ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

November 5-7, 2024​

Zagreb, Croatia

Deadline: June 15, 2024

The 15th Annual International Small Cinemas Conference is organized by the Department for Culture and Communication, Institute for Development, and International Relations (IRMO), Zagreb, Croatia, in partnership with the Industry Program of the Zagreb Film Festival (ZFF).  

Keynote lecturer: Katharine Sarikakis, University of Vienna 

Conference theme: 

In recent years, the film industry has globally faced a series of transformations at the level of production, distribution, and consumption. The rise of streaming services caused the most significant changes. Additionally, the audio-visual (AV) industry faced a crisis due to restrictions brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. In North America, and currently in India, we have seen screenwriters and actors strike to oppose changes. But what are the implications of present changes on film industries, and what is their impact on big production markets compared to small cinemas? This conference edition will discuss the main challenges of film production and distribution in so-called ‘small countries’ compared to ‘big markets.’ It will focus on public policy responses to dynamic changes in the audio-visual field, examine viable and sustainable business models, and consider how to ensure cultural diversity at global and local levels. What is the available research data revealing about patterns in audio-visual content consumption, and how are small markets reaching local and international audiences? What public policy instruments are at our disposal to initiate a dialogue between controversial production practices by worldwide corporate streaming services and local audio-visual industries? How does this affect small markets in comparison to larger ones? How are the working conditions of small-market film workers changing when entering global service productions? What are the economic and aesthetic pressures on local productions in small film industries? Among all the mentioned issues, which ones foster or impede the success of films from small-market countries? And what is the meaning of success in the given context: does popularity equal quality? 

Topics for discussion may include, but are not limited to: 

• film audience consumption habits in small markets 
  
• small market distribution patterns and means of reaching local and global audiences 
  
• AV festivals ecosystems and their role in enhancing diversity 
  
• the relationship between public policy instruments and production practices of global 
  
• corporate streaming services in small countries  
  
• the impact of investment obligations for streamers in small and larger markets 
  
• the influence of AI on film production and distribution 
  
• the unionization and working conditions of film workers in national markets  
  
• the economic pressures on local productions in small film industries 
  
• the impact of COVID-19 on different film ecosystems: production, distribution, and consumption. 
  

This interdisciplinary conference invites contributions from film, media and cultural studies, media economics, sociology of media and communication, sociology of culture, cultural sociology, cultural and media policy research, etc.  

Submissions should include the title, author(s), institutional affiliation, an abstract of up to 250 words and a short bio of the presenter(s). We welcome pre-constituted panels with a maximum of three presentations. Panel abstract submissions should be up to 600 words, describing the role of each presenter within the panel. Please submit your abstract via the online form available at the following link.  

Submission deadline: June 15, 2024. ​

Confirmation of acceptance: July 12,,2024. 

The conference is aimed at academics, policymakers and film industry professionals. It will include a keynote lecture, paper presentations, roundtables, and screenings, and it will be part of the Industry Program of the Zagreb Film Festival Program (ZFF). Held on November 4-10, 2024, the festival will allow participants to delve into the film program and also network with industry representatives.  

The registration fee is 80EUR or 50EUR for PhD students.  

For additional information, please contact the conference organizers at smallcinemas2024@irmo.hr or visit the conference website: https://smallcinemas2024.irmo.hr   

The conference is part of the CresCine project ‘Increasing the international competitiveness of the film industry in small European markets’ (no. 101094988) supported by the Horizon Europe programme of the European Union. For more information about the project, please visit: www.crescine.eu 

University of Fribourg

The Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences (SES) at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, invites applications for a PhD position in the research project “Flip-flopping again? Political elite's position shifts, media coverage, and the public” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF). The successful candidate will work on the research project at the Department of Communication and Media Re- search (DCM) and write a PhD dissertation under the supervision of Professor Alexan- dra Feddersen.

The DCM provides an outstanding research environment based on interdisciplinary, innovative and dynamic collaborations at the interface between communication, media, economics and society. Unique in its bilingualism, located at the heart of Europe, and renowned for its rigorous training and research, the University of Fribourg is a decisive stepping stone towards a rewarding career in research.

