[Commlist] CfP: Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS) - "Old media persistence. Past continuities in the brand-new digital world"

Thematic Section on “Old media persistence. Past continuities in the 
brand-new digital world”

Studies in Communication Sciences (SComS)

Deadline (abstracts): February 15, 2022

Edited by Gabriele Balbi (USI Università della Svizzera italiana), 
Berber Hagedoorn (University of Groningen), Nazan Haydari (Istanbul 
Bilgi University)

We are seeking contributions for a thematic section of Studies in 
Communication Sciences (SComS)exploring on the persistence of old media. 
SComS is a peer-reviewed journal of communication and media research 
with platinum open-access (no article processing charges).

This Thematic Section aims to better understand the reasons why, despite 
the popular discourses of disruptive innovation of the digital age, old 
media persist over time. Specifically, it seeks to elucidate the very 
current examples of past continuities in the brand-new digital world. In 
several media sectors, “old” or traditional media, such as landline 
telephony, television, radio, film, printing, analogue photography and 
music, have not disappeared – despite voices to the contrary (see, 
amongst others, Enli & Syvertsen 2016). Depending on social, cultural, 
and political contexts, these industries and platforms can be preferred 
spaces of communication and maintain their potential as profitable 
businesses. Old media also persist in terms of content, political 
mentality, business, law, regulation, audience and usage. We aim to 
better understand the reasons why this is the case. Why is the old 
persisting? The Thematic Section should ideally generate theoretical and 
empirical debates among media scholars from diverse disciplines in media 
and culture studies, with specific case studies but also theoretical 
reflections on this topic. We are aware of the fact that journals, 
conferences, and books are devoted to “old media” today. But the aim of 
this Thematic Section is different: It aims to provide a comprehensive 
and intermedial reflection on: (1) the persistence of the old and past 
continuities in the brand-new digital world; (2) the role of innovation 
that old or traditional media still play in societies today, and (3) the 
future of old media in media studies research. Mapping the continuities 
and discontinuities between the contemporary and inherited practices of 
media constitutes a new mode of inquiry into the historiography of 
media. Dialectic relationships between old and new media also provide 
political, methodological and theoretical cues in understanding the 
contemporary media landscape.

Media and communication studies today especially focus on questions 
surrounding how digital media and digitization have changed and 
revolutionized previous media ecologies. Funding opportunities, PhD 
dissertations, journals and books on digitization and the relevance of 
digital media are overwhelming. This Thematic Section is an invitation 
to discuss how studying old media is imperative and still fully relevant 
to understand our contemporary media landscapes. The integration of old 
and new or digital media seems to be more effective than disruptive 
models, and the so-called “old media” are still used and appreciated by 
media audiences worldwide. The Thematic Section aims to question and 
challenge classic narratives of contemporary media studies, including 
but also venturing beyond (a) the linear model of replacement and 
substitution (digital media replace the old media); (b) the disruptive 
model in which new and digital media change markets and users’ habits 
completely, changing previous ecologies; and (c) the clear distinction 
between old and new media, analogue and digital.

Fields of research in media studies have started to rethink the 
relevance of the old. For example, media archaeology (Huhtamo & Parikka 
2011, Parikka 2012), debates on old and new media (Acland 2007, Balbi 
2015, Bolter & Grusin 1999, Natale 2016, Theophanidis & Thibault 2016, 
and others), and finally the role of maintenance in communication (Balbi 
& Leggero 2020). Most relevant reflections on the persistence of the old 
comes from science and technology studies (STS) and history of 
technology scholarship (Edgerton 2007, Henke & Sims 2020, Vinsel & 
Russell 2020, Krebs & Weber 2021, and others). This Thematic Section 
follows the intellectual footsteps of this literature, expanding it to 
media studies and to other fields, going beyond a mere technological 
approach.

Papers from different fields of media and communication studies are 
welcome: from history to anthropology, from cultural studies to 
political economy, from geography to STS, and others. We invite 
submissions of theoretical papers as well as papers based on sources and 
empirical findings and studying specific case studies. Submitted papers 
have to address one or some of the following research questions:

• Why and how do old media persist in contemporary media ecologies?

• What does persistence mean in media studies?

• What is the relationship between traditional and digital media, and 
how traditional media are integrated in digital realms?

• How do digital media remediate old media and, vice versa, how do old 
media change because of digital media?

• Can old media be innovative, and how?

• Will old and traditional media be studied in the future, and how?

Submission guidelines
SComS welcomes submissions in English, German, French, or Italian. 
However, English is the preferred language of this Thematic Section. 
Abstracts should be a maximum of 500 words in length and should explain 
the main research question(s), scientific literature, methodology, and 
case studies the authors plan to use. Please submit your abstract via 
e-mail to (gabriele.balbi /at/ usi.ch).
Manuscripts should be a maximum of 6000 words in length (including the 
abstract and all references, tables, figures, footnotes, appendices). In 
addition, authors may submit supplementary material that will be 
published as an online supplement. Authors are invited to submit 
original papers that are not under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Abstract submissions are due February 15 2022. Final acceptance depends 
on a double-blind peer review process of the manuscripts. The expected 
publishing date of this thematic section is November 2023.However, early 
submissions that successfully pass the review process will also be 
immediately published online first. Contributions that receive positive 
reviews but are not accepted for the Thematic Section may be considered 
for publication in a subsequent SComS issue within the General Section.

For any further information please contact Gabriele Balbi 
((gabriele.balbi /at/ usi.ch) <mailto:(gabriele.balbi /at/ usi.ch)>).

Timeline:

•   Abstract submission deadline: February 15 2022
•   Selection of abstracts done by the Guest Editors: February 16 – 
March 15 2022
•   Authors receive confirmation of selection of papers: March 30 2022
•   Full paper submission deadline: June 15 2022
•   First round of peer reviews on the papers: June–July 2022
•   Reviews back to authors: August 15 – September 1 2022
•   Resubmissions deadline: November 1 2022
•   Second round of peer reviews on the papers: November and December 2022
•   Notification of acceptance no later than January 15 2023
•   Submission Final paper: March 30 2023
•   Editorial work on the papers (final shape-up): April 2023
•   Publication of the Thematic Section is scheduled for November 2023

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