[ecrea] Workshop in Washington DC: New Media, Old Money

CALL FOR PAPERS - EXTENDED DEADLINE!

New Media, Old Money: Digital Technology, Social Media and the New
Challenges to Campaigning and Democracy

DEADLINE EXTENDED TO JULY 17, 2015.


A by-invitation experts' workshop to be held at The Embassy of
Switzerland in the United States of America Washington, DC, September
27-29, 2015

Electronic media have played a central role in politics almost since
their introduction. The role of media in election campaigns is often
seen as the origin of media and communication studies. The variety of
political systems worldwide, the wide range of media systems that
operate within them, and the extensive array of regulatory schemes that
govern this association raise thought provoking questions about the role
of media in democracy. The media-politics-capital triad has raised
concerns about the effect of money on the health and fairness of
political and media structures. The use of digital technologies and
collaborative media has now become a critical part of these complex
relationships.

Increasingly, political campaigns are built around digital strategies
rather than on traditional broadcast ad buys. The internet offers many
additional groups cheap access to the public sphere and new
possibilities for information and discussion. Accordingly, much of the
most "impactful" money is spent "online," calling on expertise in
building networks, conversations and communities using social networking
platforms, combined with applications designed to amplify messaging as
well as volunteers and users generating their own content. In addition,
the ability to find, analyze and apply personal information from "big
data" is becoming more important than market research and the focus has
shifted to the development of comprehensive social media strategies for
young, ethnic, gendered and special interest groups. Finally, legacy
media and their traditional business models are affected by change as
well, raising questions about implications of the internet for
journalism and democracy.

As a result, any current understanding of campaign spending and
political communication must incorporate not just traditional
advertising, but equally spending on internet and social networking
platforms and the use of information technologies to identify and reach
voters through multiple platforms. The same "Old Money" is being used to
try to gain influence, but new media offer new approaches both to
enhance and conceal its effects. Moreover, the same media brands with
the same powerful owners prevail online as well.

The Institute for Information Policy at Penn State, the Department of
Communication and Media Research DCM at the University of Fribourg and
the Journal of Information Policy, are pleased to announce this call for
paper proposals. Authors of selected papers will be invited to present
them during a two day (September 28th and 29th, 2015) by-invitation
workshop designed to bring together up to a dozen American and
international experts and to be held at the Embassy of Switzerland in
Washington, DC. The workshop will open with a reception on September
27th. Presenters at the workshop will be invited to submit their
completed papers for review by the Journal of Information Policy
(www.jip-online.org <http://www.jip-online.org>). By focusing on the
media-politics-capital triad, and taking place a year before the
presidential elections in the US and only weeks before the national
elections in Switzerland, the workshop is ideally suited to provide
important insights not only for scholarly research but also for
policy-makers in both countries.

Invited topics include, but are not limited to:

-       The role of media in election and referendum campaigns

-       The (democratic) need for regulation of media and campaigns

-       The role of money in campaigning and political communication

-       The role of money in media policy and regulation

-       Commercialization of the media and its effect on political coverage

-       Ownership structures of new and old media and their implications
for democracy, political communication and media policy

-       Changes of political communication and journalism due to
digitization

-       The strategic use of social media by political actors

-       Comparative studies of media regulation, political communication
and campaigns

-       New metrics for campaign expenditures in the digital age

-       Political campaign money spending in online campaigns

-       Limitations on campaign spending

-       Limitations on contributions; on sources of contributions;
requirements for disclosure; regulation of spending by advocacy groups;
by political parties; and by individuals

-       The challenge of diversity of views and voices in the digital age

-       Applying broadcast political speech rules be applied on the
Internet

-       Should social media, blogs, listserves and websites be subject
to political speech rules?

-       How have the larger changes in the economics of media affected
political news and commentary?

Abstracts of up to 500 words and a short bio of the author(s) should be
submitted to (pennstateiip /at/ psu.edu) <mailto:(pennstateiip /at/ psu.edu)> by July
17, 2015. Please write "IIPFUWS: Your Last Name" in the subject line.

Accepted presenters will be notified by July 31, 2015.

Prof. Dr. Manuel Puppis
Associate Professor in Media Systems and Media Structures

University of Fribourg
Department of Communication and Media Research DCM
Boulevard de Pérolles 90
CH-1700 Fribourg

E-Mail: (manuel.puppis /at/ unifr.ch) <mailto:(manuel.puppis /at/ unifr.ch)>

Twitter: @ManuelPuppis

Website: http://bit.ly/dcm_mediasystems



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