Information

Start date: September 1st, 2024, or to be agreed

Contract duration: 4 years (1 year; renewable 3 years)

 Employment rate: 100%; the salary will be established according to the guidelines of the University of Fribourg and the SNF.

Profile

Interests:

You are creative, motivated and passionate about research in social sciences. You can work independently as well as in a team. You are interested in pursuing research in a four-year project exploring the dilemma faced by political elites when they consider changing their stance on policy issues. Updating one's position on pressing policy is- sues might be seen as necessary in some circumstances, but it may also lead to cred- ibility loss as voters might perceive their elites as inconsistent. The project aims to understand (A) how political elites change their positions on policy issues, (B) how the media reports these changes, and (C) how the public perceives these shifts. You will mainly contribute to areas (A) and (B) of the research project.

Skills:

Ideally, you are proficient in basic quantitative methods of data gathering and data analysis commonly applied in social sciences, especially quantitative content analysis. Knowledge of R or Python and/or experimental methods is an additional asset.

Education: 

You will have obtained a Master’s degree in communication or closely related field.

Languages:

You are proficient in English; good knowledge of French and/or German is considered an additional asset.

Application

Questions: 

Questions regarding the position and/or application can be sent to Jolanda Wehrli (jolanda.wehrli@unifr.ch).

Documents:

The application must contain:

- a cover letter specifying research interests, motivations, and specific qualifications; - a CV containing the names of two academic references;

- transcripts of completed academic training;

- a one-page summary of the Master thesis and the evaluation, and

- other relevant certificates or documents (e.g., TOEFL, GMAT, ...).

The evaluation of the applications will focus on the applicant’s academic background, interests, and potential for academic success. Admission to the doctoral studies is subject to the rules of the SES Faculty.

Deadline:

The application must be sent as one single PDF document to Jolanda Wehrli (jolanda.wehrli@unifr.ch) by May 1st, 2024.

University of Fribourg

The Faculty of Management, Economics and Social Sciences (SES) at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland, invites applications for a post-doctoral researcher in the re- search project “Flip-flopping again? Political elite's position shifts, media coverage, and the public” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNF) and led by Profes- sor Alexandra Feddersen. The successful candidate will work on the research project at the Department of Communication and Media Research (DCM).

The DCM provides an outstanding research environment based on interdisciplinary, innovative and dynamic collaborations at the interface between communication, media, economics and society. Unique in its bilingualism, located at the heart of Europe, and renowned for its rigorous training and research, the University of Fribourg is a decisive stepping stone towards a rewarding career in research.

Information

Start date: September 1st, 2024, or to be agreed

Contract duration: 4 years (1 year; renewable 3 years)

Employment rate: 100%; the salary will be established according to the guidelines of the University of Fribourg and the SNF.

Profile

Interests:

You are creative, motivated and passionate about research in social sciences. You can work independently as well as in a team. You are interested in pursuing research in a four-year project exploring the dilemma faced by political elites when they consider changing their stance on policy issues. Updating one's position on pressing policy is- sues might be seen as necessary in some circumstances, but it may also lead to cred- ibility loss as voters might perceive their elites as inconsistent. The aims to understand (A) how political elites change their positions on policy issues, (B) how the media re- ports these changes, and (C) how the public perceives these shifts in terms of credibil- ity and trust for their elites. You will mainly contribute to area (C) of the research project.

Skills:

You are proficient in quantitative methods of data gathering and data analysis com- monly applied in social sciences and preferably implement them in R or Python. Ideally, you are proficient in survey design and survey-embedded experiments. If you have experience with quantitative content analysis, this will be considered an additional as- set.

Education: 

You have obtained a PhD degree in communication or related field.

Languages:

You are proficient in English; good knowledge of French and/or German is considered an additional asset.

Application

Questions: 

Questions regarding the position and/or application can be sent to Jolanda Wehrli (jolanda.wehrli@unifr.ch).

