[ecrea] Rethinking Journalism II:,The Societal Role & Relevance of Journalism in a Digital Age

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_**_Call for Papers – Expert Workshop_*
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*//*Rethinking Journalism II: *//*
*//*The Societal Role & Relevance of Journalism in a Digital Age */

Centre for Media and Journalism Studies, University of Groningen
January 23/24, 2014.

*Final Reminder: Deadline for Abstract Submission is October 15, 2013.**
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**Keynote Speakers: **
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**Pablo Boczkowski (Northwestern), **
**Nick Couldry (LSE), **
**Jane Singer (City).**
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**Confirmed Expert Invitees:**
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**Stuart Allan (Bournemouth), **
**Matt Carlson (St. Louis),**
**Mark Deuze (Amsterdam),**
**Claudia Mellado (Santiago),**
**Karin Wahl-Jorgensen (Cardiff).*

It’s easy to make a rhetorical case for the value of journalism. 
Because, it is a necessary precondition for democracy; it speaks to the 
people and for the people; it informs them and enables them to take 
rational decisions; and it functions as their watchdog on government and 
other powers that be….

All true! But does rehashing such familiar rationales bring Journalism 
Studies forward? Does it contribute to ongoing discussions on 
journalism’s viability?

This expert workshop aims to discuss what journalism is beyond the 
established rhetoric among scholars and practitioners. For all their 
seeming self-evidence, what bearing do these platitudes have in terms of 
the actual social relevance of journalism in the digital age? How much 
affinity does this talk share with the concrete roles journalism 
performs? And what about journalism as a cultural form itself? Is there 
a singular journalism that has one well-defined role in society?

This expert workshop will explore journalism(s)’ roles in terms of 
actual social value, relevance and use as opposed to established 
discourses. Specifically, we invite contributions that consider:

•    Innovations, successful or otherwise, that challenge traditional 
conceptions of journalism
•    Audience-related studies that look at actual everyday use and the 
function of journalism in people’s daily life
•    Studies of changing newsroom practices and, perhaps more 
importantly, shifting organizational strategies, anticipating shifts in 
societal function
•    The ongoing (re)definition of journalism
•    Comparative socio-cultural studies of the place of news in society
•    Theoretical explorations of the conceptions of news and journalism

While the keynote addresses will be public, this event is a closed 
expert workshop, limited to 15-25 invited participants to encourage 
collaborative engagement and discussion on this theme. It is the second 
Rethinking Journalism conference hosted by the Centre for Media and 
Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen. It builds upon themes 
raised in Rethinking Journalism (Routledge, 2012), a collection 
generated out of a similar workshop organised in 2009. This new workshop 
is the next event hosted by the research network, Capturing Change in 
Journalism: Shifting Role Perceptions at the Turn of the 20th and 21st 
Centuries. This network is funded by the British AHRC and the Dutch NWO, 
and is run by the journalism departments of the universities of 
Groningen and Sheffield.

•    Abstracts (maximum 500 words) are invited for consideration as 
contributions to this workshop.
•    For more information, or to submit, please contact: Chris Peters 
((c.j.peters /at/ rug.nl)) or Marcel Broersma ((m.j.broersma /at/ rug.nl))