ECREA WEEKLY digest ARTICLES

September 11-12, 2025

Cardiff University, UK

Deadline: February 14, 2025

Cardiff University invites submissions of abstracts of papers on all aspects of journalism to be considered for presentations at the 10th biennial Future of Journalism conference.

The event is hosted by the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC), and it takes place at Cardiff University on the 11th & 12th of September, 2025.

The organisers especially encourage contributions addressing the theme of “Conflicting Journalisms: Resistance, Struggle, and Prospects.”

This includes, but is not limited to, papers addressing themes such as:

• The role of journalists and journalism in covering conflict, including war, repression, and political violence
  
• New forms of journalism used in covering conflict, such as open source intelligence
  
• The challenges created in reporting on authoritarian and populist political movements
  
• The difficulties of covering elections in polarised news environments
  
• Conflict in journalism created by the development and introduction of generative artificial intelligence
  
• The threat to journalism’s standards, normative behaviours, and the compromises to journalistic values in covering populism/authoritarianism
  
• Conflict as a news value
  
• The aesthetic of conflict in photojournalism
  
• The challenges created by reporting on and/or for minority communities
  
• The challenges of reporting systemic or existential changes, such as climate change
  
• The accommodations made by legacy news institutions under pressure and the impact on ideals of journalistic objectivity, quality, and fairness
  
• The impact of both online and physical abuse and threat to journalistic challenge to authority
  
• Journalists work environment: conflicts in the newsroom
  
• Ongoing conflict around the gendering of journalism and news
  
• Conflicting ethical frameworks
  
• The struggle between opposing forces as a rhetorical trope in journalism
  
• Beyond blame: using compassion and empathy to address conflicts
  
• The future of the field of journalism studies and conflicts over its value and values
  
• The implications for improving journalism education associated with these developments
  

Confirmed keynote speakers include Professor Seth Lewis, the Shirley Papé Chair in Emerging Media at the University of Oregon, and Jodie Ginsberg, Chief Executive of the Committee for the Protection of Journalists.

The deadline for abstracts (300 words maximum) is Friday, 14th February, 2025. Abstracts should be submitted online via the link HERE.

Queries can be emailed to foj2025@cardiff.ac.uk.

Editors: Sameera Ahmed, Maha Bashri, Ahmed El Gody

Deadline: December 2, 2025

Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan 

We invite chapter proposals for an edited volume titled “Contesting Colonial Legacies: Processes of Decolonization in Media Spaces”. This book aims to critically examine the enduring influence of colonialism on contemporary societal frameworks, ideologies, and structures, with a particular focus on the media’s role as a key discursive arena where colonial legacies are both upheld and challenged.  

The book will explore how media and communication can either perpetuate or transform colonial legacies in the contemporary era. Unraveling and confronting these legacies is essential for fostering societies that are just, inclusive, and equitable, and that celebrate diversity in voices, cultures, and knowledge. To consolidate the literature emerging from the Global South that addresses these issues, chapters will reference, amongst others, diaspora studies, subaltern and postcolonial studies, and identity and conquest/anti-conquest discourses. 

By bringing together these critical issues and perspectives in one volume, we aim to provide an extensive and interconnected framework for understanding experiences of neocolonialism in the 21st century. This book will create a valuable resource for scholars, researchers, activists, and the public to examine conditions that impact several aspects of our contemporary lives which are rooted in colonial histories. 

We particularly encourage contributions from the Global South/Global Majority that: 

• Critique prevailing ideologies in media’s discursive spaces 
  
• Study the media as a site for resisting and contesting colonial legacies 
  
• Develop a thorough understanding of how media relates to the continuation of colonial ideologies 
  
• Suggest practical strategies and share real-life stories that challenge narratives rooted in colonialism  
  

Themes 

We welcome submissions addressing one or more of the following themes: 

1. Knowledge and Education: Examining media education’s role in propagating or challenging colonial ideologies. 

2. Culture and Identity: Analyzing how media either reinforces or undermines dominant cultural norms and identity constructs rooted in colonialism. 

3. Sustainability Concepts and Practices: Exploring how media narratives influence perceptions of sustainability, environmental justice, and resource management, and examining alternative, decolonization-based approaches. 

