[ecrea] ICA Pre-Conference - Global Communications and National Policies: The Return of the State? 16th June

Global Communications and National Policies: The Return of the State?

2013 International Communication Association (ICA) Pre-Conference
London - Sunday 16th June, 2013
University of Westminster Regent Street Campus, London

Hosted and sponsored by the Communication and Media Research Institute 
(CAMRI), University of Westminster, with the Australian Research Council 
Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation.

Sponsored by the Global Communication & Social Change Division; 
Communication Law & Policy Division; and the Communication & Technology 
Division.

Organizers: Professor Terry Flew (ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative 
Industries and Innovation, Queensland University of Technology), and 
Professor Jeanette Steemers (CAMRI, University of Westminster).

If you would like to attend this conference, places are available.
For further details and to register go to www.icahdq.org to register 
online; or via Fax/Mail directly to the ICA. Deadline for registrations 
20 May.

Conference Outline:

There has been much discussion as to whether forces associated with 
globalization (economic, political, cultural) weaken the capacity of 
nation-states to regulate media institutions and media content. These 
debates intersect with the shift towards convergent digital media, with 
the associated rise of user-created content, multi-platform content 
distribution, and moves from the mass communications paradigm that 
dominated 20th century media policy.

At the same time, arguments have been made that the scalar shift towards 
media globalization has been overstated, and national governments remain 
key players in shaping the media environment, with media corporations 
responding to the legal and policy frameworks they deal with at a 
national level.

Discussion of the relationship between global communications media and 
nation-states has often oscillated uneasily between two poles. On the 
one hand, comparative national studies of communications law and policy 
are open to the criticism that their objects of analysis – media 
technologies, platforms, content and audiences – are increasingly 
transnational. On the other, arguments that the nation-state is in 
decline as a political-economic entity, as part of a scalar shift of 
global power to empires and networked multitudes, are not well supported 
by empirical evidence. While some aspects of media and communication law 
and policy are being addressed by transnational entities (both 
governmental, corporate and NGOs), much policy activity remains at the 
level of the nation-state.

The Leveson Inquiry into phone hacking by journalists in the U.K. and 
the political influence of News International is a reminder that even 
the most global of media corporations can face concentrated national 
scrutiny into their operations, There is also a significant recent 
history of ‘developmental states’ in Asia and Latin America marshaling 
national resources in order to become lead players in the global 
communications economy. Moreover, countries such as South Korea, Taiwan, 
Singapore and Australia, as well as China, have chosen to focus upon 
public investment rather than market competition as the primary means of 
developing national broadband infrastructure. There has also been 
reconsideration of claims that the Internet cannot be regulated, and the 
rise of apps as a primary vehicle for accessing media content may be 
challenging earlier assumptions about the World Wide Web.

This one-day pre-conference event will consider the relationship between 
global communications and national policies from a multidisciplinary 
perspective, incorporating global media studies, political economy, 
technology studies, and law and policy studies.

This proposed pre-conference event themes to be considered include:

• Nation-states and global media: does media globalization weaken the 
power of nation-states, or do nation-states actively foster the 
engagement of ‘national champions’ in the global communications economy?
• Transformations in national laws and policies in light of media 
globalization: is there a “return of the state” in managing the 
consequences of media convergence, in areas such as ownership and 
content policies, and copyright and intellectual property laws?
• Public media and globalization: how is the role of public media being 
reconfigured in the context of global media convergence (e.g. soft power 
and cultural diplomacy, cross-platform operations, public value tests)?
• Legal globalization: what pressures are there to harmonize national 
laws and regulations across national boundaries, and what distinctive 
elements can communications research bring to bear upon such questions? 
How are civil society organizations and NGOs engaging with such questions?
• Internet governance, global media platforms and nation-states: are 
Google and Apple now global media companies? How are communication 
scholars and policy-makers engaging with such questions?

Speakers: A range of prominent speakers from throughout the world have 
been confirmed for this event, including: Professor Sandra Braman (U. 
Wisconsin, US); Professor Anthony Fung (Chinese University of Hong 
Kong); Professor Colin Sparks (Hong Kong Baptist University); Professor 
Silvio Waisbord (George Washington University, US); and Professor Dwayne 
Winseck (Carleton University, Canada). SEE CONFERENCE PROGRAMME BELOW

The cost will be $65, inclusive of morning tea, lunch, and afternoon 
tea. Drinks and dinner at a nearby venue will be confirmed for after the 
all-day event.

Enquiries about the pre-conference event should be directed to Professor 
Terry Flew at (t.flew /at/ qut.edu.au)< <mailto:(t.flew /at/ qut.edu.au)> 
mailto:(t.flew /at/ qut.edu.au)> .

PROGRAMME

ICA Preconference Program

Opening Session: 9.20 – 11am

* Chair – Terry Flew (Queensland University of Technology, Australia)
* The Re-emergence of the Regulatory State - Petros Iosifidis (City 
University, UK)
* Legal Globalization and Communication Law - Sandra Braman (U. 
Wisconsin – Milwaukee, USA)
* Media Policies under Populism and the Blindspots of Media 
Globalization - Silvio Waisbord (George Washington University, USA)
* One Step Forward, Two Steps Back: Media, States and the Global 
Dimension - Colin Sparks (Hong Kong Baptist University, China)
* Return of the State @ the Heart of the “New Internet-centric Media 
Order” - Dwayne Winseck (Carleton University, Canada)
* Global Communications and National Policies: The View from the EU - 
Maria Michalis (University of Westminster, UK)

11-11.30am Coffee Break
11.30am – 1pm Parallel Session 1a: The Emergence of New Global Online 
“Media” Companies

