[Commlist] CFP: African Women in Media 2021 Conference

*Call for Papers*

AWiM 2021 Conference

/The Future of Media in Africa: Building Resilience in a COVID19 World/

Conference Date: 2-3 November 2021, online

*Submission Deadline:**01 September 2021*

Dear colleagues

African Women in Media (AWiM) welcomes submissions for the 2021 virtual 
conference, ‘/The Future of Media in Africa: Building Resilience in a 
COVID19 World/’*/./*

*/Building Resilience/*

In this year’s virtual conference, we invite presentations on the impact 
of COVID19 on media in Africa, the gaps it revealed 
for media industries, women in media, and forward-looking solutions to 
address these.

COVID-19 has no doubt changed media industries. Our research into the 
impact of COVID-19 on East African women journalists found that a 
staggering 63% of respondents said their jobs had been affected during 
the pandemic. 52% of respondents were placed on unpaid leave. The 
industry also saw many organisational casualties, with some newsrooms 
shutting down completely. Alongside these impacts were changes in how we 
work and gather news. Sexual harassment also increased on the digital 
platforms which respondents were now using to engage with colleagues. 
According to a 2021 UNESCO report on online violence against women 
journalists, 73% of survey respondents said they had experienced online 
violence.

Therefore, the theme for AWiM21 takes a look forward into the future of 
media in Africa in a COVID-19 world. It invites speakers to reflect on 
their research and experiences during the pandemic as the starting point 
to consider the longer-term impacts on the industry. It specifically 
seeks to identify new practices and solutions that academia, media 
organisations, practitioners, and policy actors might employ.

We look forward to presentations that engage critically with the notion 
of building back better in the context of the intersection of media and 
women’s rights and empowerment. The looming question is *what did the 
pandemic reveal about the true status of women’s rights and gender 
equality in Africa and about the media.*

We are delighted that a selection of papers presented at the conference 
will be published in special issues of international peer-reviewed 
journals or as part of an edited book.


*/Guiding Questions/*

1.What are the emerging theoretical approaches that can help us make 
sense of the future of media in Africa in a covid19 world?

2.How might these emerging theoretical approaches impact the 
intersection of gender, media, crises and other relevant disciplines?

3.What have been the varying experiences of women in media during the 
pandemic?

4.How might we better support women in media going forward?

5.What might media organisations learn from the impact of the pandemic?

6.How did journalism practice change in African newsrooms during the 
pandemic?

7.How might journalism practice change in Africa following the pandemic?

8.How might media build back better, and be better prepared for other 
world-changing events?

9.How did audience engagement change?

10.What was the impact of fake news? How did African newsrooms respond 
to the ‘infodemic’?

11.What has been the mental health impact of reporting on the pandemic, 
and how have newsrooms responded to this?

12.What new business models emerged for newsrooms during the pandemic, 
and how might we build on this going forward?

13.What were the financial challenges for newsrooms?

*//*

*/How might we build back better?/*

In exploring these areas, the conference welcomes papers, panel 
proposals and workshops from researchers, practitioners, CSOs and policy 
professionals in the following topics and related areas:

·Gender and media

·Media and crises

·Health communication

·Resilience and resistance

·Representation, identity, ideology

·Misinformation, disinformation and infodemic

·Fake news, women and new media

·Journalism

·Global media management

·Globalisation

·Global politics

·Global agendas

·Discourse analysis and global implications

·Feminist studies

·Postcolonial studies

·Cultural studies

·Culture and media policy

·Participatory communication

·Risk communication

·Audience

·Digital ethics and safety

·Online violence

·Sextortion

·Community media

·Communication and development

·Political communication

·State/Media relations

·Propaganda

·Communities and networks

·Digital empowerment

·Diversity and inclusion

·Women’s rights and empowerment

·Class and gender relations

·Feminism and political participation

·Gender policies

·International law and human rights

·Migration

·Peace and security

·Visual culture

*/Conference format /*

AWiM21 conference will take place entirely online from 2-3 November 
2021. There is no registration fee and no honorariums. Plenary sessions, 
individual panels and the /Hodan Nalayeh Changing Narratives /Pitch Zone 
and Awards will be open for registration via the conference website. 
Each session will run for no more than 2 hours.

Following the conference, papers will be selected for an academic 
publication.

*/Abstract submission instructions /*

Please send a 250-word abstract with your name, e-mail address, a brief 
bio and affiliation to *(yemisi /at/ africanwomeninmedia.com)* 
<mailto:(awim21 /at/ africanwomeninmedia.com)>**by *Wednesday, 1 September 
2021. *Innovative formats, panel proposals and (digital) roundtable 
discussions are also welcome. Panel or roundtable discussion proposals 
should include a short rationale and brief bios of participants.

**

*Key Dates*

·CFP submission deadline – *1 September 2021*

·Notification of acceptance - *13 September 2021*

·Registration opens – *30 September 2021*

·Conference dates – *2-3 November 2021*


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