4. Resistance Systems and Voices: Showcasing various forms of resistance, including grassroots movements, activists, alternative media, and indigenous knowledge, that confront colonial legacies. 

Submission Guidelines 

Chapters should blend theoretical insights with practical interventions, drawing on real experiences from individuals, communities, and organizations. 

Potential research methods include literature reviews, case studies, comparative analyses, and discourse analyses. 

Chapters should be between 6000-7000 words. 

Important Dates 

• Abstract Submission Deadline: Monday, December 2, 2024 
  
• Notification of Acceptance: Monday, December 30, 2024 
  
• Full Chapter Submission: Monday, March 31, 2025 
  
• Anticipated Publication: September 2025  
  

Submission Process 

Please submit a 300-500 word abstract and a 100-word author bio by December 2, 2024, to ccldecol@gmail.com. Abstracts should clearly state the research question, theoretical framework, methodology, and expected findings. Please also indicate which theme(s) your chapter will address. For any queries, please contact ccldecol@gmail.com. We look forward to your contributions for this important volume on decolonization in media spaces. 

September 8-10, 2025 

Istanbul Bilgi University, Turkey

Deadline: February 17, 2025

ECREA Radio and Sound Section

(ALSO: PhD pre-conference - 7 September 2025 - information will be circulated separately)

Media Department, Faculty of Communication, Istanbul Bilgi University, SantralIstanbul Campus 

This conference aims to examine the past, present, and evolving role of radio around the world within a dynamic global media landscape. We will highlight the transformation of radio from a static entity to an adaptive component of the larger media ecosystem, continually reshaping itself in response to socio-political, economic, and technological changes. In the early 20th century, radio played an important role in the establishment and development of nation-states — especially militarily, economically, politically, and linguistically. Today, it is ubiquitous in various forms, multi-faceted, and present throughout the world. With the advent of artificial intelligence and non-human presenters, along with rising public mistrust and the prevalence of disinformation, radio faces new pressures to evolve. Nevertheless, radio endures as a critical medium, especially during global conflicts, where it serves as a source or way of communication for the different parties to the conflict as well as for the diaspora communities. 

Starting from this premise, we invite papers that help conceptualise “radio” as a cog in a changing wheel and focus on the dynamics that have shaped, over time and across the globe, the role of radio, be these roles assumed, attributed, or presumed by both broadcasters and listeners and be these radios private, public, university, community, clandestine, political, and more. We seek papers which explore the resilience and ongoing transformation of radio, emphasising its vital role in a shifting media environment and welcome interdisciplinary perspectives. We also welcome papers that contribute to investigating the various roles and forms that radio has occupied, as well as the various topics it has tackled since its inception to the present day across different political, geographical, economic, and cultural contexts. We are particularly interested in exploring the contexts and reasons behind these evolutions.

Furthermore, we aim to understand how the materiality of what is sometimes too quickly labelled as “radio” has evolved. Our goal is to investigate radio's transition from live, real-time broadcasting to a platform that accommodates on-demand audio formats and genres, working alongside podcasts, streaming, and downloadable content. This evolution has rebranded the industry as "audio" or "sound media", showcasing new capacities for audiences to listen almost whenever and wherever they want, thanks to the Internet and associated technologies. 

We also welcome conceptual and theoretical proposals that address the place of radio and sound studies in academic landscapes. These fields are tackled by researchers from various disciplines, from engineers to art researchers, and are mobilised to explore many topics, from the role they could play in war contexts to their place in the artistic and cultural development of groups and nations.

Lastly, we invite practitioners in the fields of radio and sound studies who are eager to combine their reflections with those of academics. By merging practical insights with theoretical perspectives, we aim to foster a rich dialogue that bridges the gap between practice and research.

