[ecrea] cfp reminder: Channels of Transition: 2nd Czech-Polish-Slovak Communication Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS REMINDER

The conference ?Channels of Transition: 2nd 
Czech-Polish-Slovak Communication Conference? ? 
submissions deadline approaching soon!
7-9 May, 2009
Brno ? Telc, Czech Republic
Abstract submissions deadline: January 31, 2009
Please submit abstracts not longer than 400 words 
via <mailto:(info /at/ channels-of-transition.eu)>(info /at/ channels-of-transition.eu)

Confirmed keynote speakers:
Ann Gray (University of Lincoln, Great Britain)
Karol Jakubowicz (Chair of the Information for All Programme of UNESCO)
Kaarle Nordenstreng, (University of Tampere, Finland)

For more details please see the full version of 
CFP below or visit 
<http://www.channels-of-transition.eu/>http://www.channels-of-transition.eu






CALL FOR PAPERS (FULL VERSION)


Channels of Transition: 2nd Czech-Polish-Slovak Communication Conference
Brno ? Tel , Czech Republic
7 ? 9 May 2009



Confirmed Keynotes

Ann Gray (University of Lincoln, Great Britain)
Karol Jakubowicz (Chair of the Information for All Programme of UNESCO)
Kaarle Nordenstreng, (University of Tampere, Finland)


The conference will bring together media and 
communication scholars from the three 
neighbouring Central-Eastern European countries 
and other experts on the region to discuss 
various aspects of media systems transition in 
the last two decades. Proposed as a platform for 
sharing communication research outcomes within 
the region, the event will provide an opportunity 
to compare particular national perspectives and 
to help answer the question as to whether it is 
possible to consider transformation of the 
so-called post-communist media systems a finished 
process and what the roles of and challenges for 
the media in the region twenty years after 1989 are.








Organizing committee


Prof. Bogus awa Dobek-Ostrowska (University of Wroclaw, Pl), honorary chairman
Mgr. Ing. Jan Puncochar (Czech Syndicate of Journalists), conference secretary
PhDr. Irena Reifova, Ph.D. (Charles University, Prague, CR)
PhDr. Vaclav Stetka, Ph.D. (Masaryk University, Brno, CR)
PhDr. Tomas Trampota, Ph.D. (Charles University, Prague, CR)
PhDr. Peter Val ek (Commenius University, Bratislava, SR)
PhDr. Jaromir Volek, Ph.D. (Masaryk University, Brno, CR)

Organizing institutions
The Czech Syndicate of Journalists
&
Department of Communication and Journalism, University of Wroc aw
Department of Media Studies and Journalism, Masaryk University
Department of Media Studies, Charles University
Department of Journalism, Commenius University


We invite contributions elaborating on one of the 
conference?s main thematic sections, which are as follow:

1. Historical roots and development of CEE media systems.

The documentation of developmental tendencies and 
diachronic approach towards the analysis of media 
institutions has a long tradition in CEE media 
studies. Given the turbulent political and 
cultural history of this region, which had 
experienced recurring periods of totalitarianism 
and democracy in the course of the 20th century, 
it is legitimate to ask to what extent and in 
what way these historical processes have shaped 
the contours of contemporary media systems in CEE 
countries. This section welcomes contributions 
aimed at a broad range of issues related to the 
historical role of mass media under totalitarian 
regimes, especially during the periods of 
transition and regime change, as well as papers 
which examine historical ?legacies? of current CEE media environment.


2. From centralized media to decentralization ? 
and back? Ownership, regulation and production.

The section will cover all reflections on the 
merging of contemporary media systems and 
economic and political powers, with special 
attention given to the issue of media ownership, 
diversity and pluralism, which are all tightly 
linked to the quality of public sphere. The 
following questions will be of particular 
interest for this section: How is the public 
sphere affected by the position of media on the 
scale between regimentation of their functioning 
and a libertarian approach? Are there attempts to 
reclaim the notion of responsible media 
behaviour? And is the question of politically 
contested media role still worth resuscitating in 
user-oriented digital media environment with its 
promise to fortify elements of direct democracies?


