ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

SFU School of Communication in the area of Journalism and Platforms

The School of Communication at Simon Fraser University (SFU) is inviting applications for a one-year Postdoctoral position as an integral part of a SSHRC funded Insight Grant, with the possibility to extend to a second year. This post is a unique opportunity for a researcher who has completed their PhD or will have their degree completed by September 1st 2025 and works at the intersections of media and communication policy, governance, journalism and platform studies. The successful candidate will work together with Associate Professor Dr. Sarah Ganter. Deadline to apply is August 15th, the position is open to Canadian and international candidates. SFU is an equity employer and strongly encourages applications from all qualified individuals including women, Indigenous Peoples, visible minorities, people of all sexual orientations and gender identities, persons with disabilities, persons with English as additional language and others who will further diversify the university.

Your qualifications

• You will have completed your PhD degree in journalism or media and communication studies by September 1st 2025.
• You are excited about topics at the intersection of journalism, policy, and platform studies and appreciate comparative work
• You have experience in survey design, quantitative analysis and also are interested in mixed methods designs
• You have a developing publications record
• You are comfortable working with computers and willing to use new software and project management tools
• Your written and spoken English is excellent, fluency in French would be a plus
• You have excellent communication skills and appreciate and embrace teamwork and collegiality
• You are dedicated, curious, enthusiastic and have distinct organizational skills

Your work

• 35hrs/week Postdoctoral position, as part of a SSHRC funded Insight Grant
  
• Leading the research on the project together with the PI
  
• Leading the development of survey design and analysis, semi-structured interview guidelines together with the PI
  
• Leading the research project, analysis and interpretation of data together with the PI
  
• Active involvement in outreach and publication activities
  
• Attending team meetings on Burnaby Campus and occasionally with our consortium members online
  
• Administrative coordination, where feasible (e.g. ethics approval)
  
• Your workplace will be on the SFU Burnaby Mountain Campus in Burnaby, BC,Canada (Metro Vancouver)
  
• Mayority in-person presence will be required
  

What we offer

• Annual salary is $70,000 CAD
  
• Benefits available
  
• Additional funding to present work from the project at conferences
  
• Workplace on SFU’s Burnaby Mountain Campus
  
• Access to an international network of scholars and a local scholarly and student-driven community
  
• Professional mentorship
  
• Access to additional training programs as provided by SFU Library
  
• We advocate for and value work-life balance in academia
  
• We advocate for and value diversity and collegiality in academia and beyond
  

You can find information about the different activities of the research group you willbe part of here: https://www.sfu.ca/communication/research/labs/independent-journalisms-edit/team-edit.html;https://www.sfu.ca/communication/research/labs/cultural-industries-in-acute-crisis.html;

Application Requirements

Interested candidates are invited to submit the following documents in a single PDF file:

1.Letter of interest: outlining your reasons for applying, your qualifications, and fit for the position, as well as potential start date (1-2 pages)2.A short research portfolio: outlining your research agenda plans beyond your PhD (1-2 pages)3.Academic curriculum vitae: Include academic degrees, achievements, research experience, and professional background. If applicable, include a list of your research publications and conference presentations.4.Three academic reference letters5.Transcripts: Provide academic transcripts of all your degrees.6.Two samples of academic writing (these can be published, forthcoming or in progress)7.

Deadline: August 15th

Application Process

Please send your complete application as a single PDF file to sganter@sfu.ca with the subject line: Post-doctoral Position—[Your Name]. The applications will be reviewed after the deadline and interviews will be conducted online where feasible.

About the SFU School of Communication

Located in Metro Vancouver, Canada, the SFU School of Communication is a leading school for research and education in communication studies. Our faculty is committed to fostering a vibrant, diverse academic community that addresses critical issues of public concern through interdisciplinary and collaborative research.

For questions about this call, please contact sganter@sfu.ca.

We look forward to receiving your application and welcoming you to the School of Communication at SFU!

January 8-9, 2025

Bournemouth University, UK

Deadline: September 26, 2025

You are warmly invited to submit papers for presentation at the joint annual conference of the Political Studies Association’s Media and Politics Group & Technology, Information and Policy Group 

This year’s conference theme, “Navigating Digital Democracy,” will explore the intersection of technology, media, and politics in shaping democratic practices and governance.