Documents:

The application must contain:

- a cover letter specifying research interests, motivations, and specific qualifications; - a CV containing the names of two academic references;

- transcripts of completed academic training;

- a one-page summary of the PhD thesis and the evaluation by your committee.

The evaluation of the applications will focus on the applicant’s academic background, interests, and potential for academic success.

Deadline:

The application must be sent as one single PDF document to Jolanda Wehrli (jolanda.wehrli@unifr.ch) by May 1st, 2024.

June 25, 2024

Griffith University, Brisbane

Deadline: March 15, 2024

Dear ECREA colleagues,

We are delighted to announce a PODCAST STUDIES ROUNDTABLE to be held at Griffith University, Brisbane on 25 June 2024 – a pre-conference to IAMCR24 in Aotearoa New Zealand. The Roundtable is a bridging event between two major international conferences held in Oceania: ICA 2024 (20 – 24 June, Gold Coast, Australia) and IAMCR24 (30 June – 4 July, Christchurch, Aotearoa New Zealand).

This one-day event is a rare chance for international podcast researchers and practitioner-academics (pracademics) to share ideas, develop collaborations, float projects, showcase research and commune. 

Please send Expressions of Interest/Abstracts by 15 MARCH (Deadline extended)

BACKGROUND:

Now two decades old, podcasting is an exuberant medium where new voices can literally be found every day. As a powerful communications tool that is largely unregulated and unusually accessible, it warrants deep scholarly scrutiny. Increasing platformisation by companies like Spotify and Audible requires urgent critical analysis, to assess their impact on diversity, creativity and alternative voices. The mainstreaming of the medium is also changing business models. Podcast studies are burgeoning across a range of fields from media and communications to criminology and gender studies. But the voices and sounds of the Global South are largely missing from this discourse.

This Roundtable aims to provoke arguments and debate on such absences and to foment research that will reframe our thinking on the potential and power structures of podcasting today.  As the close parasocial relationship of podcast hosts and listeners shows, podcasting is remarkably good at ‘weaving people together’, the theme of this IAMCR event. The Roundtable builds on the first-ever podcast studies pre-conference held at ICA Toronto 2023 and is sponsored by the IAMCR Working Group MARS (Music, Audio, Radio and Sound), the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA), the University of Tasmania and Macquarie University, Australia. 

INFO: https://iamcr.org/christchurch2024/MAR-conf

CONVENORS:

Hon Associate Prof Siobhan McHugh, Macquarie University, Sydney/University of Wollongong

Prof Mia Lindgren, University of Tasmania

CO-ORGANISERS:

Lea Redfern, lecturer, University of Sydney

Dylan Bird, PhD candidate, University of Tasmania

Warm regards,

Siobhan

SIOBHÁN MCHUGH  Honorary Associate Professor, Journalism, School of the Arts, English and the Media, Faculty of the Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities | University of Wollongong NSW 2522 Australia |M +61 404817165 | Twitter @mchughsiobhan | Founding Editor,  RadioDoc Review| MY RESEARCH    ORCID ID

Author, The Power of Podcasting: telling stories through sound, UNSW Press/ Columbia University Press 2022. 

Consulting Producer, The Greatest Menace podcast: about a ‘gay prison’ experiment in Australia (2022), Walkley Award for Excellence in Journalism 2022, Best Social Justice Podcast, New York Festivals, Grand Prix Award and Podcast of the Year, Drum Media Online Awards (UK 2023), Australian International Documentary Conference 2023, Best Documentary Podcast, Signal Awards (US), Best True Crime Podcast, Australian Podcast Awards, Best Creativity Award, Australian Podcast Awards, Best Audio Documentary Finals Nominee, Webbys Online International Award 2023, Silver, Europe Rose D’Or 2022, Ambies Finalist US 2023.

SIOBHÁN MCHUGH , Honorary Associate Professor, Dept of Media, Communications, Creative Arts, Language, and Literature,  Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia.

