[ecrea] Call for Papers: Media Logics Revisited

CALL FOR PAPERS:

Media Logic(s) Revisited:
Modeling the Interplay between Media Institutions, Media
Technology and Societal Change

21–23 September, University of Bonn, Germany
Department for Media Studies


Over thirty years ago, David Altheide and Robert Snow
(1979) defined (mass) media logic as a set of principles
or common sense rationality cultivated in and by media
institutions which penetrate every public domain and
dominate its organizing structures. The notion of media
logic focused on an institutional perspective in which the
distributed contents of mass media and their
‘bureaucratized media logic’ transform and shape ‘the
meanings of knowledge of social institutions, including
politics’ (Altheide, David L./Snow, Robert P. (1979),
Media Logic. Beverly Hills: Sage; p. 247).

In the subsequent discussions of the concept, two main
traditions evolved. On the one hand there are
‘institutional’ approaches, which look at media as
independent systems or fields and focus on the influences
of these institutions and the respective media logic(s) on
other systems or fields. On the other hand, a
socio-constructivist approach conceptualizes media logics
from the perspective of (individual) interaction, media
appropriation and media usage. This approach looks at
media from the framework of constructivism and regards
media communication as individual action, which helps
shaping the social construction of reality.

With the rapid changes in media technologies, media
institutions, and media powers as well as the increasing
impact of digital media on the whole society, it becomes
more and more evident that neither one of those traditions
offers a satisfactory model for the development at hand.
Rather, a call for critical reflections on these ‘new
media logics’ in the sense of multiple and interconnected
logic(s) seems necessary. In an increasingly digitized and
globalized world, in which new powerful media players and
technologies influence our daily lives in many respects
and in which media have become more and more
contextualized in use, it also seems necessary to look
more closely at cultural embeddings of media in various
social contexts.

Overall, a variety of (overlapping) logics contribute to
the picture. For one, the internet is constructed and
ruled by algorithms and filters, which are mainly
programmed and controlled by commercial and/or
institutional organizations. But users have the power to
selectively use media to retrieve information, to connect
with peers, and to engage as consumer or politically
active citizen, thereby changing the media environment by
means of their individual actions. The ubiquitous
availability of digital media does not only influence
people’s communicative practices in their private and
professional lives, but media technology itself is
changed, transformed and further developed by its adoption
in various social and cultural contexts. From this
perspective the logic of ‘old media’ might pose a
contradiction to those of new digital media.

Re-modeling and adapting the media logics concept for the
digital age might therefore be a fruitful and inspiring
path to better understand the interplay between
institutions, technology and the societal changes
happening in the digital age. Consequently, the aim of the
conference is to contribute to the on-going debate about
media logic(s) in the light of current developments at the
intersection of traditional media, digital media and its
different forms of appropriation. The conference will
focus on theoretical as well as empirical perspectives,
aiming to combine them on the ground research with
conceptual approaches.

We welcome abstracts that contribute to the various
perspectives and traditions of media logic(s) as well as
to empirical research that advances our understanding of
media logic.

Contributions may refer but are not limited to the
following fields of research:

1) Theorizing media logics
- media logic in communication and media research
- media logic, media convergence, polymedia as related or
conflicting concepts
- changing institutions–changing media power?
2) Media Logics in the fields of politics, journalism and
institutions
- shaping, disseminating and personalizing media coverage
of election campaigns
- political activism and media logic
- institutional logics and the media, e.g. religion,
corporations, cities
- journalism and media logic: traditional and new forms of
shaping and distributing news
3) Intersection of technology and culture
- the role of algorithms for media logics–new powers?
- big data–a new system?
- digital identities and social interaction
- digital media logic in contexts of security and
surveillance
- digital media logic and contexualized media
appropriation
- traditional media logic approaches and paradigms of
networked media
4) Methodological approaches:
- How can the evolving (or fading) power of (a digital)
media logic within a certain societal field be assessed?
- How can influences of media logics on our daily lives be
measured?

Submission and deadline:
Proposals for panels or individual papers can be submitted
until April 15, 2015.
The preferred length of the individual abstracts is
between 400 and 500 words (the maximum is 500 words).

Abstracts will be peer-reviewed.

Notification of acceptance will be provided until June,
15th.

For further information please see our continuously
updated website:
http://medialogicsconference2015.netdiscourse-en.de

The conference is hosted by
Department of Media Studies
Poppelsdorfer Allee 47
53113 Bonn, Germany

Organization
Prof. Dr. Caja Thimm
Jessica Einspänner-Pflock, Mario Anastasiadis, Judith
Nikula, Julia-Marie Schüßler, Dagmar Ogon

Conference venue
Bonn University Club
http://www.uniclub-bonn.de

Please contact us at any time
(Medialogics2015 /at/ gmail.com)
Twitter: @netdiscourse
#MLR2015


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