As the digital landscape continues to evolve, technology plays a central role in influencing political discourse, policy development, citizen engagement, and the broader democratic process. From the amplification of polarizing and anti-democratic voices to the facilitation of political campaigning and pro-democracy movements, the dynamics of digital technology are both challenging and enriching the foundations of democratic societies. This conference seeks to critically examine the opportunities and risks technology presents in these areas.

We welcome paper submissions that address any of the following topics*:

• Do digital platforms impact citizen engagement and connection? How do digital platforms facilitate civic engagement, political participation, democratise political representation, and allow for access to the political process?
  
• What is the role of digital platforms in political campaigning? How are digital technologies and platforms reshaping campaign strategies, political marketing, civic participants, and voter engagement?
  
• The amplification of polarising and anti-democratic voices through digital platforms: how do social media platform rules and algorithms impact political discussion, polarisation, and harmful rhetoric?
  
• What role do digital platforms play in informing or misinforming citizens? What are the ethical implications of misinformation, what are the consequences of misinformation on political trust and accountability?
  
• What role do deepfake and AI-generated images play in shaping political narratives?
  
• How are digital platforms impacting social movements and democratic engagement? Are digital platforms providing spaces for pro-democracy movements in otherwise hostile states, are they havens of free speech or do they offer limited offline impact?
  
• The impact of generative technology on policy development; how does this simplify complex issues, perpetuate inequalities, or aid swift and dynamic changes to legislation?
  
• What is the role of digital games in contemporary politics? How can digital games be used to promote civic engagement and political awareness? How have online multiplayer games become spaces for political discussion and activism?

We encourage submissions from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, including but not limited to political science, media studies, communication, sociology, law, and technology studies. Submissions are welcomed from scholars at all career stages, including PhD candidates and early-career researchers, as well as practitioners engaged in media, politics or related fields.

*While the main theme of this conference is navigating digital democracy, the MPG and TIP operate an open and inclusive policy, and papers dealing with any aspect of media, technology and politics are welcomed. Papers may focus on areas from political communication and journalism to data, artificial intelligence, social media and tech policy; but also include a broader view of the political sphere within such areas as television, cinema and media arts, both factual and fictional. In addition to academic research, the conference will also welcome practice-based work in art, film and performance related to the area of media and politics.

There are two ways to attend this conference. There is an in-person conference held in Bournemouth, UK, on 8-9 January 2026. For those who cannot make it in person but who wish to participate, we will host an online conference on 7th January 2026. Both will include a keynote presentation (TBA).

Please note this is not a hybrid conference and the in-person conference will not be streamed online.  

Key dates:

• Friday 26th Sept 2025. Deadline for paper submission
  
• Early October 2025. Paper proposers notified of the decision by the conference committee. Conference registration opens. 
  
• Friday 19th December 2025. Extended abstract deadline for James Thomas Memorial Prize applicants. 
  
• Wednesday 7th January 2026. Online conference. 
  
• 8-9th January 2026. Conference held in Bournemouth

Submitting proposals

We welcome both paper and panel proposals for this conference. 

Paper proposals should be for 15 minute presentations. Submitted abstracts should be no more than 300 words (excluding references).

If you wish to propose a panel, please note for following stipulations:

• Panel proposals should include a panel overview (max. 300 words), outlining the title, synopsis, and chair details, as well as the abstracts for each contributor (no more than 250 words each).
• Panels usually consist of three to four papers and a chair.
• Panels should aim to reflect the diversity of the profession.

Please submit all proposals through this online form: https://forms.gle/i5wtmmWKeJexva2m8  

Registration fees

For PSA members, the cost of in-person attendance is £125 for salaried academics and £75 for PGR/low waged.

For non-PSA members, the cost of in-person attendance is £150 for salaried academics and £85 for PGR/low waged.

This covers lunches, coffee breaks, a drinks reception and the annual dinner. It also includes access to the online conference.

For the online conference the cost of attendance for participants is £30 for salaried academics and £20 for PGR/low waged.

