the safety of journalists – safetyofjournalists.org - a joint initiative between the University of Liverpool and the Worlds of Journalism Study, in co-operation with UNESCO. The project is funded by Research England and is led by Dr Vera Slavtcheva-Petkova, Reader in Global Journalism and Media at the University of Liverpool and Central and Eastern Europe Regional Co-Lead in the Worlds of Journalism Study and the Journalism Safety Research Network. 

The website will be launched by the end of July 2023 and will be an open one-stop resource on journalists’ safety aimed at introducing the key stakeholders in the process of implementation of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and bridging the gap between them. A main aim is to present academic research in a format that will make sense for and will be of use to non-academic partners with the goal of ultimately improving journalists’ safety. The website will also contain essential information about international organizations and civil society that work actively in this area. It will also feature interviews with “champions” of journalists’ safety, and will contain useful open-access resources for academics, students and journalists, an invitation for collaborations on the topic and information about events and initiatives.     

We would like to invite you to contribute to the website by presenting your research and adding your profile to it as well as sharing any relevant research outputs on the safety of journalists. We are kindly asking you to complete one survey with information about your research profile - https://liverpoolcommsmedia.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_78TZ4HFv0hpHQZo and a separate survey for every study that you would like us to present in a non-academic way on the website – https://liverpoolcommsmedia.fra1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_3yHolL7e8kjiIHc 

Please note that the second survey is for ONE academic study only so if you like us to feature more than one study on the website, please fill in the survey as many times as needed until you have submitted a separate entry for each of your studies.    

The website will also feature a database of research outputs so if you are uploading outputs, please ensure that you are the copyright holder or have the permission to upload the output you are uploading (for journal articles, these would mainly be the pre-proofs versions).   

We hope that you will contribute to this important initiative.  

If you have any questions, please get in touch with either Vera or Christos at vpetkova@liverpool.ac.uk and christos.kostopoulos@liverpool.ac.uk. 

Looking forward to hearing from you!  

Kind regards,  

Vera & Christos 

Deadline: September 15, 2023

Link: https://t.uzh.ch/1tu

Database of Variables for Content Analysis (DOCA) invites submissions for variable entries.

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.

DOCA simplifies access to common variables and their categories for content analysis research. It 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 serves as a foundation for answering questions about research designs and operationalizations resorting to content analysis and helps standardize and compare studies. It also promotes equal opportunity among researchers by providing free access to important resources.

Procedure regarding the call: 

• Please send suggestions for variables to mfg@ikmz.uzh.ch by 15.09.2023. The entries for variables or constructs that are already in the database can be found under the following link www.hope.uzh.ch/doca
  
• You receive a response within two weeks regarding the inclusion of suggested constructs or variables, as well as instructions for preparing your entry.
  
• Please submit your entry (approx. two pages in length) by December 01, 2023. Every entry will be peer-reviewed by two reviewers.
  
• If accepted, we will take over the entry's typesetting, design, and publication. Each entry receives a DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
  
• No fee is charged from the authors during the submission, evaluation and publication process.
  

We are very much looking forward to your submissions.

Franziska Oehmer-Pedrazzi (principal editor), University of Applied Sciences of the Grisons FHGR; Sabrina H. Kessler, University of Zurich; Edda Humprecht, Norwegian University of Science and Technology & University of Zurich; Katharina Sommer, ZHAW; Laia Castro Herrero, Universitat de Barcelona

November 24-25, 2023

Venue: Vilnius University, Universiteto str. 3, Vilnius

Abstract/Panel submission deadline: May 31, 2023

Mode of participation: In person only 

Conference language: English 

Organizer:

• Centre for Journalism and Media Research, 
  
• Faculty of Communication, Vilnius University 
  

Partners: 

• Lithuanian National Radio and Television
  
• Journal of Studies in Eastern European Cinema (Taylor and Francis Group)
  
• Central European Journal of Communication (Polish Communication Association)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS:

• Dr. Ewa Mazierska, Professor, School of Arts and Media, University of Central Lancashire, UK
  
• Dr. Susana Salgado, Professor and Principal Researcher, Institute of Social Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal 
  
