[Commlist] CFP Sponsored Editorial Content: special issue of Digital Journalism

Call for papers (reminder) for a special issue of Digital 
Journalism:*Sponsorededitorialcontent- 8 April *abstract deadline*
*

*
*

Amid falling display advertising and subscription revenues, 
sponsoredcontenthas offered publishers the potential for increased 
earnings, and marketers a means to tackle ad-avoidance and boost 
engagement (Harms et al., 2017). Sponsoredcontentis now the second most 
important revenue generator (44%), after advertising (70%) and ahead of 
subscription (31%), according to a worldwide newsroom survey (ICFJ 
2017). Sponsorededitorialcontentis material with similar qualities and 
format to contentthat is typically published on a platform, but which is 
paid for by a third party. Advertising that resembles editoriallong 
predates the digital age, but brands are increasingly involved in the 
production of publisher-hosted branded content, including material 
described as paid content, sponsoredcontent, native advertising, 
programmatic native, contentrecommendation and clickbait.


Sponsoredcontenthas been the focus of considerable industry interest 
over recent years, amid continuing controversy (Wojdynski and Golan, 
2016). The inclusion of paid contentdesigned to be ‘native’ to its 
editorialenvironment has generated most concerns, ranging from deception 
and reader awareness (Wojdynski and Evans, 2016) to the impact on 
editorialintegrity, credibility and trust in publishing (Levi, 2015; 
Piety, 2016; Einstein, 2016). Much research to date has examined 
regulatory requirements and adherence, forms of labelling and 
identification and reader awareness and attitudes (Wu et al., 2016; 
Iversen and Knudsen, 2017; Amazeen and Wojdynski, 2018; Campbell and 
Evans, 2018). Researchers have examined the adoption of 
sponsoredcontentin newsrooms (Coddington, 2015; Conill, 2016), including 
work that explores ‘norm entrepreneurship’ amongst professionals 
adopting more affirmative perspectives of contentcuration against 
critical conceptualisations such as erosion of the ‘firewall’ between 
‘church’ and ‘state’, editorialand advertising (Carlson, 2014). Others 
have examined the emergence of ‘hybrid editors’ (Poutanen et al., 2016), 
alongside the proliferation of sponsoredcontentproduction arrangements.


Building on such studies, this call invites both conceptual and 
empirical papers that explore the implications of sponsoredcontentfor 
the practices and study of digital journalism, and for research agendas, 
across Western and non-Western media systems. Despite the overall growth 
in scholarship, there has been comparatively little work examining how 
sponsoredcontentis managed and produced across digital publishing 
operations, how demarcations between contentproducers are constructed, 
and how more liquid identities and affiliations are performed. The 
merging of editorialand marketing contenttakes place with increasing 
levels of automation and with a range of intermediary agencies and 
processes involved. As practices and formats multiply, there needs to be 
greater academic convergence to examine sponsoredcontentalong a 
continuum of transactional relationships between media and sources 
involving payment or other consideration. Research is also needed to 
integrate considerations of practice and policy-making by exploring the 
varieties of governance of sponsoredcontentacross digital journalism, 
from the application of formal regulations to rule-making and 
self-governance at all levels, including non-acceptance. Examining the 
operation of governance, together with further studies on audience 
perceptions and responses, can inform wider discussions about regulatory 
design for digital communications.


This special issue invites contributions on the organisation and 
practices of digital publishers surrounding sponsorededitorialcontent, 
on the identities, attitudes and reflexivity of journalists and other 
contentproducers, and on the influence of modes of governance on 
behaviour. Papers are also invited that consider the implications of 
sponsoredcontentfor some of the core themes and debates within 
journalism studies surrounding power, control, agency, ethics and 
regulation, and for the study and teaching of converging communications 
activities. Both empirical and theoretical manuscripts; quantitative, 
qualitative, and mixed methods approaches; single-country and 
comparative research are welcome. Possible topics include, but are not 
limited to:

  * history and development of sponsoredcontentin digital journalism,
  * emergent forms and formats across programmatic native advertising,
    contentrecommendation, and sponsorededitorialcontent,
  * institutional arrangements, attitudes and practices surrounding
    sponsoredcontentin digital publishing,
  * media business models and the role, or rejection, of sponsoredcontent,
  * relationships between data, journalism, algorithms, automation and
    sponsoredcontent,
  * changing relationships, tensions and convergence across journalism,
    public relations and advertising,
  * reader awareness, attitudes and responses,
  * modes and effectiveness of governance of sponsoredcontent.

*Information about Submissions*

Proposals should include the following: an abstract of 500-750 words 
(not including references) as well as background information on the 
author(s), including an abbreviated bio that describes previous and 
current research that relates to the special issue theme. Please submit 
your proposal as one file (PDF) with your names clearly stated in the 
file name and the first page. Send your proposal to *(j.hardy /at/ uel.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(j.hardy /at/ uel.ac.uk)>*by the date stated in timeline below. Authors 
of accepted proposals are expected to develop and submit their original 
article, for full blind ­review, in accordance with the journal's 
peer-review procedure, by the deadline stated. Articles should be 
between 6 500 and 7 000 words in length. Guidelines for manuscripts can 
be found *here.* 
<https://tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?journalCode=rdij20&page=instructions>

Timeline:

Abstract submission deadline: April 8, 2019

Notification on submitted abstracts: April 30, 2019

Article submission deadline: November 4, 2019

The call can also be found here:**

http://explore.tandfonline.com/cfp/ah/rdij-digital-journalism-sponsored-content


Editorialinformation**

  * Guest Editor: Jonathan Hardy, /University of East London/
  * Editor-in-Chief: Oscar Westlund




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