Financial support

The PSA offers a limited number of travel subsidies (up to the value of £100) to support postgraduate student participation in this event. Postgraduate students interested in applying for these subsidies should please note this when submitting. 

James Thomas Memorial Prize

Extended abstracts of a maximum of 2000 words submitted by postgraduate students will be entered into the James Thomas Memorial Prize. This annual award is presented to the most outstanding paper by a postgraduate student at the Media & Politics Group Annual Conference. Postgraduate students wishing to be considered for the prize should send extended abstracts to Dan Jackson:  jacksond@bournemouth.ac.uk by 19th December 2025.  

About Bournemouth

Bournemouth is a coastal town and resort located in the South West of England, in the county of Dorset. Bournemouth is about 94 miles (151 km) southwest of London. It has good transport links with its own airport, and rail links to Southampton Airport (35 minutes), Heathrow Airport (2 hours) and London Waterloo (2 hours).

Famous for its sandy beaches, Bournemouth attracts 3.5 million visitors every year and is home to a vibrant nightlife, international cuisine, and a Premier League football team. Bournemouth is also one of the fastest digital and creative hubs in the UK with some 400 digital, creative communication agencies operating in the area.

The award-winning Faculty of Media & Communication at Bournemouth University (BU) comprises over 4,000 students and more than 250 academic staff across four Departments. The Faculty is one of the leading destinations for the study of creative media in the United Kingdom, based on a combination of top-quality education, world leading research and industry-standard professional practice. 

About the PSA

The Political Studies Association (https://www.psa.ac.uk/) is the UK’s leading association in the study and research of politics. The Media and Politics Group and Technology, Information and Policy Groups are welcoming and inclusive. The conference welcomes contributions both from members and non-members of the Political Studies Association. 

Organising committee

Dan Jackson. Bournemouth University

Sarah Ledoux. University of Manchester

Darren Lilleker. Bournemouth University

Liam McLoughlin. University of Liverpool

Amy Tatum. Bournemouth University

Anastasia Veneti. Bournemouth University

Deadline (extended): July 31, 2025

The 9th issue of Mediatization Studies is on the horizon – and it’s shaping up to be one of our most exciting yet! 

Mediatization Studies is an open access, peer-reviewed academic journal published by Maria Curie-Skłodowska University in Lublin (Poland). The journal ensures a double-blind review process and does not charge any publication fees.

This upcoming edition will explore some of today’s most urgent and thought-provoking themes:

• Large Language Models (LLMs)
  
• Legal and ethical frameworks of AI
  
• Instagram users and algorithmic cultures
  

If your research lies at the intersection of mediatization and artificial intelligence, we invite you to join—and shape—this timely scholarly conversation.

Author guidelines are available here: https://journals.umcs.pl/ms/about/submissions#authorGuidelines

University of Leipzig, Germany

29–30 September 2025

In its 50th year, Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research invites to reconsider what European communication research is – and what it can be. From its start in 1975, the journal’s mission has been to serve as a forum for scholarship and academic debate in the field of communication science and research from a European perspective. But what is in fact a European perspective?

The conference program includes:

- Keynotes by Keith Roe, Maria Kyriakidou, Göran Bolin & Bernie Hogan

- A reflection by Friedrich Krotz

- Panels on comparative traditions, crisis narratives, AI & creativity, and digital infrastructures

Further information and the full program are available online. Registration is open via the conference website: https://www.sozphil.uni-leipzig.de/en/institut-fuer-kommunikations-und-medienwissenschaft/professuren/professur-fuer-medien-und-kommunikationswissenschaft/european-communication-research-what-whence-and-whither

The Digital Futures for Children centre, Department of Media and Communication, LSE

Apply here: https://jobs.lse.ac.uk/Vacancies/W/3615/0/453848/15539/research-officer-digital-futures-for-children

Salary from £42,679 to £51,000 pa inclusive with potential to progress to £54,730 pa inclusive of London allowance

This is a fixed-term appointment for 12 months

The Digital Futures for Children (DFC) is a joint research centre between LSE and 5Rights Foundation. Through critical and practical research, the DFC aims to generate insights and innovative solutions to ensure that the digital environment respects and promotes children's rights.

