Call for Papers International Communication Gazette Special Issue
**Abstract Submission Deadline: 15th December 2010**
New(s) Media Technologies and New(s) Work:
Changing Journalistic Practices across Europe
Guest Co-Editors: Roger Dickinson (University of
Leicester); Julian Matthews (University of
Leicester); Kostas Saltzis (University of Leicester)
Research conducted in several countries shows
that journalists find themselves in increasingly
time-pressured, demanding working environments
as their industry adapts to rising competition
from the internet (as a platform for
advertising income and alternative news sources)
while newsrooms bring digital technologies into
all aspects of the news production process
(Boczkowski, 2009; García Avilés and Léon, 2002;
Saltzis and Dickinson, 2008). Despite
disagreement over the consequences for the
industry, there is a consensus that such changes
are altering the nature of journalists? work in
fundamental ways. Recent discussions focusing
on these changes, address such matters in terms
of the political economy of the news industry
(e.g. McChesney, 2003), the attitudes and
opinions of journalists, or their professional
values (e.g. Beam, et al, 2009; Singer and
Ashman, 2009), but show relatively little
interest in the way journalists actually respond
to these changes in their working
practices. This special issue will discuss
contemporary professional practice in the
European context, examining the important
differences in industries that are producing
differing consequences for journalists, whether
there are common solutions to the problems they
face as well as the various ways that different
journalistic and organisational cultures negotiate such change.
Thus, empirically-grounded contributions might
consider a range of issues including, but not confined to:
? New media technology and organisational planning and policy
? Newsroom reshaping: organisation and
emerging socio-technical systems - editorial and
technical integration of online and offline
newsrooms; architecture designs for convergent
newsrooms; digitisation; change and
modernisation; managerial decisions and the drive for efficiencies
? New media technology and the evolution
of news practices: changing/marking boundaries;
impact of changes on the journalists' imagined
community; 'situational adjustment' among news
workers; new news-gathering practices
? New media technology and multi-skilling:
'enskilling' or ?deskilling??; multimedia
reporting; impact of multiskilling on news output; speed versus quality
? Managing user-generated content:
moderation and legal considerations; the role of
feedback on news production processes
? Practitioner reflections on these
topics: first-hand accounts of the changes in
newsroom practice and training issues.
Submissions:
Abstract (500 words and to include author?s
professional status and institutional affiliation)
submission: 15th December, 2010
Notification of acceptance: 15th January, 2011
Full paper submission: 31st October, 2011
Submissions (abstracts and full papers) should
be sent electronically as Word documents to
Roger Dickinson (email: (dik /at/ le.ac.uk)). If this
is not possible, then please send five copies
(of full paper) to Roger Dickinson, Department
of Media & Communication, University of
Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK.
Papers, in English, should include an abstract
of 100-150 words, with a suggested target of
8000 words (including notes and references) and
include 8-10 key words. For specific manuscript
submission guidelines, please go to:
http://www.uk.sagepub.com/journalsProdDesc.nav?ct_p=manuscriptSubmission&prodId=Journal200826&crossRegion=eur
If you have any queries regarding the
suitability of your potential contribution
please contact either of the guest co-editors:
Roger Dickinson (dik /at/ le.ac.uk)
Julian Matthews (jpm29 /at/ le.ac.uk)
Kostas Saltzis (ks82 /at/ le.ac.uk)
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