Joint conference of the section International and Intercultural Communication (DGPuK) and the network Media Structures and affiliated to theInstitute for Media Studies (IfM), Ruhr-University, Bochum (Germany).
INTER/TRANSNATIONAL
MEDIA POLICY AND REGULATION IN DIGITAL ENVIRONMENTS. DEBATES; STRATEGIES
INNOVATIONS
October 24-25, 2019
Venue: Erich-Brost Institute, Dortmund/Germany
Extended deadline for proposal submission: 15. July 2019
Submissions in English via email to: IIC-conference2019@rub.de
The disruptive transformations
of the media ecology are in the focus of media scholars and politicians
world-wide. Technological and cultural changes as well as major shifts in
audience behaviour are core drivers of these transformations, which can be
observed in various sectors, refer to different aspects of media systems, and
are based on intertwined, but often contradictory and dialectical dynamics
(D’Haenens, Sousa & Trappel 2018). Transformations of the media
ecology have to be considered in a wider scope of challenges of democracies in
the digital age. The planned conference aims to bring together research that
addresses current developments and challenges with regard to four dimensions:
1. Media policy, strategies
and regulation are crucially challenged by meta-narratives such as
globalization and digitization, since they have historically evolved through
national regulatory routines (Holtz-Bacha 1994). Scholars and politicians alike
critically assess questions whether the information available to citizens is
sufficient to build an informed citizenry and what kind of regulation of
digital media contributes to plurality and diversity. Moreover,
civil society demands for more involvement and participation in content
creation and regulation. Contributions to the planned conference will debate
the (re-)formulation of public service media (PSM and the extent to
what a „Civic Commons Online“ is necessary. A possible point of discussion is
whether public service media (PSM) are in the position to establish such a deliberative
space complementing both public sphere and parliamentary debate (e.g. Ramsey
2013; Schweizer 2016).
2. At the economic and
innovations level, commercial media in Europe have always been challenged
to balance between fulfilling the professional norms of journalism by acting as
a watchdog to the government while at the same time making profit. However,
with the loss in revenues, this tension became more intense. Many media
institutions cut costs and reduced the number of staff, which in consequence
limited the ability of the media to act as a watchdog (McChesney & Nichols,
2010; Pickard, 2011; Siles & Boczkowski, 2012; Starkman, 2014). Conference
contributions are asked to address commonalities and differences of economic
challenges in the private and PSM sector and discuss alternative funding
schemes (Kiefer 2011, Schweizer & Puppis 2018). The question to what extent
the nexus between economy and media quality is addressed in media strategies
will be of interest.
3. At the content level,
despite the described crisis in journalism, it has never been easier for the
audience to receive and publish information, while at the same time it has
never been more difficult to evaluate the quality of information gained. The
number of digital media outlets, blogs and social media posts seems to be
expanding continuously and technological innovations such as recommender
systems allow for personalized user experience, audience interaction and may
also foster user participation on the content level.However, the establishment
of so called social networks has been accompanied by undesired developments
such as the rise of hate speech, an increased influence of populist spin on the
formation of public opinion (Sponholz 2018) and disinformation (Report of the High-Level
Group on Fake News and online disinformation 2018). Paradoxically, while
governments and regulators discuss how to hold social networks accountable,
established and publicly funded media have become customers of these companies
in the meantime, because they enable, for example, PSM to reach younger
audiences in order to fulfil their public remit (Sehl, Cornia & Kleis
Nielsen 2018). Conference contributions are asked to assess content innovations,
public value and the ethics of journalism in the digital media world.
Contributions may inquire in how far gamification or the automatization of
journalistic content is in the public interest and address advantages and
disadvantages of personalized information. What kind of debates and measures
are necessary to tackle the future of the public remit of media in general and
PSM in particular?
4. On an international
comparative level, it is important to analyze how different media systems
adapt to the current changes in the media landscape. In the non-Western world,
digitization causes different problems and advantages; e.g. in post-conflict
and developing countries well-established regulation structures and strategies
do not exist. Comparative research can shed light on the question, in how far
the digital era challenges the establishment of regulation patterns in various
countries and regions (Sousa et al. 2013). We welcome conference contributions
that discuss the most pressing challenges and/or innovations for deliberation,
political representation and participation in the media in international
comparison. We further invite contributions that aim at identifying patterns of
similarities and differences across countries concerning press freedom, media
subsidies, and the framework in which media act.
This international conference,
hence, aims to bring together scholars and practitioners working on a
variety of theoretical, methodological and practical issues arising from the
investigation of media policy and regulation in digital environments. Questions
to be discussed during the conference should be rooted in theoretical approaches
and at the same time inform these approaches to broaden not only the scope of
research, but also deliver key factors and messages to media practitioners,
policy makers and regulators. The conference especially welcomes international
comparative research, but is not limited to it, as case studies may be crucial
to understand trends. Also, proposals with a transnational perspective dealing
with trends and topics crossing borders are welcome. The call is open to
theoretical contributions as well as various empirical designs.
There will be two lines of
submission:
Proposals for individual papers: abstracts of no more than 500 words addressing one of the issues outlined above.
Proposals for panels with 4-5 papers in
a panel: abstracts of no more than 1000 words.
Activating formats (i.e. Worldcafe, Workshop) are
welcome.
Fees:
Early bird registration (until September 1st): 45 €
Regular (i.e. fixed contract, professorship): 60 €
Reduced: (i.e. temporary contract, young scholar): 30 €
All attendees are requested to fill in the registration form prior to the conference: https://iic-conference19.blogs.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/