In 2025, the DFC has launched a new research project entitled “Better EdTech Futures for Children” together with 5Rights Foundation. The project seeks to develop robust evidence to stimulate a child-rights informed multi-stakeholder conversation on the role of technology in schools by investigating how educational technologies (EdTech) are shaping children’s learning experiences and rights in diverse contexts, with specific focus on AI. Through multidisciplinary research and direct engagement with children, families, and educators, it will explore the equity, design and governance of EdTech systems.

The Research Officer will support the delivery of the research project. Working under the direction and guidance of the DFC Director and in close collaboration with the 5Rights Foundation, this role will contribute to the production of high-impact, policy-relevant research and engagement activities exploring how EdTech affects children’s rights and learning experiences.

Candidates will have a PhD by the post start date, relevant research experience that demonstrates the capability to produce independent original research, experience conducting qualitative research with children in schools and applying child- centred approaches, experience conducting research relating to EdTech, as well as the ability to research complex ideas, concepts, theories and findings relating to children’s rights in the digital environment.

We offer an occupational pension scheme, generous annual leave, hybrid working, and excellent training and development opportunities.

For further information about the post, please see the how to apply document, job description and the person specification.

To apply for this post, please go to www.jobs.lse.ac.uk. If you have any technical queries with applying on the online system, please use the “contact us” links at the bottom of the LSE Jobs page. Should you have any queries about the role, please email s.livingstone@lse.ac.uk

All applicants are asked to submit a CV and a detailed cover letter explaining how they meet the position's requirements.

Please note this position will be subject to an enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) check.  Any offer of employment made is conditional on receipt of a satisfactory DBS check.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 17 July 2025 (23.59 UK time). Regrettably, we are unable to accept any late applications.

Yulia Yurtaeva-Martens

https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-658-47279-5

Edited by: Carola Richter, Melanie Radue, Christine Horz-Ishak, Anna Litvinenko, Hanan Badr, Anke Fiedler

This volume proposes a “deep internationalization” of media and communication studies by offering insights and guidance on how to integrate a cosmopolitan perspective in a variety of subfields of this discipline. Building on debates on de-Westernization and cosmopolitanism, the contributors advocate for the inclusion of both global and local perspectives and context-led approaches. They argue that acknowledging and incorporating epistemologies, topics, and methodologies from diverse regions, contexts, and backgrounds will enhance the comprehensiveness and relevance of their discipline and foster a more inclusive and meaningful understanding in communication studies.

https://www.transcript-verlag.de/978-3-8376-7677-8/cosmopolitan-communication-studies/?number=978-3-8394-7677-2

Edited by: Rita Gsenger, Marie-Therese Sekwenz

Over the last ten years, numerous pieces of EU legislation have been adopted in the field of digital law, including the AI Act, the Digital Services Act and the Digital Markets Act. These complex but sometimes difficult to understand legal acts play an important role in research and everyday life. In this volume, legal scholars and experts present the key EU legal acts that are relevant to social scientists, students and the general public. The volume also aims to stimulate a greater exchange between the social sciences and law, from which both disciplines can benefit. With contributions by Dr. Adelaida Afilipoaie | Valerie Albus | Dr. Lucie Antoine | Jascha Bareis, M.A. | Prof. Dr. Catrien Bijleveld, LL.M. | Jorge Constantinos | Dr. Max Van Drunen, M.Z. | Rita Gsenger, M.A., M.Sc.| Prisca von Hagen | Liza Herrmann | Julia Krämer | Eyup Kun | Dr. Lucas Lasota | Lisa Markschies | Heritiana Ranaivoson | Nik Roeingh | Jun.-Prof. Dr. Hannah Ruschemeier | Pascal Schneiders | Marie-Therese Sekwenz | Lisa Völzmann | David Wagner

https://www.nomos-elibrary.de/de/10.5771/9783748943990/digital-decade?search-click

September 22-26, 2025

Ljubljana, Slovenia

Deadline: July 15, 2025

The International Conference AI for Science will take place in Ljubljana from 22 to 26 September 2025. 

It will bring together researchers, leading experts in artificial intelligence and domain scientists who apply AI to solve complex problems in their fields. 

