[ecrea] CPF - Protest and the Media - 12-13 June, University of Westminster

CALL FOR PAPERS



Protest and the Media



Date: 12 and 13 June 2013

Venue: University of Westminster, 35 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5LS



The 5th Annual Conference of the Department of Journalism and Mass 
Communication at the University Westminster, held in association with 
the British Journalism Review, will focus on ‘Protest Movements, Free 
Speech and the Media’.



Confirmed speakers include:

-       W. Lance Bennett, Professor of Political Science, Ruddick C. 
Lawrence Professor of Communication, and Director of the Center for 
Communication and Civic Engagement, University of Washington

-       Nick Couldry, Professor of Media and Communications and Director 
of the Goldsmiths Centre for the Study of Global Media and Democracy, 
Goldsmiths College



The recent wave of protests sweeping both authoritarian regimes and 
Western liberal democracies has highlighted the close interconnections 
between media and protest, particularly in times of economic hardship.  
New forms of social media can disrupt constraints placed on traditional 
sources of information and public debate, whether through state 
intervention or monopolistic private ownership, and in theory provide 
platforms for a multiplicity of voices. Going beyond the hype 
surrounding ‘Twitter’ or ‘Facebook’ revolutions, this year’s conference 
will look at the role of media in representing and promoting protest and 
dissent. It will explore how contemporary media can shape practices of 
organizing, decision-making and mobilisation, change the focus of public 
debate, and influence the structure of protest movements and their 
capacity for social and political change.



Our focus is not confined solely to recent protests or to new media. 
Instead, we aim to situate current movements such as Occupy or the 
movements of the Arab Spring within broader trajectories of protest with 
papers examining the role of media in past mobilizations. We also seek 
to investigate the plurality of media used in protest, both new and old, 
mainstream and alternative, digital, analogue and paper-based.



We welcome a variety of approaches and topics which may include, but are 
not limited to, the following:

·      Media representations of protest

·      Media surveillance, censorship and repression of dissent

·      Media and the global diffusion of protest

·      The interaction between alternative/ citizen journalism and 
mainstream media

·      The interface between protest movements and journalists

·      The role of mediated communication in the organizing and 
decision-making practices of protest movements

·      Protest movements and their use of the media to appeal to the state

·      Comparisons between the role of the media in current and past 
protest movements

·      The impact of the media on protest movements’ capacity for social 
and political change



PROGRAMME AND REGISTRATION

The conference will take place on Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 June 
2013. The fee for registration will be £195 with a concessionary rate of 
£99 for students, to cover all conference documentation, refreshments, 
lunches, wine reception and administration costs. Registration will open 
in March 2013.



DEADLINE FOR ABSTRACTS

The deadline for abstracts is Monday 4 February 2013. Successful 
applicants will be notified by Monday 18 February 2013. Abstracts should 
be 250 words long. They must include the presenter's name, affiliation, 
email and postal address, together with the title of the paper. Please 
send abstracts to Helen Cohen at (journalism /at/ westminster.ac.uk)





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