The conference will feature keynote speeches, panel discussions, and paper presentations that address the following themes related to the one or many main topic(s) of this conference:

RADIO AND SOUND: PRODUCTION, FORMATS AND PURPOSES

• Production 
  
• • Practices
  • Studies
  • Podcasting 
  • Ethnographies
  • Broadcast locations (e.g. prisons, hospitals, educational institutions, refugee camps, farms, armed forces, …)
  • …
• Formats
• • Information
  • Storytelling
  • Narratives
  • Musics
  • Sounds
  • Codes (non-talk)
  • Drama
  • Sound Creation
  • Documentaries, 
  • Talk shows, 
  • Podcast typologies
  •  …
• Purposes
• • Politics
  • Pedagogy and education
  • Awareness raising
  • Activism
  • Entertainment
  • (Dis)information
  • …

RADIO AND SOUND: MEDIUM IN CONTEXTS 

• Medium
• • Civic radio 
  • Free radio
  • Pirate radio
  • Alternative radio
  • Radical radio 
  • DIY radio
  • Not-for-profit radio
  • NGOs radio
  • Feminist radio 
  • Community radio 
  • Local / national / regional radio 
  • …
• Contexts
• • Radio in the global media landscape
  • Ownership, regulation and governance of radio
  • Freedom of speech
  • Political and economic constraints
  • Policies of broadcasting 
  • …

RADIO AND SOUND: AUDIENCES AND LISTENING 

• Audiences
• • Community
  • National
  • Transnational
  • Diasporas
  • Demographics within audiences
  • …
• Listening
• • Poetics of listening
  • Philosophy of listening
  • Politics of listening
  • History of listening
  • Listening as a cultural practice
  • Phenomenology of listening 
  • …

RADIO AND SOUND: TECHNOLOGIES 

• DAB, streaming or LTE broadcasting
• Podcasting distribution
• Sound platforms 
• Internet
• • Social media 
  • Radio as an app
  • (De)materialisation
  • Hybrid radio
  • …
• Artificial intelligence 
• • Radio production and reception
  • Trust, information and disinformation
  • …

RADIO AND SOUND: RESEARCH

• Radio and sound as research fields 
• Theories of radio and sound studies
• Political economy of the radio
• Radio and gender studies
• Methodological approaches to sound research
• Digital ethnography
• Digital methods
• Network analysis
• Archiving and oral history
• Radio history
• Journalism
• Radio journalism
• Radio art
• Sound art
• Aural culture and cultural aural expressions
• Reception studies 
• ...

The conference situates radio and sound studies within the broader contemporary media landscape and aims to start a dialogue with, and accept contributions from platform studies, Internet studies, sound studies, social media studies, critical political economy of the media, media history, digital media management, cultural studies, production studies, ethnography, and social sciences.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Deadline for abstract submissions: 17 February 2025
  
• Notification of acceptance (and announcement of Early Bird date): 31 March 2025
  
• Publication of Programme: w/c 28 April 2025
  

SUBMISSION GUIDELINES:

Proposals for individual papers and panels can be submitted until 17th February 2025 through the conference website’s platform, which will be https://ecrearadioandsound2025.org/ The submission system will be available from early January 2025. Abstracts should be written in English and contain a clear outline of the argument, theoretical framework, and, where applicable, methodology and results. Individual abstracts and panel proposals should be between 300 and 500 words. In the case of a panel, proposals should contain a short summary of the panel and include the 4 or 5 individual contributions (with the title and author’s names of each contribution composing the panel.

SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE RADIO JOURNAL: INTERNATIONAL STUDIES IN BROADCAST & AUDIO MEDIA 

We will invite delegates of the Conference to submit their full papers no later than February 2026 to be selected for a special issue of the Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, edited by Intellect (www.intellectbooks.com/radio-journal-international-studies-in-broadcast-audio-media), to be published in the second issue of 2026.

For further information, please contact the organising committee at this email address: radioandsoundconference@gmail.com

Guest editor: Veronika Hanáková

Read the issue (open access) here: https://iluminace.cz/en/magno/ilu/2024/mn2.php 

The central question of this special issue of Iluminace (2/2024) is: What if we shifted our perspective, asking not how computers have transformed moving images, but rather how audiovisual media represents the imagery and iconography of computers themselves? This issue delves into the complex and often contradictory portrayals of "computer labor"—work facilitated by information technologies, whether executed by humans, machines, or through human-machine collaboration—in film and television.

The concept of computer labor serves as a lens to examine how computing technologies shape representations of work. This approach allows for an analysis that moves from depictions of specific moments of the machine or human at work (or both) to broader inquiries into how productivity, value, and even rest are defined within digital frameworks. Tracing the iconography of computer labor in audiovisual media also uncovers the roles of geographical, cultural, social, and economic influences, revealing how technological labor is produced and understood within varying contexts.

