[ecrea] CFP: New media, audience and emotional connectivity

-Call For Papers-

Special Issue of "Sociedad de la Información"
(ISSN: 1578-326X - D.L. AB 293-2001)
http://www.sociedadelainformacion.com/

New media, audience and emotional connectivity

Guest Editor:
Hada M. Sánchez Gonzales (Universidad de Sevilla, España; COST Action 
ISO906 - WG2)

See also http://www.cost-transforming-audiences.eu/node/963

I. Introduction

The technological development of the Internet has revolutionized our 
understanding of the world of communication and information. This 
special issue aims to reflect on one specific aspect, namely the 
emotional / affective dimensions of the reconfigured relationship 
between audiences and journalists.

One of the consequences of the new media configuration is that audience 
members have become "media watchdogs" and are intensifying their impact 
on traditional media. Also journalism has not remained immune for the 
innovations brought about by Web 2.0, and more specifically social 
media. The explosion of a real time web has allowed media enterprises to 
be known differently in the Network and has led to a more direct 
relationship with the user.

This call for papers focuses on the affective dimension of this altered 
relationship, investigating how audience members and journalists 
experience, produce and maintain emotional connections, and how this 
affective dimension structures their relationships. Also the (affective 
dimension of the) entrepreneurial experiences by journalists and 
audience members will be analyzed, as will be the ways these emotional 
connections are anchored in specific values and practices, such as 
empathy, orientation towards service, establishment of links with 
others, organizational awareness, collaboration, etc.

II. Sub topics:

1. Connection between the audience and the journalist

The audience has developed from an "ignorant mass" to a "smart crowd" 
and has developed into the "fifth power". It started to play a more 
proactive role in the construction of information (this is for instance 
the case of "Periodismohumano", "Etiqueta Negra", "Demotix" etc.), the 
public agenda and even in the search for political solutions (for 
instance at the local level). Audience members are now looking for 
information, deciding what kind of information they need to be provided 
with and what they want to see reported. This implies that journalists 
must be aware that the audience has become a media watchdog (as is the 
case with for instance "Propublica"), affecting the quality of the 
information.

Audience participation has become hard to avoid for journalism, which 
has generated the need to study the emotional connection between 
audiences and journalists (and more broader: between audiences and 
communication professionals). Dealing with audience members requires 
specific skills, which are also (at least partially) located within the 
emotional domain. For instance, adaptation, readiness to dialogue, 
patience and credibility are qualities that communication professionals 
might need, facing an audience which has become more involved and is 
still sensitive to facts. But also audience members experience specific 
emotions in dealing with, not only other audience members, but also 
communication professionals. More research is needed on the affects that 
enable them to work together, to be committed to a joint project, to 
enjoy mutual identifications and to be anchored in an orientation 
towards service and dialogue, keeping in mind that the Social Web has 
just begun to develop and that traditional media are adjusting quickly. 
Also more negative affects, such as feelings of powerless, disrespect 
and manipulation could/should also be included in the analyses.

2. New media, entrepreneurial experiences and audience

Habits and, consequently, audience reactions keeps on evolving when we 
are looking at consumption and production within the domain of 2.0 
platforms. This does not only apply to participatory processes and the 
direct use (or exploitation) of the content but also to the emotional 
connection that is established in, for instance, social media, because 
social media content and practices respond to audience members' 
interests and facilitate interaction with others. Again, affect matters, 
because our actions are structurally linked with our emotions.

The contemporary media landscape is encouraging journalists to assume 
new roles, provoked by the incursion of new formats and the labor 
crisis. To do this, journalists have to deal with experiences on two 
levels: technological/thematic experiences and entrepreneurial 
experiences. This subtopic focuses on the affective dimension of the 
latter, namely the journalists' experiences with and within the 
(changing) media enterprise itself (in dealing more intensively with 
audience members). Secondly, this subtopic also deals with the affective 
dimension of the entrepreneurial experiences of audience members 
themselves, and how they relate to media enterprises.

III. Deadlines

First Phase - December 17th 2012 - (maximum) 600 word abstract.
Second Phase - January 16th-17th 2012 - Notifications of acceptance.
Third Phase - March 25th 2013 - Full manuscript submission.
Fourth Phase - June 26th-27th 2013 - Notifications of 
acceptance/suggestions.
Fifth Phase - October 2013 - Publication in "Sociedad de la Información".

