[ecrea] CFP: Continuity and Change in Radio in the 21st Century (SCMS 2012, Boston)

CALL FOR PAPERS:

On the (Re)Death of Radio: Continuities and Changes in Radio in the 21st Century

Panel Proposal for the Society for Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Boston, March 21-25, 2012 (http://www.cmstudies.org/)

In the 1950s, the death of radio was proclaimed loudly and often; after all, who would want to listen to the radio when they could watch television instead?  Now we know, of course, that radio did not die but transformed into something else, remaining vibrant and relevant despite the popularity of television.  Since the 1990s, the death of radio has been proclaimed again: kids don't listen to radio anymore, the mp3 player will kill it off, etc. Once again, however, that death has been greatly exaggerated, with radio continuing to prove that so-called "old" media don't stop developing upon the arrival of "new" media.

This panel will explore the constants and the transformations in radio since the turn of the 21st century, paying special attention to the ways that this thing we call "radio" has adapted to changes in technology, ownership patterns, listening habits, programming strategies, economic underpinnings, and cultural roles.  Is there a coherence to the cultural phenomenon of radio that transcends any specific set of technologies?  Will the apparent decline of traditional over-the-air commercial broadcasting open up new uses and opportunities for radio?

We invite papers that adopt a critical-cultural perspective on continuities and changes in radio content, technologies, industries, and audiences over the past decade.  Topics may include:

	• The role of contemporary commercial radio broadcasting
	• The fate of technical innovations such as satellite and HD radio
	• The migration of "radio" onto new technologies and platforms such as cell phones and internet radio
	• The rise of LPFM radio
	• Community radio in the age of the internet
	• The state of radio in non-Western and transnational contexts
	• Licensing, copyright, and other legal and economic issues
	• Music discovery and the changing nature of the relationship between radio and the record industry
	• Radio nostalgia and the impulse to celebrate radio's past
	• Economically successful institutions and forms such as NPR and right-wing talk radio
	• Economically unsuccessful institutions and forms such as Air America

Please submit a 250-word abstract (plus references) and a brief bio to Bill Kirkpatrick at (mwkirkpa /at/ gmail.com) by August 19.  Panelists will be notified by August 26.



Bill Kirkpatrick
Assistant Professor
Department of Communication
Denison University
Granville, OH 43023
(740) 587-0606 (h)
(740) 587-8512 (w)
(mwkirkpa /at/ gmail.com)
(kirkpatrickb /at/ denison.edu)
www.billkirkpatrick.net



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