By following these representations, this issue underscores the transformative impact of digital labor and highlights the significance of its localized expressions and historical contingencies, encouraging readers to consider how audiovisual representation of digital work shapes and reflects our broader social and cultural landscapes.

This issue features both written papers and audiovisual essays. The lineup includes: 

• Veronika Hanáková: Configuring Computer Labor in Film and Audiovisual Media: An Introduction to a Special Issue
• Steve F. Anderson: Envisioning the Interface
• Daniel O’Brien: The Allure and Threat of the Cine-Computer: A Supercut of Onscreen Computers in Speculative Screen Fiction
  
• Occitane Lacurie: Ordinatrices: About the Negative Spaces of Early Computing
  
• Simone Dotto: Do Corporate Films Dream of Cybernetic Governance? Computers (as Metaphors of) Industrial Labor and Society in Olivetti-Sponsored Films
  
• Matěj Pavlík: Techniques and Technologies to Compensate for Powerlessness
  
• Tibor Vocásek: Who Is Awful? Black Mirror and the Dystopian Imaginary of AI Labor
  
• David Álvarez: Nostalgia Isn’t What it Used to Be: On Vaporwave’s Glitched, Aspirational Aesthetics 

And book reviews: 

• Ondřej Zach: Karlovarský festival jako platforma kulturní výměny i zbraň hybridní války (Jindřiška Bláhová, ed., Proplétání světů: Mezinárodní filmový festival Karlovy Vary v období studené války) 
• Veronika Hanáková: Seriously Unserious: Theoretical Implications of the Gimmick for Film and Media Studies (on Sianne Ngai, Theory of the Gimmick: Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form)

More:

Website: https://iluminace.cz/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ILUMINACE 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/videographic_archives/

University of Vienna

Department of Communication at the University of Vienna is looking for applicants for a Tenure Track professor position in media and communication history. I would be very grateful if you could share this information with the members of your division.

Deadline for applications is January 10, 2025.

HERE is the link to the job ad.

Dear ECREA members,

As approved by General Assembly in June 2024, the membership fees will change from the beginning of the 2025. See the new structure of the fees here (and see the list of "Low income" and "Middle income" countries here).

ECREA Governing Body (Executive Board) decided to offer to current members and to the new members a possibility of pre-payment of the 2025 membership with the current fees:

• All members can pre-pay the 2025 membership fee with the current (old) fee amount until 15 December 2024 (via the website or by contacting info@ecrea.eu).
  
• Members can also choose to pre-pay the 2025 or both 2025 and 2026 with the new fees anytime, availing of the two-year renewal option (by contacting info@ecrea.eu). *Please note the two-year renewal option is only possible with the new fee amount.*
  
• After 15 December 2024 (from 16 December 2024 on) members will be allowed to pre-pay/renew with the new fees only. They can also wait until they will be reminded by ECREA to renew in January / February 2025, and pay the new fees then.
  

If you have any questions or comments, please, get in touch with ECREA Admin at info@ecrea.eu.

All the best,

ECREA Team

Call for Chapters

Deadline: January 20, 2025

This edited volume seeks contributions from scholars whose subject matter, methods, or researcher identities resonate with what might be considered peripheral in communication studies. We aim to explore how diverse perspectives—often shaped by specific contexts, marginalized identities or cases, or alternative approaches—can challenge, expand or be an alternative to traditional paradigms, perspectives and cases in the field. The concept of the periphery is not defined here as a rigid geographic or socio-political category, nor is it a simple counterpoint to the North or Western paradigms. Instead, we understand the periphery as a space where various ‘ways of being’ and ‘ways of doing’ emerge, offering insights into communication processes and practices. We define the periphery in three interconnected ways. First, it can reflect geographic and contextual realities rooted in specific locations and their challenges. Second, it may describe the researcher's identity, which, while often tied to context, can stand apart from geographic definitions. Third, it relates to the subject matter and theoretical gaze, especially when these are understudied, overlooked, challenge dominant paradigms, or offer alternative epistemologies. The full call text is available here.

