School of Journalism and Mass Communication University of Westminster
Call for Papers
Journalism's Next Top Model: Meeting the Cost of Journalism Tomorrow
8th and 9th June 309 Regent Street London W1
News media all over the world are failing as the traditional revenue
from advertising bleeds to the web. Free news websites are
discouraging the young from buying newspapers. So who will pay for
what sort of journalism in the future?
Following last year's hugely successful "Journalism in Crisis" the
University of Westminster is organising a conference on the future
funding of the news industry.
Local papers in Britain are closing as display advertising follows
the classifieds into cyberspace, yet some US regional papers are
funded by subscribers for their websites; will readers accept pay
walls round the tabloids? ITV regional news is in meltdown and will
the licence fee be around to pay for BBC coverage?
This conference will examine the different experiments in sustaining
serious journalism in the new environment, both commercial and not
for profit:
* the conditions for charging for content;
* leveraging content and customer data to advertisers and marketers;
* local authority funded media;
* direct support for non-profit news operation from subscribers
and charities;
* the viability of Independently Funded News Consortia (IFNCs)
and those without public subsidy;
* can investigative journalism continue to exist and who will
pay for long form journalism?
* how will legal rights be protected without the financial
support of a well funded fourth estate?
* what will happen to the BBC News output?
* and does the French subsidy model have wider applications?
We invite papers from academics in media, as well as business and
others addressing the theoretical issues involved in the study of
journalism. We are also keen to hear about practical experiments
today, and possible developments tomorrow.
The conference will take place on June 8th and 9th 2010 at the
Regent Street campus of the University of Westminster. As well as
the presentation of academic papers there will be industry panels,
featuring major names from press and broadcast as well as regulators.
Please send abstracts of not more than 250 words to Helen Cohen
(<mailto:(journalism /at/ wmin.ac.uk)>(journalism /at/ wmin.ac.uk)) by 1st March 2009.
