[ecrea] Call for papers annual conference of the SACM 2015

Call for papers for the SACM Annual Conference 2015

Contexts and consequences: approaches and results of comparative
communication and media studies

Date: Friday–Saturday, 13–14 March 2015
Location: University of Bern (UniS)
Organisers: Institute of Communication and Media Studies, University of Bern
Registration: www.sgkm2015.ch

Conference theme
The recent boom of comparative approaches in communication and media
studies is occurring
in a time characterised by keywords, such as globalisation,
transnationalisation, Europeanisa-
tion and Americanisation, which structure both scientific and public
discourses. Collectively,
these phenomena refer to the growing tendency that political, social,
economic and cultural de-
velopments no longer take place within clearly defined territorial
borders. These phenomena
also imply that communication processes evolve across cultural and
political boundaries. There-
fore, these phenomena require a comparative approach. The reasons are
clear: Only a compara-
tive perspective allows us to understand how strongly flows of
communication are shaped by
transnational and (sub-)national contexts. This approach helps us to
analyse which factors can
explain significant differences between countries, between subnational
territorial units such as
cantons, between cultural and language regions, and between
organisations and institutions. It
allows us to determine under what conditions similarities emerge. In
this light, a comparative
approach is not merely option in the selection of the appropriate
research design but, more and
more, an essential requirement: ‘It is no long plausible to study one
phenomenon in one country
without asking, at a minimum, whether it is common across the globe or
distinctive to that coun-
try or part of the world’ (Livingstone, 2012, p. 417).

Switzerland, in particular, presents an ideal candidate for comparative
research. If we wish to
understand the communication processes that shape the country, it is not
only the mentioned
transnational and national contexts that are relevant; equally,
subnational entities create differ-
ences between cultural and language areas.

Comparative communication and media research not only has matured in
recent decades
(Gurevitch & Blumler, 2003) but, today, is one of the most productive
and promising fields of the
discipline. In its current orientation, comparative communication and
media research examines
mostly macro contexts, i.e. countries and their regions, cultures or
markets (Esser & Hanitzsch,
2012). It displays three distinct characteristics: First, comparative
communication and media
research adopts a cross-border perspective; second, it aims to assess
the reach of empirical find-
ings; and third, it helps us to understand how systemic and cultural
contexts can explain the
differences and similarities of communication processes (Pfetsch &
Esser, 2003).

In line with these trends, the SACM’s annual conference 2015 puts
comparative approaches to
communication and media studies at its centre. The aim of the conference
is to explore the con-
sequences of transnational, national and subnational contexts for
communication processes. We
invite contributions that, on one hand, (a) discuss the reach of
theories in relation to different
contextual factors, (b) systematise contextual factors and develop
typologies, (c) empirically test
hypotheses about the role of contextual factors or (d) focus on the
methodological aspects and
challenges of comparative research. On the other hand, the conference
welcomes contributions
that have a more practical orientation and focus on the changes wrought
by on-going transna-
tionalisation and transregionalisation for media outlets and companies,
media research organi-
sations and journalists. Here, we also welcome contributions that shed
light on the tension be-
tween the national unity of the media system as a whole and the
subnational diversity of jour-
nalistic coverage and that focus on the differences between journalism
cultures in different re-
gions and cultures.

We invite scholars from all research fields and divisions of
communication, media and audience
research and media practitioners from public relations and media
management, journalism and
journalism schools, supervising bodies and audience organisations to
submit abstracts and pro-
posals. We particularly welcome academic contributions that apply
comparative approaches to
communication and media studies and advance the discussion of the
challenges which they face.
The conference sees itself as a forum for praxis-oriented discussions
about communication with-
in trans-, sub- and -national contexts, whether from the point of view
of journalism, public rela-
tions or media management. Submissions should address one of the
following areas and can
address either cross-sectional or longitudinal aspects.

- Thematic focus 1: media systems, cultures, markets and organisations
from a compara-
tive perspective
Why do media systems differ between some countries? Why are they similar
in others? How are
mass communication processes shaped by political, social, cultural and
economic contexts?
What conditions encourage or prevent the generation of transnational and
transregional com-
munication networks? What is the role of media regulation in these
processes? How does it af-
fect media organisations and their development? How does it structure
entrepreneurial action?
How have media politics evolved over time and between states? What are
the driving factors of
this development?