Edited by: Mette Mortensen, Mervi Pantti

Dear community members,

As we mark today two years since the invasion of Ukraine (February 24, 2022), I wish to introduce you to a meaningful book publication - "Media and the War in Ukraine" - published by Peter Lang. Edited by Mette Mortensen and Mervi Pantti, this timely volume gathers the work from diverse scholars on the pivotal role digital media and communication play in influencing and shaping the narrative of the war in Ukraine. The book delves into the complex network of media, spanning from traditional broadcasting and press to cutting-edge social media platforms and digital technologies. The book explores four critical themes: (1) the dynamics of media infrastructures and their interactions with platforms, technologies, institutions, and civic actors; (2) the impact of open-source intelligence on the war's (dis)information; (3) the portrayal and documentation of the war's day-to-day realities on social media; and (4) the complex relationship between local and global perspectives in war reporting. 

Please see the table of contents: 

Introduction

Part One: Media Infrastructures

Chapter 1. Understanding the Ukrainian Informational Order in the Face of the Russian War \ Göran Bolin and Per Ståhlberg

Chapter 2. Swarm Communication in a Totalising War: Media Infrastructures, Actors and Practices in Ukraine during the 2022 Russian Invasion \ Kateryna Boyko and Roman Horbyk

Chapter 3. Social Media Platforms Responding to the Invasion of Ukraine \ Mervi Pantti and Matti Pohjonen

Part Two: The Use of Open-Source Intelligence

Chapter 4. Open-Source Actors and UK News Coverage of the War in Ukraine: Documenting the Impacts of Conflict and Incidents of Civilian Harm \ Jamie Matthews

Chapter 5. Faking Sense of War: OSINT as Pro-Kremlin Propaganda \ Marc Tuters and Boris Noordenbos

Part Three: Everyday Media in War

Chapter 6. TikTok(ing) Ukraine: Meme-Based Expressions of Cultural Trauma on Social Media \ Tom Divon and Moa Eriksson Krutrök

Chapter 7. ‘Grandma Warriors’ on YouTube: Negotiating Intersectional Distinctions and De/legitimisations of the War in Ukraine \ Marja Lönnroth-Olin, Satu Venäläinen, Rusten Menard, Teemu Pauha and Inga Jasinskaja-Lahti

Part Four: News and Geopolitics

Chapter 8. The Emotional Gap? Foreign Reporters, Local Fixers and the Outsourcing of Empathy \ Johana Kotišová

Chapter 9. Indian Press Coverage of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine \ Antal Wozniak and Zixiu Liu

Chapter 10. Reporting the War in Ukraine: Ecological Dissimulation in a Dying World \ Simon Cottle

Afterword

Participative War: The New Paradigm of War and Media \ Andrew Hoskins

The book is available for purchase at this link - https://www.peterlang.com/document/1311889 - and I encourage you to recommend it to your universities and institutions. Adding this work to their collections will provide students and researchers with broader epistemological frameworks for understanding how digital media influences, shapes, and transforms the representation of war.

Tiziano Bonini, Emiliano Treré

Tiziano Bonini and Emiliano Treré's new book is out: Algorithms of Resistance. The Everyday Fight against Platform Power, open access thanks to MIT Press and Direct to Open: https://shorturl.at/deLVW

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DESCRIPTION:

Algorithms of Resistance (MIT Press, 2024) is an inquiry into agency in the age of Artificial intelligence and algorithmic governance of work, culture and politics. The book describes how global workers, influencers, and activists develop tactics of algorithmic resistance by appropriating and repurposing the same algorithms that control our lives.

The authors begin by outlining their key theoretical framework of moral economies, arguing that algorithms exist on a continuum. At its two extremes are two competing moral economies: the user moral economy and the platform moral economy. From here, Algorithms of Resistance chronicles the various inventive ways that individuals can work to achieve agency and resist the ubiquitous power of algorithms. Drawing from rich ethnographic materials and perspectives from both the Global North and South, Bonini and Treré reveal the moral imperative for all of us—from delivery drivers to artists to social movements—to resist algorithms.