We welcome submissions that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

Researcher Situatedness and Methodology

- Reflections on how researchers’ contexts, identities, or positionalities influence their approaches, perspectives, and contributions to media and communication studies.

- Explorations of methodologies that embrace situatedness, such as autoethnography or reflective practices, as a means to deepen our understanding of communication phenomena.

Diverse or Transgressive Communication Spaces and Practices

- Analyses of how communicative practices—particularly in less conventional or transgressive spaces like digital sex work, hacktivism, or grassroots art movements—shape identity, expression, and community.

- Studies highlighting understudied or alternative communication practices, including those rooted in indigenous knowledge systems, oral traditions, and embodied performances, to enrich the field.

Expanding Theoretical Boundaries in Communication Studies

- Contributions that challenge, extend, or reimagine dominant theories in media and communication studies, informed by peripheral perspectives.

- Theoretical insights from underrepresented regions or traditions, such as Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Oceania, or Latin America, that shed new light on established debates.

- Understudied areas of communication, including theories or methods from other disciplines—such as ethics, political science, or performative arts—that bring fresh insight into the field.

​​Non-Human Subjectivity and Communication

- Investigations into the role of non-human subjectivities (e.g., animals, plants, or artificial intelligence) in communication processes and how these subjectivities challenge traditional human-centered paradigms, especially in non-Western contexts.

- Analyses and case studies of embodied, non-verbal, or other-than-human communicative practices that engage with human-animal, human-environment relationships, or offer theoretical and practical implications of decentering the human gaze.

Beyond the Digital Turn

- Explorations of non-digital communication spaces and practices—such as those in architecture, urban spaces, theater, or other embodied forms—and their contributions to the discipline.

- Research that revisits non-digital media to expand the understanding of communication in a digital-first world.

Economic Class and Communication

- Inquiries into how economic class shapes communication practices, representation, and access in varied contexts.

- Perspectives that place economic inequality at the forefront of communication studies, offering alternative ways of thinking about class and media.

Knowledge Production in Communication Studies

- Discussions on the structural biases in academic publishing and scholarship that influence which voices and perspectives are elevated or marginalized. Implications of working in authoritarian contexts.

- Critical engagements with global and local knowledge hierarchies, offering alternatives to reductive binaries and promoting diverse epistemologies.

Perspectives and Challenges of Early-career Scholars

- Considerations of the experiences of early-career researchers in regard to academic and professional challenges, particularly in peripheral or undervalued contexts.

- Innovations in methodology or theory that arise from the unique perspectives of early-career scholars.

Submission Guidelines and Contributions Sought

We aim to hold an online (closed) workshop on March 22, 2025 (subject to change) in order to facilitate discussion among the potential authors. The workshop will be a medium for the authors to debate their argument with each other as well as making themselves familiar with other contributions through informal paper presentations. The target publisher (e.g. Springer, Brill Books, Routledge, Lexington Books) will also be decided during the workshop. After the workshop, the authors will have 4 months to finalize the contributions. Full chapters will be around 6,000 words including the bibliography.

You can send the abstracts around 500-600 words (including the references) and a 100-word author bio to cansu.koc04@bilgiedu.net by January 20, 2025. The abstract should clearly outline the theoretical framework, specific context(s), and the broader implications of the proposed chapter for communication studies. The authors will be notified about the selection results by February 20, 2025.

Editors: Cansu Koç (Istanbul Bilgi University), Ezgi Altınöz (Istanbul Bilgi University), Yusuf Yüksekdağ (Istanbul Bilgi University)

This project is stemming from the Interdisciplinary PhD Communication Conference series at Istanbul Bilgi University. The previous edited collection, Collaboration in Media Studies, was published by Routledge in 2024.

April 24-26, 2025

University of Vienna, Austria

Deadline: January 15, 2025

The Seventh International and Interdisciplinary COMPTEXT Conference on the Quantitative and Computational Analysis of Text, Image and Video as Data will be held at the University of Vienna, Austria, on 24-26 April 2025.

COMPTEXT is an international community of scholars working on the Quantitative and Computational Analysis of Text, Image, and Video as Data. COMPTEXT conferences offer opportunities to obtain useful feedback on ongoing research, present new data and methods, network with scholars working on similar themes, and participate in workshops. 