3. The power of nostalgia? Popular culture and 
its consumers in the age of post-totalitarian commercialisation.

The section on popular culture will unravel both 
the structural preferred meanings and cultural 
pleasures encoded/decoded, produced/consumed or 
simply enjoyed within the fuzzy borders of the 
post-communist cultural space. The focus will be 
on the ?triple articulation? of post-communist 
popular culture to the former practices of rigid 
ideology, contemporary practices of 
consensus-negotiating hegemony and popular 
tactics potentially subverting or transforming 
both of them. What were the ideological patterns 
of totalitarian popular culture narratives in 
press, film, radio and television? How can the 
passion for the 1970s and 1980s cultural products 
be explained? Is contemporary popular culture 
consumption sanctioned by a high-brow perspective 
of moral hierarchies? How do the media or the 
audiences in their collective memory relate to the state-socialist past?


4. Old questions under new conditions? New media, 
new participations, new divides.

Contents and uses of new media, together with 
critical reflections of their taken-for-granted 
position in contemporary society, will be the 
main focus of this section, framed by the 
following questions: How have the new media been 
incorporated into CEE public and private spheres? 
Are there any regional actors/activities able to 
compete with global ventures? What is the 
relationship between the ?traditional? mass media 
and the new media? What are the regional features 
of global digital divide and access to new 
technologies? Have the new media activities, 
carried out through Web 2.0 technologies such as 
blogs, file sharing tools and social network 
sites, had any considerable importance for 
processes of European integration and globalization?



5. From the ?cynical collaboration? to 
professional cynicism? Professionalization of 
journalism and political communication.

The last two decades have been characterized by 
growing tendency towards professionalization of 
media organizations in CEE countries. However, 
this process is far from being completed, and 
even though certain standards of media conduct 
and self-regulation principles have been adopted 
and emphasized, journalism is still largely 
lacking an established identity as a profession. 
At the same time, other actors in the 
socio-political space have been turning to ever 
more sophisticated strategies and means of 
political communication in order to shape the 
public agenda. This section accepts papers 
reflecting these trends, as well as the dilemmas 
and challenges facing present-day journalism, 
which is being increasingly influenced by public 
relations practices. Particularly welcomed are 
papers examining journalists? professional values 
and attitudes, routines of news production or the 
place of traditional normative concepts such as 
?objectivity? and ?neutrality? in the contemporary media discourse.


6. Media literacy and competent media consumption: opportunities and limits.

This section will discuss the role of media 
education for enhancing the ability of audiences 
and users to critically engage the media and 
their messages in the information society and the 
digital media environment. Welcomed are both 
theoretical approaches, particularly those 
situating the media literacy endeavors within the 
general framework of building participatory 
democracy and civil society in CEE countries, as 
well as papers reviewing and/or comparing 
practical examples of media literacy curricula, 
programs and projects, and offering innovative 
strategies for the future media educators.

7. Alternative and community media.

This section is oriented toward exploring the 
broad territory of non-mainstream media within 
the CEE region. Largely avoided by the CEE media 
researchers in the past, this sector is now being 
recognized as a fully-fledged part of a wider 
media system. We call for papers investigating, 
among other issues, the development, extent and 
current state of alternative/community/minority 
media in CEE countries, problems they are facing, 
as well as their specific roles and functions, 
particularly their potential for civic/political 
participation, public engagement and minority 
empowerment, or the role of ?civic journalism? 
for community building and construction of local identity.





Submission guidelines

Deadline for abstracts submissions: January 31, 2009
Acceptance information delivery: February 28, 2009

Deadline for paper submissions: April 30, 2009



Abstract not longer than 400 words accompanied by 
a brief bio (one paragraph) should be sent to the 
conference assistant Radim Hladik, Charles 
University, Prague: 
((info /at/ channels-of-transition.eu)). Please include 
your name and title (as you would like it to 
appear on the program and nametags), department, 
university, and full contact details.

Visit the conference website at 
http://www.channels-of-transition.eu for further 
details on the organization of the event and the proposed topics.

Conference papers will be considered for 
publishing in a special issue of the 
peer-reviewed academic journal ?Media Studies ? 
Czech and Slovak Quarterly for Critical Media 
Reflection? (http://www.medialnistudia.cz).





Important Information


Conference language: English
Conference fee:
Full participation ? 150 EUR
Includes:
Accommodation (2 nights)
Conference registration
Conference Program
Lunches and coffee breaks (2 days)
Welcome banquet and conference dinner

Observer status ? FREE of charge
Includes:
Conference registration
Conference Program
Recommended for audience without papers

Conference venue: Masaryk University Centre Telc, 
details at: http://telc.muni.cz/
Accommodation:
Hotel u Hrabenky Telc, details at: http://www.hotel-uhrabenky.cz/
Hotel Anton Telc, details at: http://www.hotel-anton.cz/


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