Contributions in this area mostly compare media systems, cultures or
markets and their actors
and examine, for example, the different lines of development Western
media systems have tak-
en, the analytical reach and adequacy of current classifications and
typologies, the effect of
transnational politics on media markets, the reciprocal relationship
between media regulators
and media organisations, and the driving factors that condense
communicative spaces into
transnational media cultures.

- Thematic focus 2: comparative journalism and communicator research
Why do certain actors influence the public (media) agenda in one country
but not in another?
How do the professional roles and working conditions of professional and
non-professional
communicators differ between countries or regions? What effects do have
different political sys-
tems have on (election) campaigns?

Contributions in this area focus primarily on the role of communicators
(e.g. journalists, spokes-
persons and public relations officers, bloggers). They examine the
working routines, profession-
al roles and value orientations of professional (e.g. journalists,
public relations officers, spokes-
persons) and non-professional communicators in different countries and
regions. These works
may also investigate the role various contextual factors play in the
ways these actors organise
(election) campaigns.

- Thematic focus 3: comparing communication contents
Why do the contents of election campaigns differ in the United States
and Europe? Why does
coverage of such topics as climate change, Europe or quite generally the
economy differ between
countries? How can we explain differences in the coverage of foreign
affairs? What differences
are there in the media’s coverage of national and foreign affairs in
Switzerland’s language areas?
How can we explain these differences, and what are their consequences?
What effect do macro-
level contextual factors have on the relationship between professionally
and user-generated
content?

Contributions in this area ideally compare communication contents in
(election) campaigns;
similarities and differences in the coverage of Europe, the economy and
foreign affairs; or differ-
ences in how topics of coverage are processed by mass media and
user-generated content (e.g.
blogs, YouTube) or generally examine differences in the transnational
flow of news coverage.

- Thematic focus 4: comparative audience research
Why does individuals’ information-seeking behaviour differ among
cultural areas? Similarly,
why does the use of media differ between countries and regions? What are
the causes of these
differences, and how are they measured? How do different contexts affect
the development of
media competence?

Contributions in this area ideally focus on comparative approaches in
the use of media and their
reception, explore how contextual factors affect individuals’ choice of
media types and genres or
examine the relevance and status of entertainment formats.

- Thematic focus 5: Comparative media effects research
How does the framing of certain topics differ among countries, and what
is the effect on recipi-
ents? Are transnational spaces of communication congruent with equally
shaped spaces of me-
dia effects? What factors lead to differences in citizens’ political
knowledge in countries with
strong and weak public broadcasting? What role do political contexts
play in shaping these pro-
cesses?

Contributions in this area address the effects of communication in a
comparative perspective,
employing different concepts of media effects (e.g. persuasive,
cognitive, affective).
Thematic focus 6: The methods of comparative research

- How can we methodically understand transnational spaces of
communication, and how can we
operationalise them? How can we translate the existing typologies and
theories of comparative
research into appropriate methods? How can we model regional
communication spaces? How
can they be integrated into national and transnational contexts? How can
we address the prob-
lem of equivalence, and what are the consequences of (semi-)automatic
forms of data collection?
What challenges arise when analysing datasets generated by comparative
research (e.g. multi-
level modes, QCA)?

Contributions in this area should address the development of methods in
comparative commu-
nication research. Typically, these works examine models that compare
countries, transnational
research designs, the possibilities and restrictions offered by such
models as multilevel ones or
the problems confronting comparative surveys and content analyses or
address questions of
equivalence and how we can integrate micro and macro contexts in our
research.

- Thematic focus 7: The relevance of contextual factors from a practical
point of view
How do transnational contexts shape Switzerland’s communicative and
media landscape? How
have communication and the media evolved in a country so markedly formed
by different lan-
guage and cultural areas? Does mass media communication contribute to
the integration of soci-
ety, or does it cause cultural and language areas to drift further
apart? What are the consequenc-
es of the (non-)existing interdependencies among Switzerland’s cultural
and language areas for
mass communication processes, their content and those who produce them?