***********

PRAISE:

“Bonini and Treré's superb analysis of how users struggle with algorithmic power is a wonderful guide to the dynamics that animate the platform ecosystem. Essential reading for anyone interested in the sociotechnical processes of contemporary media.”

(José van Dijck, Distinguished Professor of Media and Digital Societies, Utrecht University; author of The Culture of Connectivity; coauthor of The Platform Society)

“A celebration of human agency and resilience in the face of an ever-more pervasive algorithmic culture. Bonini and Treré analyze the many ways that resistance is possible.”

(William Uricchio, Professor, Comparative Media Studies, MIT; coauthor of Collective Wisdom)

“Based on rich field work, digital ethnography, and interviews in India, China, Mexico, Italy, and Spain, this book provides a deeply insightful exploration of how gig workers, creators, and activists tactically engage with platform algorithms.”

(Thomas Poell, Professor of Data, Culture & Institutions, University of Amsterdam; coauthor of The Platform Society and Platforms and Cultural Production)

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

PAPERBACK edition: https://shorturl.at/kyGHL

DOWNLOAD A PDF copy of the book in OPEN ACCESS: https://shorturl.at/deLVW

July 29- August 9, 2024

Jesus College, Oxford 

Deadline: March 24/April 24, 2024

The 2024 Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute is open for applications! Apply here.

In this year’s Summer Institute, we will focus on several core themes, including AI for development and human rights, its growing application in anticipating crises, the role of technology in conflict, and the regulation of new technologies, including AI and social media.

Apply by March 24th for an early decision.

The final deadline is on April 24th.

Journal of Advertising (Special Issue)

Deadline: March 31, 22024

Detailed information can be found here.

Developments in digital technologies have greatly transformed the landscape of advertising around the world. The technical possibilities and low costs of collection and processing of consumer data have led to the domination of the landscape by digital data-driven advertising (e.g., personalized advertising, social media advertising, computational advertising, programmatic advertising, artificial intelligence (AI)-powered advertising).

Given the centrality of consumer data in advertising practices and increasing amounts of surveillance both online and offline, this special issue seeks to publish innovative papers that examine the theoretical and managerial implications of surveillance and ethics in advertising. Our hope is to stimulate further research in this area. This special issue also responds to broader calls for a more diverse and contemporary development of advertising theory. We encourage submissions from multidisciplinary research teams bringing together different perspectives on the topic, as well as (comparative) research focusing on non-WEIRD countries (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich and Democratic). 

Relevant topics include, but are not limited to:

• Theoretical frameworks to study (new) ethical & surveillance questions
  
• Consumer perspectives on and perceptions of surveillance
  
• Consumer vulnerability, stereotyping, and social sorting
  
• Privacy concerns and privacy cynicism related to surveillance and ethics
  
• Transparency and information asymmetry
  
• Consumer empowerment, agency, and autonomy
  
• Impact of surveillance on consumer well-being
  
• Chilling effects and its implications for advertisers
  
• Industry perspectives on surveillance and ethics
  
• Consensual advertising models
  
• Ethics-washing
  
• Environmental impacts of dataveillance
  
• The role and responsibilities of the tech industry
  
• Ethical questions related to the affordances of new technologies
  
• Power relations between stakeholders
  
• Fairness in data-driven advertising and algorithmic persuasion
  
• Technological solutions (e.g., blockchain)
  
• Regulatory solutions (e.g., blacklists)
  
• The regulatory perspective on surveillance and ethics
  
• New methods to study surveillance and ethics (e.g., data donation studies, computational approaches)
  

Submission deadline: March 31, 2024

Any questions about the Special Section can be sent to the guest editors: Drs. Claire M. Segijn, Joanna Strycharz, and Sophie C. Boerman at surveillanceJA@gmail.com.  

Please consider contributing to this Special Issue and help spread the word among your colleagues.