The conference will feature several thematic tracks:

• 28th Discovery Science Conference
  
• AI & Life Sciences
  
• AI & Material Science
  
• AI Factories
  
• AI & Space 
  
• AI & Digital Humanities
  
• AI & Environmental Science
  
• AI & Physics
  
• DaFab Summer School

Important dates:

15.7. 2025 - Paper/abstract submission deadline

21.7. 2025 - Notification of acceptance

25. 7. 2025 - Camera-ready version and Author registration deadline 

Find more information on this link: https://ai4science.si/calls-for-papers/

Deadline: September 30, 2025

We welcome contributions from both academic and non-academic authors. Academic papers up to 6,000 words (excluding references) and other work up to 3,000 words are considered.

• Abstracts Due: 30 September 2025
  
• Invitations to submit full papers will be sent by: 30 November 2025
  
• First Draft Due: 15 March 2026
  
• Publication: Spring 2027

POTENTIAL RESEARCH QUESTIONS

• What consequences do policy-based restrictions or algorithmic steering of content have on diverse children’s digital lives and their rights?
  
• How can children’s rights support children’s digital civic engagement?
  
• How do children understand, experience and voice their opinions on surveillance and tracking technologies and/or the harvesting and monetisation of their data?
  
• How will AI impact child rights and how can child rights be considered in AI development?
  
• How do children engage in issues around their future with AI and how will children’s voices be incorporated?
  
• How are children’s interests and desires informing technology development?
  
• How do children mobilise and use digital media for social change or become activists to promote issues they care about?
  
• How can invisibilized children be considered and included in decision-making and knowledge production?
  
• What does children’s creative use of digital media look like?
  
• How do children build digital cultures and communities?
  

KEYWORDS AND TOPICS

We welcome submissions adjacent to (but not limited to) the following thematic areas: 

• Digital childhoods
  
• Social media
  
• Media regulation and policy
  
• Digital media industry
  
• Datafication, tracking and privacy issues
  
• Social media, child labour and the commodification of childhood
  
• Children’s digital culture and community building
  
• Rights, participation, citizenship, and activism
  
• Access to information
  
• Gender and sexuality
  
• Ableism and health inequalities
  
• Help seeking
  
• Catastrophes and preparedness
  
• Migrant children’s use of digital media
  
• Ethnic minority children
  
• Social class
  
• Urban and rural childhoods
  
• Digital exclusion and poverty
  
• Creativity, art, music and play
  
• School, leisure and family life
  
• Children as researchers and research with children
  
• Methodologies and ethics in researching digital childhoods

BACKGROUND

Recent developments aimed at restricting children’s access to digital and social media across the globe, including Australia, Europe, China, and some parts of the US for example, open up questions about the social constructions of childhood. Such policy changes have a direct and, in some cases, profound impact on children’s life experiences and abilities to exercise their rights in the digital environment, including engaging in public life and seeking information, and their rights to culture, leisure and play, to mention a few. In response to these developments and calls for more child-centric research, we propose a Global Studies of Childhood themed issue on ‘Children as rights holders in the digital world’.

Digital and social media use is almost ubiquitous among teenagers. Nearly all US teens (96%) report using the Internet daily (Faverio and Sidoti 2024), and globally approximately 30% of Internet users are children, with an even higher proportion of child users estimated in the Global South (Ghai et al. 2022). Young people continue to make up the highest proportion of social media users. 

In Sub-Saharan Africa, children make up the majority of mobile users, although digital media use and access to devices among children and youth vary significantly across diverse settings. We also see increasing use of smartphones and tablets in early childhood globally, and although the use of social media is still limited among toddlers and preschoolers (0-4 years old) 16% of Swedish children aged 5-8 see their friends online regularly (Andersson 2023:9). In their annual study of children’s relationship with the media and online worlds, Ofcom (2024) recently reported that use of social media and apps among 5-7-year-olds in the UK has increased year-on-year. For many children, measures such as lockdowns and school closures, introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, meant that even more of their daily lives moved online.

