Archive for October 2012

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[ecrea] Current Affairs Conference

Wed Oct 10 23:42:24 GMT 2012



Current Affairs Television: Then and Now



Conference announcement and call for papers



Date: Monday 21 Jan 2013. Venue: School of the Arts, University of Liverpool



Current affairs television, and particularly the long-running weekly current affairs series, has long been an important staple of British television. At present, Panorama (BBC), Dispatches (C4) and Tonight (ITV) continue a tradition of journalistic investigation and enquiry that has lasted for more than fifty years and which makes an important contribution to social and political understanding in Britain. Despite the publication in the mid-2000s of histories of the most renowned series, there has been little recent academic attention to this important strand of television which is of interest to scholars of journalism, documentary and television alike.



Involving both academics and journalists/ programme-makers, this conference is intended to refocus attention on current affairs television and to test its current state of health, both in comparison to its record of past achievements and in the light of recent rapid changes in the role and consumption of television. Key questions are likely to include:

· How effectively has the long-running current affairs series adapted to the requirements of British television in the 21st century?

· In what ways have the purposes, presentational forms, subject agendas and social/ political relevance of long-running current affairs series changed in comparison to those of their predecessors in the 1960s/ 70s/ 80s?

· To what extent have the fears expressed in the late 1990s about the ‘dumbing down’ and eventual demise of the serious television current affairs series on British television been born out?

Call for papers

We are seeking papers addressing aspects of these questions, or related themes concerning the long-running current affairs series, for presentation at the conference. Please send abstracts (150-200 words maximum) to the email address below by Friday 2 November 2012. When presented, papers should last no more than 20 minutes.



Further information about the Current Affairs Television: Then and Now conference will be circulated in due course. To submit abstracts or to register to receive further information, please email (current-affairs /at/ liverpool.ac.uk).



Peter Goddard

Department of Communication and Media, University of Liverpool, 19 Abercromby Square, Liverpool, L69 7ZG, UK



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