Full link to call: https://think.taylorandfrancis.com/special_issues/journal-advertising-surveillance-ethics-advertising/?utm_source=TFO&utm_medium=cms&utm_campaign=JPG15743

Far Right Fictions (Special issue)

Deadline: March 15, 2023

As part of the research project ‘Far Right Fictions’, based at the Vrije Universiteit Brussel and headed by Professors Joke Bauwens, Benjamin De Cleen and Kevin Smets, we are currently compiling a special issue proposal on ‘The Far Right and Audiovisual Fiction’. A leading journal in the field of media and communication studies has already indicated a keen interest in our idea and we are looking for a number of additional contributors before we submit the final proposal. 

Our special issue looks to close a gap in existing research by looking at the role audiovisual fiction (film, TV series, computer games) plays in the (online) lives of people with far-right leanings. Our proposed special issue will explore the ways in which reactionary, far-right actors engage with audiovisual fiction and the diverse ideological and strategic reasons for doing so. We aim to bring together scholars from critical, media, cultural and far right studies, working with empirical data from diverse geographical locations, to understand the multifaceted ways in which the far right interacts with audiovisual fiction. We are particularly interested in contributions that address one or more of the following topics: 

• The world of far-right influencers and audiovisual fiction; 
  
• The role of audiovisual fiction in online far-right communities;
  
• Far-right critique of audiovisual fiction;
  
• Far-right audiences and far right fandom;
  
• The appropriation of audiovisual motifs and imagery in far-right strategy and campaigning;
  
• The use of audiovisual fiction as a medium to disseminate far-right ideas; 
  
• The use of audiovisual fiction to legitimise far-right ideas and/or delegitimise the status-quo; 
  
• The way in which far right engagement with audiovisual fiction differs from and/or resembles other audiences.
  

We naturally welcome any other ideas that shed light on the role of audiovisual fiction on the far right. Should you be interested in contributing to our proposed special issue, please send a 300-400 word abstract (with references) to omran.shroufi@vub.be by Friday 15 March 2024. Please note we can only accept abstracts that directly engage with audiovisual fiction, rather than with popular culture or digital media more generally.

Once we have selected contributions, we will be submitting a complete proposal to a prominent peer-review journal that has already indicated an interest in our topic.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Omran Shroufi omran.shroufi@vub.be

We look forward to receiving your abstract. 

#TRIPODOS56

Deadline: March 31, 2024

Expected publication: Autumn 2024

Guest editors: Cyril Hovorun

Since February 24th 2022, the global mediatic and political attention is focused in Ukraine. The Russian attack started a war in which both countries are still involved. This conflict, in which NATO members are supporting Ukraine, represents the main step of a new Russian expansionism (Zubok, 2023). However, Vladimir Putin’s plans are not new (Grigas, 2016). Russian-speaking regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in eastern Ukraine have been in conflict since 2014, and it seems that this is not the only objective in the Russian’s president's ideas (Atlantic Council, 2022). Considering the situation, Russia is nowadays in the eye of international relations and international media, as this conflict seems to build a New Iron Curtain in the world (Marcau, 2022).

Tripodos issue 56 aims to delve into the past, present and future of the global situation looking at this new Russian neo-imperialism through the lens of communication but also through a deep international relations’ analysis. For this reason, we invite scholars working in the areas of international politics, conflict analysis, conflict narratives, journalism, digital media, to send their manuscripts. Suggested topics include, but are not limited to:

- Putin’s geostrategy

- Narratives about the Russia-Ukraine conflict

- Reporting on the War: coverage analysis

- The New Cold War

- Censorship and freedom of press in Russia

- Historical evolution of the Russian geostrategy since the collapse of the USSR

Submission

Papers should be sent by March 31, 2024. In order to submit original papers, authors must be registered with the journal (www.tripodos.com) as authors. Following this step, authors must enter their user name and password, activated in the process of registering, and begin the submission process. In step 1, they must select the section “Monograph”.

Rules and instructions regarding the submission of originals can be downloaded at www.tripodos.com.

For any queries, please contact the editorial team of the journal at tripodos@blanquerna.url.edu. The issue will be entirely in English.