* Chair - Jeanette Steemers (University of Westminster, UK)
* State Control, Media Hierarchies and Globalization: The Case of Xinhua 
News Agency - Xin Xin (University of Westminster, UK)
* Public Broadcasters meet Google: National Cultural Policy vs. Global 
Competition - Hallvard Moe (University of Bergen, Norway)
* Between Google and Godliness: Government Regulation of Blasphemy - 
Cherian George (Nanyang Technological University, Singapore)
* National vs. Global Media Policies: The Case of Mediaset and 
SkyItalia’s Struggle over the Italian Television sector - Cinzia 
Padovani (Southern Illinois University, Carbondale, USA)

11.30am – 1pm Parallel Session 1b: National Regulation and Global 
Tensions (Part 1)

* Chair – Graeme Turner (University of Queensland, Australia)
* Cultural Policy, Chinese National Identities and Globalization - 
Anthony Fung (Chinese University of Hong Kong, China)
* The Implications of Transnational TV for Broadcasting Regulation in 
Small States - Manuel Puppis, Matthias Künzler (University of Zurich, 
Switzerland)
* Media Regulation and the Tensions between a Global, Regional and 
National Perspective - Joan Barata Mir (Blanquerna Communications 
School, URL, Barcelona, Spain)
* Challenges for Media Regulation given the Context of Convergence and 
Global/regional Media in the East African Community - Nassanga Goretti & 
Nakiwala Sembatya (Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda)
* From “Foreign Propaganda” to “Cultural Soft Power’: Reading the 
National Regulations on Global Media in China Min Tang - (University of 
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, USA)

1.00-2.00pm Lunch
2.00-3.30pm Parallel Session 2a: National Regulation and Global Tensions 
(Part 2)

* Chair – TBC
* The Nation-State and Media Globalization: Has the state returned – or 
did it never leave? - Graeme Turner (University of Queensland, Australia)
* The State that never left: Policy Laundering in Global Communication - 
Katherine Sarakakis (University of Vienna, Austria)
* Enforcement of National Legislation on Global Social Networks: Mission 
Impossible? - Eva Lievens (Interdisciplinary Centre for Law and ICT, 
K.U.Leuven - ICRI – iMinds, Leuven, Belgium)
* Media and Citizenship - Christina Slade (Bath Spa University, UK)
* The Media Welfare State: Nordic Media in the Era of Globalization - 
Ole Mjos, Hallvard Moe (University of Bergen, Norway), Gun Enli & Trine 
Syvertsen (University of Oslo, Norway)

2.00-3.30pm Parallel Session 2b: Rights, Regulation and the State

* Chair – Dwayne Winseck, (Carleton University, Canada)
* The Return of Speech: Concepts of Free Speech in Changed Media Regimes 
- Andrew Kenyon (University of Melbourne, Australia)
* Digital Copyright and the State: Enforcing International Norms on 
Citizens Lucas Logan - (Texas A&M University, USA)
* Public and Private Ordering: The Case of Search Engines - Joelle 
Farchy (Paris Panthéon Sorbonne, France) & Cecile Meadel (Mines 
ParisTech, France)
* The Emergence of New Players in the Southern Europe Media Markets - 
Nelson Ribiero & Rita Figueiras (Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Portugal)
* Global E-commerce and National and EU Policies: The Case of Value 
Added Tax on Ebooks in Europe - Terje Colbjornsen (University of Oslo, 
Norway)

3.30-4.00pm Coffee Break

4.00-5.30pm Parallel Session 3a: Economic Perspectives and Commercialisation

* Chair – Peter Goodwin (University of Westminster, UK)
* The Sound of One Hand Computing: IT Policy and the Indian State - 
Biswarup Sen (University of Oregon, USA)
* A Dwarf Fighting Giants: Flemish Media Policies in an Age of 
Globalization - Karen Donders (Vrijie U., Brussels) & Hilde Van den 
Bulck (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
* Between Economic Objectives and Public Remit: Positive and Negative 
Integration in European Media Policy - Eva Nowak (Jade University, Germany)
* Harmonisation and Autonomy of Media Policy within the European Union - 
Cornelia Wallner (Ludwig- Maximilians-University, Munich, Germany)

4.00-5.30pm Parallel Session 3b: Media Policy Transformations and 
Disruptions

* Chair – Maria Michalis (U. Westminster, UK)
* Need for a Helping Hand? Media Policy Paradigm Shifts in Times of 
Crisis - Corinna Wenzel, Stefan Gadringer & Josef Trappel (University of 
Salzburg, Austria)
* Global Social Media and the Challenges to European Audiovisual 
Regulatory Frameworks - Ole Mjos (University of Bergen, Norway)
* Power Behind the Scene: State-Aided Media Concentration in 
Transitional Taiwan - Chen Ya-Chi (Chinese Culture University, Taiwan)
* Narrating Neoliberalism via Financial Media: Comparing China’s 
Accession into WTO in Economist and Caijing - Amy Piao (University of 
Westminster, CAMRI, UK)
* Building a Regional Film Space through National Policies? Analysis of 
Film Policies of Mercosur Countries aimed at Regional Integration - 
Daniele Canedo (iMinds-SMIT, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium and 
Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil)


5.30-6.00 Concluding Comments
----------------
ECREA-Mailing list
----------------
This mailing list is a free service from ECREA.
---
To unsubscribe, please visit http://www.ecrea.eu/mailinglist
---
ECREA - European Communication Research and Education Association
Postal address:
ECREA
Université Libre de Bruxelles
c/o Dept. of Information and Communication Sciences
CP123, avenue F.D. Roosevelt 50, b-1050 Bruxelles, Belgium
Email: (info /at/ ecrea.eu)
URL: http://www.ecrea.eu
----------------