Contributions in this area should focus on the communication practices
of journalists, public
relations officers and spokespersons and explore their perspectives and
experiences of the chal-
lenges and consequences of the different contextual factors for the media.

Submissions
We welcome individual submissions, as well as panel proposals; further
formats can be ar-
ranged upon request (see further instructions below). In both cases,
authors must indicate the
thematic area of their submission, as outlined above. Papers and
presentations may be in
German, French, Italian or English. For reasons of inclusiveness,
PowerPoint slides must be in
a different language than that of the oral presentation.

Distinguished papers will be considered for publication (edited
conference volume, special
issue of Studies in Communication Sciences).

Individual submissions: Extended abstracts for a 15-minute presentation
should not exceed
2000–2500 words. Authors should also submit a short summary of 100-150
words for the con-
ference programme. Additionally, authors need to fill out the cover
sheet (see appendix of the
CFP).

Panel sessions: Proposals for 90-minute panel sessions should include 3
to 5 individual contri-
butions. Panel submissions should contain both a panel description of
1000 words and abstracts
of approximately 1000–1500 words for each contribution. Additionally,
the panel organisers
need to fill out the cover sheet (see appendix of the CFP). We
explicitly welcome panel sessions
by media practitioners (e.g. journalists, public relations officers,
spokespersons, bloggers).

Contributions from a practical perspective (thematic focus 7):
Contributions in this area do
not need to adhere to the classical format of paper presentations. They
can take the form of
roundtable discussions, workshops or exhibitions. If you plan a
submission in such an alterna-
tive format, please contact Dr Dorothee Arlt ((SGKM2015 /at/ ikmb.unibe.ch)) as
soon as possible.

Division slot: There is also the possibility to submit a session through
one of the SACM’s divi-
sions. The divisions are allowed one 75-minute session during the
conference and select the
session format. Panel sessions submitted through the division need to
fulfil the same require-
ments as those submitted to the general conference (see above). Other
formats are welcomed
and need to be submitted with a 1000–1500-word proposal.

All submissions are reviewed anonymously by two external referees (peer
review). For the
purposes of blind refereeing, the full name of each author and the
current affiliation and email
address of the corresponding author should be entered separately on the
cover letter (see ap-
pendix). Any information that could lead to the identification of the
author(s) should be re-
moved from the abstract/panel proposal.

The following criteria are used by the reviewers to assess the quality
of the academic
submissions (thematic areas 1-6): relevance of the topic, pertinence to
the conference’s
theme, theoretical approach, methods of data collection and analysis
(only for empirical contri-
butions), rigour of argumentation and originality. Submissions to
thematic area 7 (media
praxis) are evaluated according to the following criteria: relevance of
the topic for practical
questions, pertinence to the conference’s theme, rigour of argumentation
and originality.

Abstracts should be submitted as MS Word files (no pdf) no later than 15
December 2014
to (SGKM2015 /at/ ikmb.unibe.ch.The) results of the review will be communicated
by early
February 2015. Conference registration is open from December 2014 until
22 February
2015 via the conference website www.sgkm2015.ch.

Important dates
Deadline for abstracts: 15 December 2014
Results of reviews: Beginning of February 2015
Deadline for conference registration: 22 February 2015
Final conference programme: Mid/end February 2015
SACM annual conference 2015: 13–14 March 2015

Contact
Local organising committee:
Tom Häussler, Dorothee Arlt, Silke Adam and Franziska Schmidt
Email:     (SGKM2015 /at/ ikmb.unibe.ch)
Website:     www.sgkm2015.ch

----------------------------------------
Cover sheet for contributions

Information about the contribution
Type of contribution:        Paper        Panel
Title:

Thematic areas: contribution to thematic area no.

Information about the authors/panel members:
Corresponding author/Panel member 1
Name, first name:
Institution:
Email address:

Author/Panel member 2
Name, first name:
Institution:

Author/Panel member 3
Name, first name:
Institution:

Author/Panel member 4
Name, first name:
Institution:

Author/Panel member 5
Name, first name:
Institution:

Additional remarks:


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