• Dr. Agnieszka Stępińska, Professor, Faculty of Political Science and Journalism, Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, Poland

Since Brexit in the United Kingdom, the election of Donald Trump in the United States, the anti-vaccine protests during the COVID-19 pandemic, re-election of Viktor Orban in Hungary and the rise of nationalist political parties across Europe, populism and populist communication continue to occupy a stable position in local and global media and political debates. Growing concerns in Europe and other continents about high inflation, rising cost of living, climate change, immigration, the course and consequences of Russia’s war in Ukraine, to mention but a few, have been exploited by a range of actors (media professionals, politicians, influencers and celebrities) in their populist rhetoric and communication. A proliferation of social media and visual communication is providing new spaces, mechanisms and channels for the proliferation and amplification of populist communication – as this allows all these actors and non-human, device “actants” – to disseminate their messages and gain public attention. 

Populism polarises people and divides them into binary groups of the “them” and the “us”, which causes a growing sense of distance between political elites and citizens, and a lack of political agency and participation for the latter. More increasingly, however, populist discourse (generally perceived as the voice of the people and the advocacy for the people’s greater control over their own lives) is used in the communication of mainstream political parties, politicians across Europe (including high rank officials) in order to ensure electoral support. The “virus” of populism is also spreading throughout mainstream media organizations and creative content (films, TV series, games) producers – the sectors which face increasing competition on local and global markets. It also thrives in political communication on social media.

In the light of these problems, the need to discuss the multiplicity of populism in media and to set indicators in order to recognize the populism in various contents and platforms and to establish guidelines and set conditions to mitigate its negative effects, has never been more important than in current times. However, media and communication scholars predominantly focus on right-wing political populism and the communication of demagogic political leaders. 

The organisers of this conference therefore see this event as a platform for media scholars, students and media professionals to discuss the nexus between populism, politics, communication, media and society in challenging times for Europe and worldwide. 

We welcome both paper and panel proposal submissions from political communication, film and media studies, journalism, cultural studies, and other related fields. New methodological and critical approaches for studying populism in the media are particularly welcome.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Populist political communication in times of local and global crises  
  
• Anti-populist discourse and critique of populism in multiple media 
  
• Effects of populist communication and populist media
  
• Populist discourse in film, video games and other visual media
  
• Populism and radical media 
  
• Populist actors (human and non-human) and populist communication in social media 
  
• Ant-science discourse in populist communication 
  
• Right-wing populist communication on environmental issues, health and migration 
  
• Opportunistic strategies in populist communication 
  
• Cultural and social populism in multiple media 
  
• Populist gender discourse in multiple media 
  
• Comparative perspectives on populist discourses communication in Europe and worldwide
  
• New methodological and theoretical approaches to populist communication and populist media research

The conference organizers and partners – scientific journals – Studies in Eastern European Cinema and Central European Journal of Communication made arrangements to publish selected presentations in issues of their own journals related the theme of the conference. A call for submissions will be published shortly after the conference. Participants are invited to submit articles based on their presentations.

Submission Guidelines

Paper proposals in English (incl. a title, and a 300-word description) and a short biography (max. 100 words) are expected to be submitted by May 31, by filling in the form at: http://www.populism.kf.vu.lt/registration/

Proposals for pre-constituted panels (consisting of 3 or 4 papers) are also welcome! 

Panel proposals (incl. a title, and a 350-word description) and a short biography (max. 100 words for each participant (chair and presenters)) are expected to be submitted by May 31, by filling in the form at: http://www.populism.kf.vu.lt/registration/ 

Proposals will be peer-reviewed. Applicants will be notified about the status of acceptance by July 15, 2023. 

There are no conference fees

ORGANIZERS

Conference scientific committee: 

Renata Šukaitytė (Chair, Vilnius University); Gintaras Aleknonis (University of Applied Science, Kiel); Konstantinos Dallas (University of Toronto / Vilnius University); Lenuta Giukin (State University of New York at Oswego); Deimantas Jastramskis (Vilnius University); Lars Kristensen (University of Skövde); Rimvydas Laužikas (Vilnius University); Mantas Martišius (Vilnius University); Renata Matkevičienė (Vilnius University); Eva Naripea (Estonian Film Archives); Peter Neijens (University of Amsterdam); Dagmara Rode (University of Lodz); Anda Rožukalne (Rīga Stradiņš University); Lorant Stohr (University of Theatre and Film Arts Budapest); Renata Stonytė (Vilnius University); Andrius Vaišnys (Vilnius University). 

