[ecrea] CFP for the workshop "Freedom of Information in Crisis Zones", 26-27 May, City University London

Freedom of Information in Crisis Zones

*A by-invitation experts’ workshop to be held at*

*City University London*

*May 26-27, 2016*

While freedom of information is a critical issue in nations around the
globe, nowhere is it more contested than in zones facing social, ethnic
and political stress, or experiencing armed conflict, or in emergency
situations emanating from natural or human-induced disasters.  That is
the theme of this Workshop.

In countries and sub-national regions in conflict, control of
information becomes a tool in the broader conflict. Competing parties
regularly seek to manage information to control conflicts internally
through limiting flows to various parties and controlling access to
leaders, and externally by influencing international perceptions of
legitimacy. Even in regions and countries deemed stable and democratic,
journalists and purveyors of information through “new media” often find
themselves under pressure, both during calm and emergencies, to provide
certain information and refrain from providing other. At the same time,
media advocates seek to use media and information technologies to
deliver information and assistance to people in distress and danger, and
to seek reconciliation between social groups in conflict.

The challenges to freedom of information in conflict zones and during
times of national and local emergency are unique and call for both
empirical inquiry and theoretical insight by the scholarly community.
While much attention has been given in the literature to the
justifications for and methods of achieving freedom of information in
functioning democracies, it seems that the rapid changes in the global
landscape for both natural and political reasons call for an
understanding of the unique information needs created by extreme
circumstances and the policies required to sustain the free flow of
information.

The Institute for Information Policy and the Center for Global Studies
at Penn State University, the Centre for Law, Justice & Journalism at
City University London, and the Journal of Information Policy are
pleased to announce this call for paper proposals on “Freedom of
Information in Crisis Zones.” Scholars and practitioners are invited to
showcase their latest research and programs aimed to facilitate
information flows in conflict and danger zones.  This includes, but is
not limited to, the rights and protection of all journalists and media
to freely upload information and images from conflict zones, as well as
under threat from political adversity and pressures.  Bringing together
academics, advocacy groups, and practitioners, the workshop will seek to
highlight best practices to promote the free flow of information, new
technologies for enhancing internet freedoms and the protection of
journalists.

Authors of selected papers will be invited to present them during a two
day (May 26-27, 2016) by-invitation workshop designed to bring together
up to a dozen international experts, to be held at City University
London. Presenters at the workshop will be subsequently invited to
submit their completed papers for review by the Journal of Information
Policy//(www.jip-online.org) <http://www.jip-online.org)>. A respondent
will be assigned to each paper chosen for the workshop and a 1-hour time
slot including presentation, response and discussion will be awarded to
each paper.

This workshop is part of a series of semi-annual workshops, organized by
the IIP since 2011. For programs of previous workshops see:
http://comm.psu.edu/research/centers/iip/conferences-and-worskhops.

Topics of papers may include, but are not limited to issues such as:

·Peace theory and role of media and information in social reconciliation

·Media and peace communications and conflict resolution

·Role of social media in political and ethnic conflict

·Rights of journalists and media persons in conflict zones

·Cross-national analyses of press freedom and freedom of information

·Professionalism, journalistic values and ethics of conflict and crisis
coverage

·Documentation and analysis of incidences of violence against media persons

·Technological enhancements of privacy and security, through encryption
and data protection

·International trade in encryption technologies

·Government surveillance and the rights of citizens

·International treaties on rights of media organizations to
uplink/downlink information

·Practice and ethics of “embedded” reporting

·International news reporting and diplomatic efforts in aid of peace

·Internet landing rights for international data carriers

·Free flows of information on the Internet; reconciliation of rights to
information and national security

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 March
25, 2016. Accepted presenters will be notified by April 8 on the
acceptance of their paper and will need to commit to provide an advanced
draft of their study by May 15, 2016, to allow selected respondents to
read and prepare thoughtful comments in order to elicit a meaningful
conversation. Please write IIP_CITYLONDON: YOUR NAME in the subject line.

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