The increasing use of large language models (LLMs) in computational text analysis presents opportunities and challenges for the social sciences. At COMPTEXT 2025, two critical issues will be explored in depth: first, the evolving infrastructures needed to support LLMs and their impact on open science; second, strategies to mitigate bias and improve the representation of marginalized voices in computational text analysis. With that in mind, we are pleased to announce two engaging roundtable discussions at COMPTEXT 2025 in Vienna:

1. Collaborative Futures: Infrastructures and Open Science in the Age of LLMs
   
2. Beyond the Margins: Addressing Bias and Amplifying Marginalized Voices in Computational Text Analysis
   

While these round tables will focus on specific themes, paper, panel, and data presentation submissions can, but are not required to, adhere to these topics.

PAPERS. For COMPTEXT 2025 in Vienna, we are seeking paper submissions that

• Rely on image, video, text, or other digital trace data to study social and political phenomena broadly construed
  
• Propose, present, or evaluate new computational methods, tools, or datasets
  
• Offer methodological comparisons, reflections, or critiques of existing computational approaches
  
• Apply computational methods to make contributions at the intersection of social science and computer science
  

We accept both substantive and methodological papers for presentation. Substantive papers may be on any studies in the social sciences or humanities that utilize computational methods, while methodological papers may describe new computational methods, tools, datasets, and approaches.

PANELS. We also accept full panel presentations of three or four papers engaging with overlapping themes from a substantive or methodological perspective.

DATA PRESENTATIONS. We invite data presentations on publicly available resources to be featured in one of the conference’s plenary sessions.

WORKSHOPS. In keeping with our tradition, the first day of the conference (April 24) is dedicated to a series of methods training workshops for registered participants. Courses will be offered for both beginner and advanced-level participants.

Submission formats:

Paper Proposals. Abstracts of max. 250 words and three substantive and/or methods-related keywords.

Panel Proposals: Title, abstract of max. 250 words summarizing the panel’s topic and three substantive and/or methods-related keywords. Further, abstracts of max. 250 words for three or four papers included in the panel.

Data Presentation Proposals:  Abstracts of max. 250 words and three substantive and/or methods-related keywords.

Please submit your proposals at https://www.conftool.org/comptext2025/

Timeline:

• Submission deadline: 15 January 2025
  
• Notifications of acceptance will be sent by 15 February 2025.
  
• The conference programme will be published, and registration will open by 15 March 2025.
  
• Full paper upload by April 8. 2025.
  

Please be advised that a conference fee will be charged for participants with accepted papers and for workshop participants. Reduced rates will be available for early career researchers (up to 4 years since Ph.D).

The Program Committee of COMPTEXT 2025 consists of:

• Fabienne Lind (University of Vienna, Vienna)
  
• Miklós Sebők (HUN-REN Centre for Social Sciences, Budapest)
  
• Petro Tolochko (University of Vienna, Vienna)
  

The COMPEXT 2025 Conference is organized by the University of Vienna with the Local Organizing Committee: Fabienne Lind and Hajo G. Boomgaarden together with Jana Bernhard-Harrer, Dominika Betakova, Hannah Greber, Veronika Ebner, Sarah Epp-Kampl, Jean Kalunseviko, Azade Kakavand, Claudia Koska, Aytalina Kulichkina, Noelle Lebernegg, Jula Lühring, Meike Müller, Anna Maria Planitzer, Moritz Sedlatschek, Sebastian Sherrah, Apeksha Shetty, Marvin Stecker, Petro Tolochko, Annie Waldherr, Daniel Wiesner (Department of Communication, University of Vienna)

Equality, Diversion, and Inclusion: COMPTEXT is committed to creating an inclusive conference where diversity is celebrated, and everyone is afforded equal opportunity. We welcome applications from everyone, including those who identify with any of the protected characteristics that are set out in University of Vienna 2025 Development Plan, p. 58 https://www.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/startseite/Dokumente/Entwicklungsplan2025_EN.pdf. We especially encourage scholars from traditionally underrepresented groups, female scholars, and early-career researchers to apply.

