[Commlist] Community media conference - Ireland - June 2019

Towards resilient community media

A conference at NUI Galway (Ireland), 14-16 June, 2019

The community media sector has been the focus of an increasing amount of 
scholarly attention as it has grown in size, from social movement 
theorists, to political economists, to those focused on governance and 
organisational communication.

Maintaining community media organizations poses a complex challenge, 
requiring ongoing attention to funding, to governance structures, to 
changing political and economic conditions, and to the task of building 
and consolidating relationships with communities. The challenge is 
exacerbated by the operation of community media within a capitalist 
system that is antithetical to the values of collaboration, 
non-commercialism, and inclusion that are at the core of work in this 
area. As Atton and Hamilton (2008: 26) note in their analysis of the 
political economy of alternative journalism, the “general 
political-economic dilemma for any critical project is that it needs 
resources with which to work, but those crucial resources are present 
only in the very society that it seeks to change or dissolve.”

This conference will provide an opportunity to reflect on questions of 
resilience and endurance as they arise in community media, and to 
explore the various interdependent factors that can impact the ongoing 
stability and health of community media projects. In addition to 
welcoming research grounded in particular case studies, we look forward 
to papers that will, in a holistic fashion, explore the role and 
operation of the sector in the context of broader socio-political concerns.

Contributions are invited from academics (including emerging and 
early-career scholars) exploring these issues, as well as from those 
working within the community and alternative media sectors.

Areas of focus might include (but are not limited to):
- Analysis of the political economic contexts within which community 
media operate, including regulatory, financial, and staffing challenges.
- Exploration of issues of governance and internal organisation
- Analysis of sectoral cooperation and collaboration
- Questions of ethos, including issues of localism, defining community, 
ideology, and purpose
- Maintaining and refreshing relationships with communities
- Grappling with the ongoing tension between pragmatism and idealism
- Case studies of community or alternative media projects, including 
historical case studies, that provide insights into one or more issues 
of relevance to the conference theme.

In the first instance, proposals should be sent to 
(andrew.obaoill /at/ nuigalway.ie) <mailto:(andrew.obaoill /at/ nuigalway.ie)>, and 
should include:
Author name and affiliation(s)
Paper title
200-word abstract

The conference will open the evening of 14th. Saturday 16th will include 
a field trip to the site of the Marconi transatlantic wireless 
telegraphy station in Connemara, supported by funding from the Broadcast 
Authority of Ireland.

Proposals are requested by 30 April, 2019. Proposals will be reviewed on 
a rolling basis.

It is anticipated that selected papers from the conference will be 
published as a themed issue of a relevant academic journal.

This conference is made possible with the support of the Broadcasting 
Authority of Ireland and of the NUI Galway College of Arts, Social 
Sciences, and Celtic Studies.


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