[Commlist] CfP: ECREA Media Industries and Cultural Production Workshop: Gaining Access, Building Relationships: Researching Media Industries in a Changing Landscape

Gaining Access, Building Relationships: Researching Media Industries in 
a Changing Landscape
ECREA Media Industries and Cultural Production Workshop

Date: 12.08.2025
Location: University of Copenhagen, Denmark

https://ecrea.eu/event-6072322

This one-day conference tackles a central and persistent challenge in 
media industries research: How scholars gain entry into media companies 
and navigate the personal and professional relationships that shape 
researcher-industry interactions.

Issues of trust, access, and working beyond polished corporate 
narratives have long been debated in studies of media production, 
distribution, and industrial organization. These questions have been 
approached from both pragmatic and strategic perspectives, which focus 
on the practical challenges of forming relationships and gaining access, 
as well as from ethical perspectives, that address normative concerns 
about how these relationships should be structured.

The urgency of these questions has only grown in recent years. As 
international tech giants reshape the media landscape, their corporate 
cultures and structures pose new barriers to access. Traditional media 
companies, too, have evolved—fragmentation, competition, and shifting 
security protocols have made research entry more complex than ever. 
These changes not only reinforce enduring methodological challenges but 
also demand fresh approaches to researcher-industry relations.

We invite papers that critically examine the dynamics of access, 
relational work, and researcher-industry engagement—whether through 
empirical case studies, methodological discussions, or theoretical 
inquiry. Our goal is to share experiences, refine our research 
strategies, and deepen our understanding of the evolving conditions of 
media industries research.

Presentations at the conference may address, but are not limited to:

●      The ethical dimensions of relational work in media industries 
research—and the insights gained from openly reflecting on access 
strategies and the challenges of managing academia-industry relationships.

●      How strategies for gaining access may differ depending on the 
specific media industries or organizations, their sizes, and political 
contexts.

●      Longitudinal accounts of how mutual trust is maintained or 
challenged in relationships between individual researchers and industry 
actors over time.

●      Professional “breakups” between researchers and industrial 
actors, and what can be learned from ending or exiting collaborations.

●      The issues of sharing or accessing historical data or archival 
material.

●      The issues of accessing media organizations’ digital platforms, 
internal systems, or internal communication channels.

●      How taking part in committees and policy work can challenge 
researchers’ autonomous role and how they have mitigated this.

●      Creative workarounds to gain access to organizations once initial 
attempts are denied.

We invite scholars to submit abstracts for papers addressing these themes.

Abstracts of 300 words should be submitted no later than the 11 April 
2025. Send abstracts to: (fredrik.stiernstedt /at/ sh.se). Authors will be 
informed regarding acceptance/rejection for the conference no later than 
16 May 2025. Early career scholars and graduate students are highly 
encouraged to submit their work (please indicate if the research 
submitted is part of your thesis or dissertation project).

Fees and accommodation. The conference registration fee is 50 Euros, and 
participants are asked to cover their travel expenses. This fee includes 
coffee breaks, lunch and drinks at the get-together. For participants 
that will continue to the NordMedia 2025 Conference  in Odense (13-15 
August), trains from Copenhagen to Odense depart frequently and take 
about 90 minutes. Participants are asked to cover their accommodation.

Organizing committee
Local organizers: Mads Møller Tommerup Andersen (University of Copenhagen)
For the section management team: Fredrik Stiernstedt (Södertörn 
University), Vilde Schanke Sundet (Oslo Metropolitan University), 
Catalina Iordache (Vrije Universiteit Brussel) and Torbjörn Rolandsson 
(Roskilde University).

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