Conference local organizing team: 

Renata Šukaitytė (Chair), Arūnas Gudinavičius, Kristina Gedvilaitė, Skirmantė Granickienė, Margarita Kunkytė, Raminta Labanauskienė, Renata Stonytė, Milda Vibrantytė, Agnė Zumbrickaitė.

Contacts: renata.sukaityte@kf.vu.lt, populism@kf.vu.lt

More information at: http://www.populism.kf.vu.lt

Media & Jornalismo

Media & Jornalismo, an internationally recognized and Portuguese pioneer journal in the field of Media and Journalism Studies (indexed in Scopus and ERIH Plus), invites the international scientific community to submit articles that fall within the thematic scope of the journal and to submit proposals for the organization of special issues. 

This call for papers and proposals for thematic issues is related to the editorial changes that Media & Journalism is implementing and that will come into full force in 2024: 

1) From the second semester of 2023 onwards, the submission of articles will happen in continuous flow, all year round. This measure aims to privilege the heterogeneity of themes, responding to a need to cover the most salient academic and scientific issues at a given moment, in the disciplinary field of communication sciences. 

2) From 2024, the continuous flow modality is now accompanied by the online first publishing policy, thus reducing the waiting times for publication of the different articles that overcome the double-blind peer review and ensuring the timely dissemination of the critical findings generated that are so important for the systematic accumulation of knowledge in the discipline of communication sciences. Articles published in the online first publishing modality will continue to integrate the Scopus database (in which the journal is indexed) under the denomination "Article in Press".  All the articles published in this double format, continuous flow and online first publishing, will integrate, in due time, and in definitive publication, numbers of the journal, which will maintain its biannual periodicity. 

3) Also from 2024, all articles accepted for publication will be published in a bilingual version (Portuguese and English or Spanish and English), the English version being compulsory. The journal seeks, with this measure, to internationalize itself and to achieve a different dissemination. The costs resulting from the necessary translations (Portuguese into English; Spanish into English; English into Portuguese), will be borne by the authors of the articles, in a practice followed by other important national journals. 

4) The free-to-publish policy of submission and the policy of consultation at no cost for the reader (free-to-read) will be maintained. 

5) The continuous flow of submissions and the online first publishing policy do not preclude the organization and publication of special issues, whether a) they are proposed to the journal by guest editors with recognized research merit, b) they seek to cover a topic that is salient in the academic community at the time the proposal is made, and c) the proposal is in line with Media & Journalism's editorial strategy and main thematic lines. In the case of special issues, the articles included and organized by the guest editors are published together and immediately after the formatting of the various articles that integrate the different special issues.

Tuesday, 30 May | 9:00 - 17:00

OFF-SITE: Charbonnel Lounge, St. Michael’s College, University of Toronto (81 St. Mary Street, Toronto)

ICA Post-conference

Register here: https://www.icahdq.org/mpage/ICA23-Postconf-EpistemicInjustice 

Transportation: Participants will be responsible for their own transport

Organizers: Contact, Claudia Paganini (Munich U of Philosophy, Germany) ■ Lars Rademacher (Darmstadt U of Applied Sciences, Germany) ■ Paolo Granata (U of Toronto, Canada)

Description: The question of role knowledge and science play with regard to a more socially just and sustainable society is highly topical both in media ethics and in neighboring disciplines. Presently there are discussions on why the current structures of knowledge generation and communication are violent in themselves and how transformation processes can be successful. While both practical and intercultural philosophy offer approaches to questioning and deconstructing universalisms, media ethics provides an understanding of how master narratives shape societal perceptions of knowledge and science. How do even these approaches exert epistemic violence and thereby obstruct the vision of greater participation and socio-ecological justice? How does an inclusive understanding of knowledge relate to the value of authenticity? Can the ethics of authenticity help to overcome epistemic injustice?

click to read program

Registration Fee: Free but registration is required