IV. Submissions

The submission (abstracts and full manuscript), in English, should be 
sent electronically, as Word document, to Hada Sánchez (email: 
(misago /at/ us.es))

If you have any queries regarding the suitability of your potential 
contribution or any other inquiries, please contact the guest editor: 
Hada Sánchez (email: (misago /at/ us.es))

V. Guidelines for Authors

For specific manuscript submission guidelines:

Manuscript Preparation

1. Review and Publication Process

For abstract: The reviewers' will carry out an initial review for the 
abstract received in order to ascertain whether they comply with the 
minimum quality requirements.

Paper is sent to 2 reviewers for review. The reviewers' recommendations 
determine whether a paper will be accepted / accepted subject to change 
/ subject to resubmission with significant changes / rejected.

For papers which require changes, the same reviewers will be used to 
ensure that the quality of the revised paper is acceptable.

2. Content and Structure:

The following information should also be provided:

For abstract

- Name of the author/s
- Institution
- Country
- Email Address

-Paper title
-Abstract: Should not exceed 600 words. Should state briefly the purpose 
of the research, the principal results and major conclusions (Should be 
in 11-point Arial, line space 1,5 justified-alignment).
-Keywords: Select 5 to 6 words or phrases.

For paper

Page 1:

-Identification: Authors and Institutions
Please indicate the given name and family name clearly. Present the 
authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below 
the names. Indicate all affiliations with a lower-case superscript 
letter immediately after the author's name and in front of the 
appropriate address. Including the country name, and, if available, the 
e-mail address of each author:

- Name of the author/s
- Institution
- Country
- Email Address

-Paper title
-Abstract: Should not exceed 350 words.
-Keywords: Select 5 to 6 words or phrases.

Page 2:

-Paper title: Title should be concise and informative.

-Abstract: Should not exceed 350 words (final manuscripts). The abstract 
should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results 
and major conclusions.

-Keywords: Select 5 to 6 words or phrases.

- Full manuscript submission (not exceed 10.000 words). All text in 
manuscripts should be in 11-point Arial, double-spaced, 
justified-alignment only. Authors are urged to write as concisely as 
possible, but not at the expense of clarity.

-Sponsoring information.
If the research is sponsored or supported by an organization, please 
indicate it.

- Subdivision of the article
Divide your article into clearly defined and numbered sections. 
Subsections should be numbered 1, 2. (then 1.1, 1.1.1, 1.1.2), 1.2, etc. 
The abstract is not included in section numbering.

-Table and Figures
Only JPEG (JPG) or TIFF (TIF) file format for illustrations and figures 
is accepted for photographs or images.

- Citations in the text
Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in 
the reference list (and vice versa). Avoid citation in the abstract. 
Unpublished results and personal communications should not be in the 
reference list, but may be mentioned in the text. Citation of a 
reference as 'in press' implies that the item has been accepted for 
publication.

- References
- Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present 
in the reference list (and vice versa). Avoid citation in the abstract. 
Unpublished results and personal communications should not be in the 
reference list, but may be mentioned in the text.

- References should be arranged first alphabetically and then further 
sorted chronologically if necessary. More than one reference from the 
same author(s) in the same year must be identified by the letters "a", 
"b", etc., placed after the year of publication.

-Reference to a book:
Riffe, Daniel; Lacy, Stephen & Fico, Frederick (2008). Analyzing media 
messages: using quantitative content analysis in research. Routledge, 
London.

-Reference to a journal publication:
Van der Geer, J., Hanraads, J. A. J., & Lupton R. A. (2000). "The art of 
writing a scientific article". Journal of Scientific Communications, 
163, pp. 51-59.

-Reference to a chapter in an edited book:
Mettam, G. R., & Adams, L. B. (1994). "How to prepare an electronic 
version of your article".  Jones, & R. Z. Smith (Eds.). Introduction to 
the electronic age. E-Publishing Inc, New York, pp. 281-304.

-Reference to a web source:
Smith, Joe (1999). One of Volvo's core values. [Online] Available: 
[http://www.volvo.com/environment/index.htm] (July 7, 1999).




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