[ecrea] CfP ICA Preconference: Media performance and democracy – the debate continues

CALL FOR PAPERS

ICA Preconference: MEDIA PERFORMANCE AND DEMOCRACY – THE DEBATE CONTINUES

Sponsored by the Journalism Studies Division & the Political 
Communication Division

Time: May 25, 2017, 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

Location: Hilton San Diego Bayfront (Conference hotel)

Deadline for submissions: January 20, 2017

According to many programs and initiatives launched by supranational 
institutions like UNECSO and the European Commission in recent years, 
the definition of "quality indicators for journalism is a way to 
strengthen democratic functions of the media" (as it is stated in a 2010 
UNESCO report on Brazilian media). Nevertheless, opinion is divided on 
whether there is a fixed set of principles across countries that would 
allow measuring and evaluating the quality of democracy and media 
performance in an etic way, or whether the extraordinary diversity of 
democratic configurations throughout the world as well as the diversity 
of media types call for a more culture- and media-specific, emic 
approach. Connected to this, scholars working on media performance are 
particularly concerned with the main question of the 2017 ICA Annual 
Conference of how research could (or should) contribute to the "good 
life" and how scholars could (or should) make "communication 
interventions" in public.

After the great success of last year's ICA preconference on "Media 
Performance and Democracy", this year's preconference aims at 
intensifying the discussion by focusing on the two aforementioned 
challenging dimensions:

(1) Do different concepts and practices of democracy in various parts of 
the world or different perceptions of democracy within a society call 
for different conceptualizations of the role of journalism, and thus for 
different principles of media quality, or do we need an internationally 
valid framework to assess media performance in various national contexts 
in a comparative way?

(2) Do different types of media fulfill different functions within a 
democratic society, thus facing different quality demands, or are there 
normative claims to be made about the democratic quality of public 
communication across all media types?

The preconference therefore places special emphasis on

* contributions from countries around the world, particularly from 
countries or areas that have been insufficiently represented in 
international literature until now,

* studies dealing not only with mainstream "legacy" media, but also with 
all kinds of social and "alternative" media and their role in the 
overall media environment,

* concepts that focus on the relationships between the various levels 
quality should be measured (policy and regulatory frameworks, media 
system structures, newsroom investment, organizational standards, 
journalists’ role perceptions, content characteristics, and user 
preferences), and

* reflections and practical examples of why scholars should seek, or not 
seek, to "intervene" in public debate with their research findings in 
order to support good practice in journalism.

The preconference would like to bring together researchers from 
different backgrounds, including theoretically, methodologically, and 
practically oriented researchers both inside and outside academia, in 
order to exchange innovative ideas for the further development of 
research on media performance.

Abstracts of 500 words (without any identifying information) must be 
uploaded to https://easychair.org/conferences/?conf=mpd2017 ("MPD 2017") 
by January 20, 2017. All submissions will undergo blind peer review and 
acceptance notifications will be sent out on February 15, 2017.

The preconference is open both to presenters and non-presenters, but 
authors of accepted abstracts are expected to attend the preconference 
and present their work. Registration opens on January 15, 2017 
(http://www.icahdq.org). The participation fee (including coffee break) 
is $50 USD.

Contact: Josef Seethaler, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Institute for 
Comparative Media and Communication Studies 
((josef.seethaler /at/ oeaw.ac.at)); Linards Udris, University of Zurich, 
Research Institute for the Public Sphere and Society 
((linards.udris /at/ foeg.uzh.ch))

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