[ecrea] ICA Pre-Conference CFP Strategies for Media Reform

Call for Papers
Strategies for Media Reform: An International Workshop
International Communication Association Pre-conference
London - June 17, 2013

Sponsored by: Philosophy, Theory and Critique division, Communication
Law and Policy division, and Global Communication and Social Change
division

Hosted by: Department of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths,
University of London and Coordinating Committee for Media Reform (CCMR).

Supported by: Department of Communication, University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign, Donald McGannon Communication Research Center,
Fordham University, Global Media and Communication, Communication,
Culture and Critique.

Given the crises of accountability, accessibility, legitimacy and
funding facing media systems across the world, there are currently
unprecedented opportunities for media reform: for re-imagining,
restructuring and reviving our means of communication in the public
interest. In a whole range of countries, from Australia to Argentina
and from China to the US, we are seeing campaigns—from the hyper-local
to the national—to secure more democratic, responsive and
representative media systems and forms of media coverage. The need to
redistribute cultural resources on a more equitable and transparent
basis is rapidly becoming associated with wider movements for social
justice not just in opposition to concentrated ownership but also in
resisting the corporate grab of the internet, supporting
public-oriented journalism and pressing for more accountability and
diversity in our media systems.

This pre-conference will highlight efforts across a range of countries
to build vibrant and viable media reform movements and offer all
participants the chance to reflect on the strategies required to grow
and sustain campaigns for media democracy.  It will attempt to gather
together significant examples of theory, advocacy and activism and to
answer some of the most familiar questions facing media reform
activists such as:
•	How do activists and academics generate interest in media reform?
•	How do we build meaningful coalitions that can secure progressive change?
•	What is the role of academics in generating research and providing
support to media reform networks?
•	What are the intellectual and political foundations of media reform?
•	What are the common threads that link reform movements internationally?
•	Is media reform enough? How do we link with other campaigns for
social justice?

Concrete outcomes of the pre-conference will include:
•	Strengthening an emerging international network of media reform scholars;
•	Mapping of common themes in terms of national, regional and global
scope (e.g., cross-media ownership, digital freedom of expression);
•	Ideas for collaborative and comparative research projects; and
•	Potentially contributing chapters for an upcoming edited volume on
Communication Research in Action: International Perspectives (working
title, to be proposed for Fordham University Press).

Call For Papers

This pre-conference calls for contributions from scholars and
activists reflecting on pressing concerns and complementary challenges
facing media reform movements throughout the world. This could include:
•	The use of social media to build reform movements
•	Successes and challenges of movements for democratic media legislation
•	Key principles and paradigms that underpin media reform campaigns
•	How to prioritize media in wider movements for social justice
•	How to resist the threat of unaccountable media power
•	How best to theorize the democracy and activism that will empower
media reformers
•	How best to understand and apply historical battles for media
democratization.

Abstracts of 300 words (maximum) should be submitted no later than 30
November 2012. Send abstracts to: Philip Napoli (atmcgctr /at/ fordham.edu)
Authors will be informed regarding acceptance/rejection for the
pre-conference no later than December 20, 2012. Full papers will need
to be submitted no later than May 15, 2013.

This pre-conference will be held at Goldsmiths, University of London,
9.30-17:30 hrs, followed by a public rally in central London at 7pm
for ICA and non-ICA delegates addressing key issues facing the
international media reform movement.

Cost: $30 (includes morning and afternoon refreshments and lunch).

For informal queries, please contact Des Freedman,(d.freedman /at/ gold.ac.uk)

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