[Commlist] Shenzhen Forum-Communication Innovation, New Media, and Digital Journalism

*THE SHENZHEN FORUM 2019*

COMMUNICATION INNOVATION, NEW MEDIA, AND DIGITAL JOURNALISM

Shenzhen, China, June 26 –28, 2019
Co-sponsored by the Shenzhen University (SZU) of China and the National 
Communication Association (NCA)

THE SHENZHEN FORUM WILL BRING TOGETHER SCHOLARS AND MEDIA PRACTITIONERS 
from around the world to engage in conversations about cutting-edge 
communication-based issues. The Forum will include three “tracks”:

TRACK 1: EXPERIMENTS IN COMMUNICATION INNOVATION, led by Dr. Rolien 
Hoyng, Chinese University of Hong Kong, (rolienhoyng /at/ cuhk.edu.hk) (the NCA 
representative), and Dr. Chen Changfeng, Tsinghua University, 
(fengchen5266 /at/ 163.com) (the SZU representative)

Despite critiques of the ongoing glorification of “innovation” within 
multiple corporate spheres, scholars remain committed to both studying 
and practicing inventiveness, newness, and difference. This track 
accordingly reflects on how different communicative habits emerge from 
within processes of technological standardization, global integration, 
and digital innovation. It looks across the front-end experiences of 
users and the back-end infrastructures of digital and global 
communication to prompt participants to consider the dilemmas and 
opportunities of innovation and inventiveness. On the one hand, the 
globalization of infrastructures and platforms seems contingent on their 
ability to accommodate different practices and uses, even while doing so 
within increasingly standardized settings. On the other hand, new 
technological applications may not simply partake in ongoing processes 
of globalization, but also can change where globalization is headed. 
This track will ask: Does “innovation” support or compromise existing 
corporate control and statecraft? Does it fuel targeted struggles for 
social justice in the age of globalization? Or, does “innovation” call 
forth new communicative possibilities that transcend our understanding? 
This track will pursue these questions by inviting scholars to share 
specific case studies of communication “innovation” in practice.

TRACK 2: INTERSECTIONS IN NEW MEDIA AND HEALTH COMMUNICATION, led by Dr. 
Yuqiong Zhou, Shenzhen University, (yuqiongzhou /at/ 126.com) (the SZU 
representative), and Dr. Amy Hasinoff, CU Denver, 
(amy.hasinoff /at/ ucdenver.edu) (the NCA representative)

Traditional health communication scholarship has focused on face-to-face 
interactions, yet the proliferation of new media technologies means that 
many patients now speak with their doctor or nurse-practitioner via 
online messaging platforms, while many health care seekers resort to 
online systems for information and advice. At the same time, public 
communication about family health, dieting, gender and sexuality, and 
aging is now widely practiced via new media platforms, few of which are 
refereed for accuracy, and many of which are little more than marketing 
scams. Thus, while there has never before been so much information 
available to users regarding their health, there has also never been so 
much disinformation waiting to send users into tailspins of bad advice, 
risky behavior, and financial ruin. In addition, in both China and 
America, questions of new media and health communication hinge on access 
to the internet, meaning these issues touch upon class, wealth, and 
debates about how “public” the internet really is. In short, health 
communication and new media are now interlaced in empowering, alarming, 
and confusing ways. This track will enable participants to study the 
interweaving of new media and health communication via specific case 
studies drawn from American, Chinese, and other international contexts.

TRACK 3: THE DIGITAL JOURNALISM CHALLENGE, led by Dr. Qingwen Dong, 
University of the Pacific, (qdong /at/ pacific.edu) (the NCA representative) 
and Xiaojin Gu, Shenzhen University, (gxj /at/ szu.edu.cn) (the SZU representative)

A digital revolution is transforming how we think about journalism. 
“Legacy” outlets such as the New York Times and People’s Daily face 
challenges from a vast array of websites and emerging new media 
platforms. Some of these new outlets offer exciting opportunities for 
producing “citizen journalism” or “backpack journalism,” thus furthering 
the cause of social justice. Yet many of them have become the purveyors 
of lies, conspiracy theories, and calls for violence, meaning the world 
of journalism is fracturing. For example, in America, the “news” is now 
produced not only by credible journalists but also by propagandists at 
Fox, neo-Nazis at the Daily Stormer, and a reality-challenged tweeter 
from the White House. In China, the “news” is now produced not only by 
the Party’s many outlets, but by separatists in Xinjiang and radicals in 
Tibet. In India, Myanmar, and Iran, digital outlets have called for 
riots and stoked ethnic and religious violence. Many observers are 
therefore calling ours a “post-truth” age. Indeed, all around the world, 
we are facing a crisis in journalism that is underwritten by a crisis in 
notions of evidence, trust, and credibility—with the whole process being 
driven by revolutions in digital media production and distribution. This 
track will pursue the causes and consequences of this digital revolution 
in journalism, and will feature case studies of both negative and 
positive examples.

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
NCA participants will arrive in Shenzhen on the evening of Wednesday, 
June 25. On Thursday, June 26, we will lead a morning excursion to the 
international headquarters of TenCent, one of the largest media 
companies in the world, where participants will interact with China’s 
new social media leaders. That afternoon, NCA will lead a pre-Forum 
workshop to discuss best practices in international communication, 
offering participants an opportunity to engage in open conversation 
regarding the complicated terrain of academic and political life in 
contemporary China. The Shenzhen Forum will then hold sessions all day 
on Friday, June 27, and Saturday, June 28, concluding Saturday evening 
with an NCA-hosted reception. Participants will depart from Shenzhen on 
Sunday, June 29. In an act of great generosity, SZU will cover hotel 
accommodations for the nights of June 25, 26, 27, and 28, as well as all 
conference registration fees. To support the travel needs of NCA-member 
graduate students and early-career faculty members, NCA will award 10 
$1,000 travel grants to selected individuals.

APPLICATION INFORMATION
We invite submissions that address any of the “tracks” cited above. 
Applicants should submit a project proposal of roughly 1,000 words. 
Submissions can be made in English or Chinese and should indicate the 
submitter’s home institution. Submissions should be in Microsoft Word or 
Adobe.pdf format. The deadline for all submissions is February 1, 2019. 
Applicants will be contacted with results by March 1, 2019. Please note 
that we assume all applicants are making good-will submissions and will, 
if accepted, attend the Forum. Submitters should send their materials to 
the appropriate “track leader” listed above (with all English language 
submissions going to the NCA representative for that track and all 
Chinese language submissions going to the SZU representative for that 
track).

RESULTING PUBLICATIONS
Following the model used to publish Imagining China: Rhetorics of 
Nationalism in the Age of Globalization (Michigan State University 
Press, 2017), the track leaders will edit two volumes, with one in 
English (NCA in charge) and another in Chinese (SZU in charge). These 
are not conference proceedings, but academic books wherein each chapter 
is an expanded version of the original conference presentation. The 
track leaders will solicit chapters from the conference presenters and 
will handle all subsequent book-publishing tasks working in conjunction 
with the series editor, Stephen J. Hartnett.


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