ECREA section action proposal approved by COST

The COST Action proposal ‘Transforming Audiences, Transforming Societies’, which has been submitted by the Audience and Reception Studies section of ECREA in July 2009, has been approved by the COST authorities on 2 December 2009.

COST logo

The Action belongs to the ‘Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health’ (ISCH) domain, and will last until December 2013 and will coordinate research efforts into the key transformations of European audiences within a changing media and communication environment, identifying their complex interrelationships with the social, cultural and political areas of European societies.

Four interconnected but distinct topics concerning audiences will be developed, all of pressing importance to both European communication research and European societies: (1) New media genres, media literacy and trust in the media; (2) Audience interactivity and participation; (3) The role of media and ICT use for evolving social relationships; and (4) Audience transformations and social integration.

The Action will bring together audience and reception researchers from a wide range of European countries, scientific backgrounds, and research associations and networks.

It will be of benefit to the scientific and education communities, to media, communication and ICT industries and professionals, to policy-makers and regulatory bodies, and to media-oriented NGOs and citizen initiatives. For more information, please visit the COST website or contact Geoffroy Patriarche.

> Audience and Reception Studies section