2nd Call for Papers, Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture, 1/2010
?AMBIGUITIES of CENSORSHIP?
Unpopular ideas can be silenced, and
inconvenient facts kept dark, without the need
for any official ban. (George Orwell)
Censorship can be defined as the suppression of
information exerted through any technique that
prevents the public from being informed about
what happens in the world. More than fifty years
ago, in his lucid critique of media practices in
Britain, George Orwell was already warning about
the impact of less obvious forms of censorship
on the flows of information. However, many
academic studies have been focused on deliberate
forms of censorships exerted by official means,
for example by the state in totalitarian or
anti-democratic regimes. Nevertheless,
censorship has always been present in democratic
countries as well, more subtle in nature and very often self-imposed.
This new issue of Westminster Papers in
Communication and Culture is specifically
dedicated to an international perspective from a
range of disciplinary backgrounds on various
practices of censorship that go beyond official forms of censorship.
Topics may include, but are not restricted to, the following:
- Self-censorship
- Bias
- Omission
- Under-reporting
- Corporate pressures
- Professional pressures
- Cultural and religious pressures
- Embedded journalism
- Security-related pressures
Together, these practices have a bearing on the
failure of the media to cover crucial and
sometimes controversial issues, therefore abridging freedom of expression.
Manuscripts should be prepared in English in
Microsoft Word, should adhere to the Manuscript
Submission Guidelines
(<https://webmail.wmin.ac.uk/exchweb/bin/redir.asp?URL=http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/media/camri/publications/manuscript-submission-guideliens>http://www.westminster.ac.uk/schools/media/camri/publications/manuscript-submission-guideliens)
and should not exceed 8,000 words including
notes and references. Manuscripts should be
accompanied by an abstract of 100?150 words and
up to six keywords. The manuscript must contain
a separate title page that should include: the
title of the manuscript; the name(s) and
affiliation(s) of the author(s); full contact
details of the author(s); the author?s brief
biographical information. All submissions are
subject to peer review. Please send the
manuscript as an email attachment to Benedetta
Brevini
(<mailto:(B.Brevini1 /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>(B.Brevini1 /at/ westminster.ac.uk))
and Katharina Noetzold
<mailto:(k.noetzold /at/ westminster.ac.uk)>(k.noetzold /at/ westminster.ac.uk)
no later than 15 January 2010.
