CALL FOR PAPERS
IS THE PUBLIC INTEREST UNDER THREAT?
MEDIA POLICY RESPONSES TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR RECESSION IN EUROPE
Symposium jointly organised by the
Communication and Media Research Institute
(CAMRI), University of Westminster, and the
European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA)
Date: 2 October, 2009
Venue: University of Westminster, Regent Str Campus,
309 Regent Str, London W1B 2UW
THE TOPIC
In virtually every European country, the private
media sector is suffering intense economic
pressure from the cyclical downturn in
advertising and the structural shift of
advertising revenue to the web. As a result,
corporations are pursuing every avenue to
exploit new and existing means of generating
revenue, and of maximising the potential of
digitalisation. This is having a direct impact
on the policy making process at both national
and supranational levels as governments and
regulatory agencies are coming under increasing
pressure to restrict new initiatives in the
public sector, to apply the strictest possible
criteria to publicly funded media organizations,
and to relax overall regulatory oversight of the private sector.
This symposium will seek to bring together
scholars and regulators from around Europe to
discuss the nature of new policy initiatives
being canvassed or implemented, and their
repercussions for promoting (or foreclosing) the
public interest. Topics of particular interest include, but are not limited to:
· Means of exploiting the "public" to
alleviate pressures on the "private"
(partnership deals, sharing proceeds of public funding etc.)
· Limits on expansion or interpretation
of public service broadcaster remits
· Circumscribing funding opportunities for Public Service Media (PSM)
· Proposals to change or reduce advertising controls or restrictions
· Relaxing restrictions on concentration of ownership
· Proposals to change or relax
cross-ownership regimes at local, regional or national levels
· Initiatives and responses at the EU level
There will be three themed sessions and one
plenary session consisting of two keynote
speakers. The precise themes will depend on
abstracts received, but are provisionally designated as
i. relaxation of regulatory
regimes and potential consequences
ii. pressures on PSBs and regimes of public funding
iii. ownership, consolidation and threats to pluralism
The model for this symposium will be short
position papers of no more than 10 minutes in
length designed to prompt cross-national
discussion and debate. Our objective is to
promote a better understanding of how
governments and regulators within Europe are
responding to the inevitable pressure to
accommodate the private sector, and perhaps to
anticipate some of the consequences. The
emphasis will therefore be on discussion and exchange.
Our intention is then to select around 10 papers
to be written up for an edited collection arising out of the symposium.
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
The symposium will take place from 9.30 to 5.30
on Friday, October 2nd. There will be three
sessions consisting of concurrent panels and one
plenary session. Online registration will open in September 2009.
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS
Abstracts (between 300 and 500 words) addressing
one or more of the above topics, and including a
brief set of questions posed by the proposed
paper, should be emailed in Word-format
to <(Journalism /at/ wmin.ac.uk)
<<mailto:(Journalism /at/ wmin.ac.uk)>mailto:(Journalism /at/ wmin.ac.uk)>
> by Monday July 6th, 2009. Each abstract must
include the presenter's name, affiliation, email
and postal address, together with the title of
the paper and a brief biographical note on the presenter.
The selection committee will comprise members of
CAMRI's Policy Group and ECREA's Communication
Law & Policy Group. Applicants will be advised
by the end of July 2009 of the outcome of their submissions.
More information will be available in due time on the conference websites:
<http://www.wmin.ac.uk/camri>http://www.wmin.ac.uk/camri
<http://www.wmin.ac.uk/camri>
<http://commlawpolicy.wordpress.com/>http://commlawpolicy.wordpress.com
<https://webmail.wmin.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://commlawpolicy.wordpress.com/>