Green Meeting: The aim is to organize the event in accordance with the criteria of the Austrian Ecolabel for Green Meetings. We hope that you welcome these efforts and support us in the implementation of this green event. If you have any questions, please contact the Green Meeting officer Alexandra Wassipaul (alexandra[dot]wassipaul[at]univie[dot]ac[dot]at).

Questions related to COMPTEXT Vienna 2025 should be directed to comptext25[at]comptextconference[dot]org

Best regards,

The Organizers

Revista Comunicando (thematic Section)

Deadline: March 21, 2025

Thematic editors: Miguel Midões (Polytechnic Institute of Viseu/ Communication and Society Research Centre, University of Minho, Portugal) and Giovanni Ramos (Polytechnic University of Coimbra, Portugal) 

“There is no journalism without proximity, whether it's proximity to the sources, proximity to the subjects, or proximity to local, regional, national or international communities, and this proximity takes many forms: geographical, emotional, cultural, affinity, among many others. Everything outside of this that we commonly call journalism is something that may still be undefined, but it is not journalism” (Midões & Martins, 2024). 

Coverage of local and community issues, proximity in journalism that allows a close relationship with sources and the discussion of local issues has long been seen as a way of promoting democracy. Proximity in journalism strengthens active citizenship by providing direct information on issues that impact citizens' lives, stimulating civic involvement and providing a space for the expression of diverse voices and perspectives. Focussed on the needs and concerns of communities, local media have a responsibility to promote transparency in public policies and local authorities, making them essential for building a more participatory and inclusive society. 

In a scenario marked by financial constraints and a shortage of resources, the future of local media is increasingly uncertain. A sector strongly marked by cutbacks, the closure of publications, local and regional broadcasters, the centralisation of content production and a lack of specialised human resources, local media have been facing the challenge of finding new ways to react to a context marked by profound transformations. 

In this thematic section we would like to receive works that show the reality of proximity media and proximity in the media, as well as those that analyse the relationship between the media and communities and the impact that technological advances, new publishing platforms and current production and distribution models have on this relationship. 

Topics of interest for this section include, but are not limited to: 

• Local media and technological advances 
  
• New publishing platforms 
  
• Old and new forms of funding and/or business models 
  
• Local and community media, democracy and strengthening communities 
  
• Public sphere: traditional journalism versus new social media dynamics 
  
• Media and the hinterland: production, distribution and use of local news 
  
• Local media: independence, political and financial control 
  
• Co-operation strategies in local and regional media 
  
• Local media, disinformation and fake news 
  
• Alternative media and collaborative journalism 

The works in the thematic section will be published between July and December 2025, in a continuous edition. 

All papers are subject to a double-blind peer review process. There are no associated publication fees (article processing fees or APCs). 

Full text submission period: from 2 January to 21 March 2025 

Languages: Portuguese, English or Spanish 

Sections: articles, interviews, reviews and experience reports 

Submission guidelines: https://revistacomunicando.sopcom.pt/index.php/comunicando/about/submissions 

For more information, please contact: revistacomunicando[at]gmail.com 

Comunicazioni Sociali: Journal of Media, Performing Arts and Cultural Studies (special issue)

Deadline: December 10, 2024

Edited by Alice Cati, Anna Chiara Sabatino, Max Schleser, and Shuai Li

Since the advent of small-gauge film devices, alternative audiovisual forms have adopted original and creative approaches to documenting personal experiences. Among these, amateur audiovisual films have often been characterized by self-referential and subjective expressions, whether shaped as “home movies” or individualistic autobiographical or self-portrayal declinations. From this perspective, the question is no longer how self-representational practices such as mobile and first-person filmmaking are used to express personal unique perspectives and styles, but rather what forms of self-narrative representation emerge within the exploration of novel methods and alternative renderings of the Self in audiovisual and digital media.

Within a mediascape where social media platforms have catalyzed an unprecedented development of self-narrative forms through digital creative practices, nearly anyone can produce and share self-representations, acting as captures and stories of mobile lives.

