[ecrea] Conference on Investors and Entrepreneurship in Arab Media

> The University of Westminster’s
> Arab Media Centre is calling for papers for its next international
> conference. The topic is ‘Investors and Entrepreneurship in Arab
> Media’, the venue is the University of Westminster’s Regent Street
> Campus in central London, and the date is Friday April 15th,
> 2011.  
> Suggested conference themes and other details about submission of
> abstracts are included in the Call for Papers, which is pasted below and
> is also available online at
>
> http://www.westminster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0017/62009/Call-for-papers-_2_.pdf
> . 
> You might also like to know about the PhD symposium on Arab TV Fiction
> and Entertainment Industries to be hosted by the Danish Institute in
> Damascus in November, in collaboration with the Arab Media Centre and
> others.  Details of that event can be accessed at
>
> http://www.westminster.ac.uk/__data/assets/pdf_file/0012/62040/DamascusArabEntertainmentResearchSchool_Announcement-_2_.pdf
> .
> We would be grateful if you could please circulate the following Call for
> Papers as widely as possible. The deadline for abstracts is October
> 25th. 
> With kind regards,
> Naomi Sakr
> Professof Media Policy
> Director, Arab Media Centre
> Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI)
> University of Westminster
>  
> CALL FOR PAPERS
> Investors and Entrepreneurship in Arab Media 
> Conference organised by the
> Arab Media Centre 
> Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), University of
> Westminster
> in collaboration with the
> New Islamic Public Sphere Programme, University of Copenhagen
>  and the 
> CAMRI Media Management Group 
>  
> Date: 15 April, 2011
> Venue: University of Westminster, Regent Street Campus, 
> 309 Regent Street, London W1
>  
> What impact have global financial turmoil and regional political
> struggles had on investment in Arab media and the way these media are
> managed?  Growth in the number of free-to-air satellite television
> channels across the Arab region slowed markedly in the year to April
> 2010. Yet the same period saw new investment channelled into generating
> films and television content, led by Abu Dhabi bodies like Imagenation
> and twofour54. 
> Behind both trends are shifts in favoured business models, with moves
> towards strategic alliances, spreading risk and, in some cases, greater
> acceptance of the transparency imperatives imposed by the need to raise
> capital. After News Corporation’s February 2010 purchase of a 9 per cent
> stake in the entertainment group Rotana, the group’s owner, Saudi
> Arabia’s Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, announced plans for an initial public
> offering of shares in the group, and the possible launch of a news
> channel. 
> This conference will showcase current scholarship on the processes that
> underlie contemporary ownership and management practices in Arab media
> organisations. It is the sixth annual international conference to be
> organised by the Arab Media Centre, which is part of the University of
> Westminster’ Communication and Media Research Institute (CAMRI), and will
> be held in collaboration with CAMRI’s Media Management Group and the New
> Islamic Public Sphere Programme at the University of Copenhagen. 
> Potential topics for conference papers include, but are not limited to,
> the following: 
>  
>
> ·         Management theory and
> its applicability to Arab media 
>
> ·         Political theory (e.g.
> elites, networks, clientelism) and Arab media organisations
>
> ·         Horizontal and vertical
> integration of Arab media firms
>
> ·         Business and political
> profiles of Arab media owners
>
> ·         Gender dimensions of
> entrepreneurship in Arab media
>
> ·         Law, policy and
> regulation affecting media ownership and competition in Arab
> countries
>
> ·         New and emerging
> business models in Arab media
>
> ·         Trends in Arab
> investment in content production and distribution
>
> ·         Transparency and
> accountability in subsectors of Arab media 
>
> ·         Methodological issues
> in researching Arab media management
>  
> PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION 
> This one-day conference will take place on Friday, April 15, 2011.
> The draft programme envisages at least one plenary session devoted to a
> keynote speech.  The fee for registration will be £85, with a
> concessionary rate of £35 for students, to cover all conference
> documentation, refreshments and administration costs. Registration will
> open on January 10, 2011. 
> DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS 
> The deadline for abstracts is Monday, October 25, 2010. Successful
> applicants will be notified by Monday, November 15, 2009. Abstracts
> should be 250 words long. They must include the presenter's name,
> affiliation, email and postal address, together with the title of the
> paper and a 150-word biographical note on the presenter. Two copies of
> the abstract should be sent, one to Professor Naomi Sakr
> (
> (N.Sakr01 /at/ westminster.ac.uk)) and one to Helen Cohen, Events
> Administrator
> (
> (H.Cohen02 /at/ westminster.ac.uk)). The selection committee will comprise
> members of CAMRI's Arab Media Centre and Media Management Group.
> TRAVEL EXPENSES
> The conference organisers will apply for funding to assist with
> travel costs of selected participants whose own institutions are unable
> to provide the necessary support. Since the outcome of the application
> will not be known until close to the conference date, participants should
> ensure they have alternative arrangements to cover their own travel and
> accommodation expenses. 
> PUBLICATION
> Opportunities will be open for publication of selected conference
> papers in an edited book focusing on specific conference themes or in
> academic journals whose editors or co-editors are based in CAMRI.
> Articles may be submitted to the Middle East Journal of Culture and
> Communication, Global Media and Communication, Westminster Papers in
> Communication and Culture and Interactions. 
>