[ecrea] Call for Papers -- ICA 2019 Preconference: ³Digital Journalism in Latin America²

*Call for Papers*

*ICA 2019 Preconference: “Digital Journalism in Latin America”*

*Organizers: Pablo J. Boczkowski (Northwestern University, USA) & 
Eugenia Mitchelstein (Universidad de San Andrés, Argentina)*

*Preconference Date and Time: May 23th, 2019, 9:00 am – 6:00 pm*

*Location: School of Media & Public Affairs, George Washington University*

*Submission Deadline: November 1st, 2018*

Research on digital journalism has by now a solid tradition that spans 
more than two decades (Barnhurst, 2012; Boczkowski, 2002; Reich, 2018; 
Steensen, 2011). For the most part, this scholarship has focused on 
industrialized nations in North America and Europe (Mitchelstein and 
Boczkowski, 2009) and has paid comparatively less attention to other 
regions such as Latin America (for some notable exceptions, see Bachmann 
& Harlow, 2011; Boczkowski, 2010; González de Bustamante and Relly, 
2014; Harlow and Salaverría, 2016; Vimiero, 2017). This relative 
scarcity contrasts with the prominent role of digital journalism in the 
news diets of Latin Americans: around 9 out of 10 in Argentina, Brazil, 
Chile and Mexico access news online (Newman, et al, 2017). The growth in 
online audiences has been paralleled by the expansion of digital news 
operations, either as the internet operations of print media (Bachmann & 
Harlow, 2011) or as new online enterprises (Harlow and Salaverria, 2016; 
Requejo Alemán and Lugo Ocando, 2014).

As both digital news production and consumption have featured 
increasingly more prominently in the information landscape of Latin 
America, it is worth inquiring into whether the specificity of Latin 
America and its culture and institutions might entail differences with 
digital journalism as it is practiced and appropriated in other parts of 
the world. For instance, Latin American journalism has been described as 
less professionalized and less independent than in more stable 
democracies (de Albuquerque, 2005; Hallin and Papathanassopoulos, 2002; 
Hughes, 2006). How have these two long-standing features affected the 
practices of online news production and the self-perception of 
reporters? Has the development of online journalism allowed for the 
emergence digital start-ups and fact-checking organizations that compete 
with traditional news organizations with long-standing links with 
politicians and corporations? Have online news operations conducted 
mostly partisan journalism, due to their dependence on government 
advertising? Moreover, Latin American audiences tend to show high levels 
of skepticism towards news (Newman, et al, 2017). Has this lower level 
of credibility been tied to differences in willingness to pay for 
digital news, information acquisition online, and uptake of alternative 
media sources, among other activities?

The ICA pre-conference on Digital Journalism in Latin America invites 
scholars to examine the production, distribution, and consumption of 
digital journalism in Latin America. Both empirical and theoretical 
conference presentations; quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods 
approaches; single-country and comparative research (with a major focus 
on Latin America); and historical and contemporary inquiries are welcome.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

·Historical developments.

·Innovation and technological change in newsrooms.

·Business models.

·Modifications in work practices.

·Relationships with governmental, business, and nonprofit actors in the 
production and distribution of news.

·Differences and similarities in the emergence and development of 
digital journalism across and within Latin American countries.

·Occupational matters, including appearance of new roles such as 
engagement coordinator.

· The role of users in the creation of journalistic content.

·The influence of content intermediaries such as social media platforms, 
and the engagement with and by users on those platforms.

·The dynamics of digital news consumption on websites and apps.

·The role of gender, race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in the 
uptake, reception, and re-circulation of digital news.

·The relationship between digital journalism and civil society, 
including indigenous populations, social movements, and human rights 
organizations.

·Issues of news credibility, including interpretations and practices 
related to fake news and misinformation, including partisan news 
organization and fact-checking operations.

*Information about submission: *

Authors should submit an extended abstract of no more than 750 words 
(excluding references). Abstracts should be submitted no later than 
16:00 UTC, November 1^st , 2018. Please make your submission on the ICA 
paper submission site and indicate that it is for the Preconference: 
“Digital Journalism in Latin America.” Authors will be notified about 
whether their abstract has been selected on January 15^th , 2019. 
Presenters will be encouraged to submit a full manuscript for the 
pre-conference. Full manuscripts should be sent to both of the 
pre-conference organizers via email by May 15^th , 2019, for 
presentation and discussion during the pre-conference. Papers should be 
between 6,500 and 7,000 words in length. Attendance to the preconference 
has a USD 25.00 fee. Please contact the organizers 
((pjb9 /at/ northwestern.edu) <mailto:(pjb9 /at/ northwestern.edu)> and 
(emitchelstein /at/ udesa.edu.ar) <mailto:(emitchelstein /at/ udesa.edu.ar)>) if you 
have any questions and/or need any additional information.

*Sponsorship:*

This pre-conference is possible in part due to the generous support of 
the Department of Communication Studies 
<https://communication.northwestern.edu/departments/communicationstudies> at 
Northwestern University, and the Center for the Study of Media and 
Society in Argentina <http://meso.com.ar/en/homepage/> (MESO).



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