[Commlist] CfP VIEW Journal Special Issue: Television and the Family

*Call for Paper: Issue #31: Television and the Family*

Editors: Rieke Böhling, Noel Brown, Eva Novrup Redvall

Forty years after David Morley’s (1986) seminal work that explored the 
uses of television within families and how family members make sense of 
television content, this special issue of VIEW Journal of European 
Television History and Culture seeks to reengage with these questions 
and go beyond them by exploring the many ways in which European 
television intersects with families, family routines and family life. 
Television and the family are closely interlinked. Even in households 
that (perhaps as a conscious decision) do not have or use television, 
the absence of it also often constitutes a topic of contention.

Whereas television as a mass medium in conjunction with the family as a 
particular audience as well as with the family as a representation has 
received some academic attention in the past – for instance with regard 
to how content is discussed within families (Keppler 1994), how families 
are portrayed on television (Douglas 2003), how television impacted 
American postwar family life (Spigel 1992), what role television and the 
family play for young people from ethnic minorities (Gillespie 1995), 
and how the relationship between television and families can be 
theorised (Ellis 1983) – more recent investigations that consider the 
role of television in relation to the family in a changing media 
environment are scarce. Some exceptions look at generational dynamics 
from an audience perspective (Andò 2014), consider television within the 
notion of “screen time” (Mascheroni and Zaffaroni 2025), and present an 
autobiographical life story of television within everyday practices 
(Holdsworth 2021).

This issue of VIEW is aiming to open up the conversation on the topic of 
families and television in today’s media environment. Submissions can 
address but are not limited to the following topics:

*
Television formats for families and/or television that addresses 
multigenerational audiences
*
Children’s television (e.g. children’s news or other PSB content for 
children)
*
Television and family memories and/or childhood memories
*
Television and family rituals
*
Generational comparisons in regard to television and the family
*
Television and practices of care within the family
*
Gendered perspectives on television and the family
*
The role of television in the broader media ensemble of the family
*
Portrayals of families on television
*
Television in relation to diverse or non-traditional families
*
Formats that revolve around family histories and genealogical research 
(e.g. Who do you think you are)
*
Families and television viewing practices
*
The impact of digital convergence on families and television
*
Families and television streaming
*
The role of the family and/or family archives in television production
*
Television and families with a migration history
*
Methodological issues in researching families and television
*
Historical perspectives on families and television
*
Media pedagogical perspectives on families and television

*Submission requirements*

We invite submissions from television scholars, media historians, 
researchers interested in the connections between film, television and 
digital screen media, audiovisual practitioners and archivists.

Contributions to this issue may take the form of full academic research 
articles (5.000-6.000 words) or shorter creative papers (“Enthusiasm”, 
around 3.000 words) as well as audiovisual essays. More details on 
submission formats can be found here. All articles will be 
peer-reviewed. VIEW is a diamond open-access journal.

Paper proposals (max. 500 words, plus a biographical note of max. 100 
words) are due by April 15, 2026. Submissions should be sent to 
(journal /at/ euscreen.eu) <mailto:(journal /at/ euscreen.eu)>; please copy 
(rieke.boehling /at/ uni-bremen.de) <mailto:(rieke.boehling /at/ uni-bremen.de)> to 
your email. Authors can specify in their proposal the format of their 
contribution. A notice of acceptance will be sent to authors no later 
than June 1, 2026.

Full contributions will be due by November 30, 2026. Submission 
guidelines, including stylistic instructions, can be found on our 
website. As outlined in the guidelines, please note that the inclusion 
of audiovisual extracts is strongly recommended. The issue is scheduled 
for publication in summer 2027.

Questions about the issue can be directed to the co-editors of the 
issue: Rieke Böhling (rieke.boehling /at/ uni-bremen.de) 
<mailto:(rieke.boehling /at/ uni-bremen.de)>, Noel Brown (brownn /at/ hope.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(brownn /at/ hope.ac.uk)>, Eva Novrup Redvall (eva /at/ hum.ku.dk) 
<mailto:(eva /at/ hum.ku.dk)>

The authors will not be required to pay any Article Processing Charges 
(APCs) for the publication of their article.


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