Since the first mobile films emerged roughly two decades ago, audiovisual storytelling has seen remarkable growth in multiple configurations, from videodiaries and travelogues to first-person formats, ranging from cinema to social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok, as well as news broadcasting and citizen digital journalism. Such medial expansion has led to new formats and narrative structures, establishing smartphone filmmaking and digital storytelling as a distinct creative ecology that includes both professional and amateur domains. As these platforms continue to evolve, they offer new opportunities for both creators and audiences to engage with content in innovative ways. One key aspect of this evolution is the shift towards brevity and immediacy in storytelling. The rise of short-form video formats has further transformed personal storytelling by encouraging creators to condense their narratives into more concise and immediate forms. Additionally, the role of algorithms in addressing and promoting content has a relevant impact on the visibility of self-narrative productions, determining which stories reach broader audiences and go viral. Thus, mobile storytelling occupies a liminal space, one that has given rise to new classifications and identities for content creators, including the “prosumer”, “pro-am”, and “pro-d-user” categories.

In parallel, the concept of the amateur—deriving from the Latin term for “lover,” meaning one who creates out of passion rather than financial necessity—has evolved as well in the digital era, where the always online and highly interconnected environment offers new avenues for individuals and communities to communicate and present themselves to virtual audiences anywhere at any time. In this perspective, digital storytelling and mobile filmmaking as creative practices become both autonomous expressive tools for self-narratives and vehicles for collective engagement, as well as catalysts for activism, addressing issues like inequality and environmental and social crises. In the current digital landscape, creators can construct an authentic self-image that resonates closely with their intended audience. Nevertheless, far from being exclusively online, such narrative modes also encompass alternative applications, including therapeutic uses of mobile devices within participatory research designs and peculiar audiovisual fields.

From private memoirs to always-active social media profiles, from domestic memory capturing to the dialogic and participatory dispositives of smartphone filmmaking, how can audiovisual languages, tools and practices be declined today in their personal and collective performances? How traditional self-representative configurations such as autobiography and self-portrait evolve within their audiovisual upgrades? What are the varied facets that the self-narratives take on in the age of Big Data? What models of self-reflexive discourse and self-representation are defined as marginal or dominant in the contemporary mediascape? How do amateurism and professionalism interact with self-storytelling, which frequently occurs at the crossroads between private and public, between personal and corporate logic (e. g., influencer marketing)?

This issue of Comunicazioni Sociali invites scholars to propose reflections on the disciplinary, theoretical, and historical intersections of amateur, personal, mobile storytelling and smartphone filmmaking. In particular, the issue aims to solicit contributions that seek to explore how digital storytelling, mobile and smartphone filmmaking can be understood today in both personal and collective forms. We particularly encourage proposals that emphasize self-representation, mobile autobiographies, first-person filmmaking, amateur digital configurations and transformative dimensions within these practices.

Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• The historical development and creative practices of digital storytelling, mobile filmmaking and smartphone filmmaking;
  
• Audiovisual forms and genres of self-mediatization (e.g. self-portrait, video diaries, travelogues, Instagram stories, TikTok videos);
  
• Therapeutic use of digital devices and mobile self-representational practice within medical and clinical contexts;
  
• Digital identity construction and online presence configurations;
  
• Alternative story forms, formats and counter-cultural expressions;
  
• Amateur creative contributions and expressions, both personal and collective;
  
• The impact of short-form video formats on how individuals construct and share personal narratives;
  
• The role of algorithms in shaping the visibility, reach, and influence of audiovisual self-representations. 

Submission details

Please send your abstract and a short biographical note by December 10, 2024, filling out the following form: https://www.vpjournals.it/index.php/comunicazionisociali/about/submissions   

Abstracts should be 300 to 400 words long (in English). All submissions should include 5 keywords, the name of the author(s), the institution's affiliation, contact details, and a short bio for each author.

Authors will be notified of proposal acceptance by December 20, 2024.

If the proposal is accepted, the author(s) will be asked to submit the full article in English by May 15, 2024

Submission of a paper will be taken to imply that it is unpublished and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

The articles must not exceed 5,000/6,000 words in English (including references)

For editorial guidelines, please refer to the section “Guide for the authors” on the Comunicazioni Sociali website: http://comunicazionisociali.vitaepensiero.com

Contributions will be submitted through a double-blind peer review process.

Issue 2/2025 of Comunicazioni Sociali will be published in September 2025 and available in open access on the journal's website.