[Commlist] Call for papers – Problemi dell'Informazione n. 3/2021 – Media and Diversity

Media and Diversity (Problemi dell'Informazione - Italian Journal of 
Media and Journalism Studies)
Special issue - Marco Bruno e Gaia Peruzzi (editros)

We live in a deeply mediatized world, where public sphere and social and 
political dialogues are inconceivable, or better inexistent, without 
media.  In democratic systems, the political decision-making processes 
are somehow tied to the collective perceptions of social issues, 
therefore the role played by media, in particular news media, has become 
strategic. Media directly participate not only to the agenda setting and 
current debates, but, in a deeper perspective, to the construction of 
social categories and the explanation of social facts. By steadily 
shaping, framing and giving public visibility to some social groups, 
media accustom citizens to perceive some distinctions as ordinary, 
usual, “natural”; thus, they create identities and borders. By 
emphasizing some distinctions in comparison with “us”, they create the 
Other. By lighting the fire underneath a kind of diversity and its point 
of view, they affect social stereotypes and promote the change of 
mentalities.
In recent years, some relevant studies have provided original and 
unexpected perspectives useful to understand the power of media in 
societies by investigating their role in building the categories of 
minorities, vulnerability and social empathy. In particular, Lynn Hunt 
has reconstructed the way in which popular media have contributed to the 
“invention” of the idea of human rights in the passage from the modern 
age to the contemporary one. According to this author, media stimulated 
the audience to assume the points of views of the different characters 
of drama, primarily of the weakest ones, and, consequently, to take in 
account the human pains of torture and social injustices and to imagine 
more equal opportunities for all human beings. Another milestone of the 
literature on this topic is the last work of Roger Silverstone, where is 
reflect on the role played by media in the formation of the social, 
civic and moral space. The knowledge of the Other and the relationship 
with the same increasingly happen inside the mediapolis, the space where 
people coming from differing places can make a reciprocal appearance. 
The construction of the otherness, that is of all the problematic and 
vulnerable identities, is a completely mediated process, which has 
completely revolutionized the collective construction of all the 
categories of morality (proper distance, dignity, respect, hospitality, 
justice).What is common in these arguments is that media narrations and 
public dialogues on minorities are recognized as founding steps in the 
civilizing processes.
To complete this essential review, it is necessary to mention Luc 
Boltansky and his work Distant Suffering. Morality, Media and Politics. 
He investigated the change in human morality derived from the new habit 
of watching scenes of pain and suffering on the media screens, and the 
ambiguous relationships between these sentiments, human empathy and 
solidarity policies.
The theoretical framework on media and diversity that we have outlined 
is the background within which to study information media as well. The 
role of journalism in the face of diversity has been investigated mainly 
with respect to the dimension of news content and representations of 
otherness. Very often the differences taken into consideration are those 
relating to the different cultural background and the consequences of 
migratory phenomena. Scientific reflection on other conditions of 
diversity is rarer, such as those attributable to issues of gender, 
sexual orientation and disabilities. Similarly, in the studies on 
journalism and information pluralism has always been understood in a 
political or at the most cultural sense; less frequently, on the other 
hand, in terms of a more general tension towards the inclusiveness of 
the aforementioned diversities and belonging but also, for example, with 
respect to the multiple forms of social marginality.
Diversity, as a theme for information media, also represents a challenge 
to professional practices and conditions, starting with pluralism and 
inclusion policies in editorial offices. In recent times, this debate 
has found ample space in the US context, also following the MeeToo and 
Black Lives Matter movements. In this context, another area of 
investigation, almost unexplored in our country, is the application of 
inclusion policies and practices to journalistic contexts and 
professions that are beginning to be widespread in other areas (think of 
the experiences of diversity management and inclusion in business 
contexts). Another relevant issue is the issue of the differentiation of 
contents, authors, themes and languages in relation to different social 
actors and audiences, which constitutes a significant challenge for 
journalistic practices undergoing profound change, also in reference to 
the effects of digitization, hybrid formats and languages, and the 
economic crisis.
Therefore, in a scenario of uncertainty and accelerated change, 
diversity is both a challenge and an opportunity for journalistic 
practice, precisely as a democratic issue, with reference to the 
pluralization of sensitivities and the need for full participation in 
the information and communication field of all members of society.
Starting from this complex and multidimensional frame of reference, 
there are many lines of work on which the authors are invited to send 
contributions; among these we propose, but not exclusively:

•Media and diversity
•The social construction of the /other/ in media information
•Information and gender issues
•News media and sexual orientation minorities
•News media and disabilities
•News media, poverty and social marginalization
•Information and religious pluralism
•Diversity management in information, editorial policies and inclusion 
of minorities
•Journalistic practices and diversity
•Journalistic language and diversity
•Formats and tools for information and diversity

This issue is therefore open to contributions that address one or more 
ot these themes (as is more likely, given the “hyper-connected” nature 
of the crisis and its implications).

Proposals (maximum 750 words excluding bibliography) are required to 
illustrate the objectives of the paper, the research question and the 
methodology adopted. They have to be sent to

https://submission.rivisteweb.it/index.php/pdi ;    by *March 31th, 2021*.

The selection of proposals will take place by *April 10th*. The deadline 
for submitting manuscripts is *June* 20th. Manuscripts will undergo a 
double blind review system.

_No payment or fees are required_

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