CALL FOR PAPERS
Children?s TV in the Arab World
5th Annual International Conference of the Arab Media Centre,
Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), University of Westminster
Date: Friday 4 June, 2010
Venue: University of Westminster, Cavendish Campus,
115 New Cavendish Street, London W1
THE TOPIC
Vigorous expansion of free-to-air children?s
television in Arabic is something that has
happened rather recently. Spacetoon Kids? Arabic
satellite channel dates back to 2000, but MBC3
and Al-Jazeera Children?s Channel (JCC) were
launched in 2004-2005. Nickelodeon Arabia
started up in July 2008 and Baraem, a JCC
offshoot, went on air in January 2009. A long
list of other children?s channels and related
initiatives emerging during this period raises
many social, cultural and economic questions
about the production and distribution of
programmes for Arabic-speaking children and
about the way this output is received and used by its young viewers.
Papers are invited for a one-day conference in
London to address these issues. The morning will
feature panel debates by invited industry
practitioners, educationists and policy-makers.
Afternoon sessions will be devoted to
presentation of academic research. By bringing
scholars together with executives and experts
from all parts of the children?s television
landscape, the conference aims to explore, among
other things: whether local creativity in
children?s television programming in Arabic is
helped or hindered by the volume of dubbed
imports; whether public service elements in
children?s TV can set precedents for the rest of
Arab television; and whether there is credible
evidence that innovations in content and
interactivity are meeting children?s educational and entertainment needs.
SUGGESTED THEMES FOR PAPERS
Suggested topics for research papers include,
but are not restricted to, the following:
? Programme content underlying values and assumptions
? Channel finance implications of public service and commercial models
? Parent power ? mechanisms for voicing preferences and concerns
? Young audiences quantitative and qualitative insights
? Online games and virtual worlds
implications for children?s broadcasting
? Merchandising ? applicability and impact in the Arab context
? Animation ? developing local skills and innovation
? Segmentation ? are some groups of children overlooked?
BACKGROUND TO THE EVENT
The conference reflects two specialist areas of
research being developed within the University
of Westminster?s Communication and Media
Research Institute (CAMRI), namely Arab media
and the ecology of media production for
children. In its 2008 Research Assessment
Exercise, the UK?s Higher Education Funding
Council ranked CAMRI as the best media and
communication research centre in the country,
with all of its submissions rated as being of
international standard, including 60 per cent
classified as ?world leading? and a further 30
per cent as ?internationally excellent?.
CAMRI runs numerous international conferences
every year. In September 2008 it held a
conference on ?Making Television for Young
Children: Future Prospects and Issues?. In
March 2009 it held another on ?Arab and African
Audiences: Shared Agendas for Research?. The
conference on ?Children?s TV in the Arab World?
builds on these and other previous events and
has secured the participation of leading names in the field.
DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS
The deadline for abstracts is Monday, December
7th 2009. Successful applicants will be notified
by Monday, January 11th, 2010. Abstracts should
be between 150-350 words. They 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.
Two copies of the abstract should be sent, one
to Dr Tarik Sabry at the Arab Media Centre at
<mailto:(amc-office /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>(amc-office /at/ westminster.ac.uk)
and one to Helen Cohen, Events Administrator for
the Department of Journalism and Mass
Communication, at
<mailto:(journalism /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>(journalism /at/ westminster.ac.uk).
The selection committee will include CAMRI
specialists in media for children and Arab media.
PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION
Conference registration will be open to all and
not conditional upon presenting a paper. The
conference lasts one day only, beginning with
coffee and registration from 9:00 am and ending
with a reception from 17:30 to 19:00. Plenary
sessions with invited industry speakers will
take place in the morning. Presentation of
academic papers will take place in concurrent
panels in the afternoon. The fee for
registration will be £85, with a concessionary
rate of £35 for students, to cover attendance at
all sessions, refreshments and conference
documentation. Formal registration will open on
January 11th 2010, but informal applications may
be addressed in the meantime to Helen Cohen at
<mailto:(H.Cohen02 /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>(H.Cohen02 /at/ westminster.ac.uk).
Successful applicants will need to arrange
funding for conference attendance from their own institutions.
PUBLICATION
Opportunities will be open for publication of
selected conference papers in academic journals
whose editors or co-editors are based in CAMRI.
It is proposed to develop a themed issue of the
Middle East Journal of Culture and
Communication, but stand-alone articles may also
be submitted to Global Media and Communication,
Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture and Interactions.
********************
Dr Katharina Noetzold
RCUK-Research Fellow
Editor Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture
Arab Media Centre, CAMRI
University of Westminster
Watford Road, Harrow HA1 3 TP, UK
Tel: +44-(0)20-7911 5000, ext. 4544 (office)
Email: <mailto:(k.noetzold /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>(k.noetzold /at/ westminster.ac.uk)
The University of Westminster is a charity and a
company limited by guarantee. Registration
number: 977818 England. Registered Office: 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2UW.