Recent Developments and Children's Digital Worlds

Recent public debate across several international settings focuses predominantly on the risks and perceived harms associated with children’s digital screen and social media use. Governments and policymakers have advocated for implementing new age restrictions and other restrictive measures, such as restricting children’s use of smartphones. Most social media platforms require users to be 13 or older to have a user account. However, age limits are regulated differently across different countries, and recently, we have seen some rollback of younger teenagers’ access to social media, such as Australia’s social media ban for under 16-year-olds; France’s lobbying for an EU-wide policy, modelled on French law, requiring parental authorisation for children under 15 to use a social network service; mirrored by a similar call for a 15+ age limit by Denmark’s Prime Minister; Instagram’s introduction of a ‘teen’ (parental control) version in the UK; and several other countries implementing restrictions aimed at limiting social media use for teenagers under 16 (Livingstone and Sylwander 2025). The Australian social media ban is seen as a test case keenly observed across the globe by those actors seeking to advocate for regulatory interventions.

Accountability in a highly commercialised online environment is paramount, and making social media platforms, apps, and other online services more responsible for user safety is important. Policies aimed at strengthening children’s rights in online environments concerning datafication, privacy, and consent are positive developments. However, debates on the ‘banning of’ or introducing new restrictions to children’s access to digital and social media are dominated by deficit approaches and relatively narrow protectionist perspectives, with the view to protect children from various harms and risks, either as mediated through social media platforms (e.g., bullying, exploitation, ideological influencing) or as associated with the use of devices (e.g., screen time) or the techno-social dimension of platforms (e.g., ‘addiction’, social pressures). Increasingly, evidence is emerging on how simplistic approaches to limiting children’s time spent on screen-based media have proven ineffective. However, more importantly, little attention has been given to the impact on groups of marginalised children and young people for whom the digital connections offered by social media and other internet-based platforms are vital. The impact of restrictive approaches, for example, on refugee and migrant young people, LGBTQ+ children, and children with disabilities, as well as other invisibilised groups (Jordan and Prendella 2019), is not greatly understood and notably absent from both policy and public discourse. Furthermore, little attention has been given to the role of digital and social media in children’s political discourse and civic participation, which may be impinged upon following rollback measures.

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST

Please email an abstract of 500 words (250 words for non-academic work) and a short bio of each author to guest editors by September 30th at gscspecialissue@gmail.com

Please feel free to direct any queries to the editorial team: gscspecialissue@gmail.com

TIMELINE

• Abstracts Due: 30 September 2025
  
• Invitations to submit full papers will be sent by: 30 November 2025
  
• First Draft Due: 15 March 2026
  
• Themed Issue editors review and provide feedback to authors: 15 June 2026
  
• Authors submit articles to Global Studies of Childhood: 15 September 2026
  
• Peer review and revisions: September 2026 – November 2026
  
• Feedback / Acceptance: 15 November 2026
  
• Anticipated submission date for the Themed Issue: 15 March 2027

Please Note: all accepted articles can be published online first with SAGE Journals and provide authors with an accepted, reviewed paper at that time with all scholarly attributes awarded.

About the Journal:

Global Studies of Childhood is a space for peer-reviewed research and discussion about issues that pertain to children in a world context, and in contemporary times. Journal description: https://journals.sagepub.com/overview-metric/GSC

For a full version of the call, see: https://journals.sagepub.com/page/gsc/call-for-papers

About the Editors:

Helena Sandberg is Professor of Media and Communication Studies, Lund University, Sweden. She is the PL of DIGKIDS Sweden, researching the introduction of digital media in early childhood, and member of the Swedish advisory group for policy on Children and Youth's Digital Media use, and Health.

Olu Jenzen is Professor of Media and Digital Culture, University of Southampton, UK, with expertise in LGBTQ+ social media youth cultures. She is PL on the AHRC-funded project Creativity, Community & Resilience, researching trans and gender diverse young people’s collective resilience and community building in the UK through a strength-based and youth-led participatory approach. 

Tessa Lewin is a Senior Research Fellow in the Participation, Inclusion and Social Change cluster at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex, UK, specialising in gender politics, sexuality, visual activism, and child rights. She co-led the Rejuvenate project on children’s rights and participation.