[ecrea] cfp - Structural Changes in Journalism

Call for Papers
1st International Colloquium on Structural Changes in Journalism (MEJOR  2011)
Venue: University of Brasilia. Brasília, DF  Brazil
Date: 25 to 28 April 2011
Realization: Faculty of Communication, University 
of Brasilia (FAC / UnB), with support from
Réseaux détudes sur le Journalisme (Journalism Study Network/REJ).

1. Colloquium Subject
Numerous texts - produced by scholars and 
especially by journalists themselves, have
led to the impression that the journalistic 
practice has profoundly changed over the past 20
years. Studies show a scenario of accelerating 
the time of production, circulation and
consumption of information; of precarious 
employment relations; of changing in the
productive routines and in the relationships with 
sources. More and more, we notice
convergence in various media operations, with the 
creation of new platforms and hybrid
products.
In a crisis scenario, newspaper companies have 
been pressed to find alternatives to
meet new demands from a more active and 
participative audience. This includes the increase
of entertainment content, a result of 
intensifying competition and of pressure from marketing
departments to offer products that are capable of pleasing the audience.
However, this discourse about changes in 
journalism is recurring. For two centuries,
several reviews were produced on the various 
crises - some real, others imagined - of the
press: the depoliticization of newspapers, the 
excessive relevance attributed to fait divers
news, massification of content and audience, 
commercial pressures on media content, etc.
Since its invention, journalism has always been 
seen as a target for radical changes.
The proposal of the 1st International Colloquium 
on Structural Changes in Journalism,
organized by the Faculty of Communication, 
University of Brasilia, is to discuss the
phenomenon of 'transformations in journalism' and 
also the discourses articulated to it. Three
questions guide these discussions:
- What are the indicators (sociological, 
economic, semiotic, historical, political, etc.)
allowing to defend the idea of a transformation 
of journalism? How do they relate to other
dimensions (the composition of the professional 
group, the situation of companies, the
contents and ways to present them etc.), 
composing a bigger picture that allows a distinction
between conjunctural phenomena and global and structural changes?
- Can we defend, on the other hand that 
journalism is a social practice, a neconomic
activity, a space for political discourse which, 
after four centuries, has presented a great
stability that exceeds circumstantial changes? 
Which are the indicators of an underlying
continuity to the profound changes that affected 
societies since the sixteenth century?
- What must be considered from the academic 
discourse, delivered by professionals
and their organizations, and often appropriated 
by political actors who mention a crisis of
journalism? For which purposes such discourses 
are produced and which representations of
the role of journalism in democratic societies they convey?
Taking as a basis (some of) these questions, researchers are invited to submit
proposals on the changes below:
?? On journalistic practices;
?? On the economic model of news organizations;
?? On the ways of presenting and constructing news;
?? On the formation and modes of access to the labor market;.
?? On the modes of regulation and control of the profession ethics;
?? On relations with the public.
They might also:
?? Propose models for the analysis of these 
transformations enabling to investigate them;
?? Analyze the construction of the discourse on 
change and its use by social actors linked
to the media (journalists, editors, political actors, researchers, etc.).

2. Deadlines
Full text papers submission due December 15th, 2010
Paper review decisions expected January 30 th, 2011
Final program release February 21 st, 2011
Proceedings of the Colloquium (online) May 1st, 2011
Selected Papers publication in book or journal Second semester, 2011
(expected)

3. Submission rules
At least one of the principal authors of the 
article should have a doctorate/Ph.D.
Papers may be submitted in Portuguese, English, 
French or Spanish. A Portuguese abstract is
required. Paper submissions should use the 
Colloquium website: www.mejor.com.br.
The author(s) should send the full text paper, 
which should contain from 20 000 to 35
000 characters (with spaces), already included 
the references and footnotes. The following
items are required: title, abstract of up to 10 
lines, three keywords, author's curriculum
summary, up to 3 lines (including their 
institutional affiliation). The text should be written in
Times New Roman, size 12, 1.5 spaced. Indented 
quotations should be written in size 10, single
space.
Papers should be original. Each author may submit only one paper.

4. Selection process and criteria for evaluation
Papers will be judged by an international 
scientific committee. Each paper will be
reviewed by two referees, through the blind 
review process. The papers will be reviewed
based on the following criteria:
?? Originality of the paper;
?? Relevance to the area;
?? Adequacy to the proposed theme;
?? Relevance of the adopted bibliography;
?? Theoretical and methodological adequacy;
?? Clarity, cohesion and compliance with the formal requirements of scientific
language.
Of the submitted papers will be selected up to 30 works to be published in the
Proceedings of the Colloquium.

5. Funding of travel costs and accommodation
Authors are invited to request to Universities 
subventions to fund their participation
costs. Participants at the Colloquium that have 
their works/papers selected by the Scientific
Committee may request, to the Organizing 
Committee, aid for expenses of lodging, meals and
transportation. To do so, they must send a 
statement of the institution or the development
agency attesting the unavailability of funds to 
finance their participation on the Colloquium.
The Commission shall decide by total or partial 
financing of the expenditure required,
depending on availability of resources.

6. Publication of papers
Accepted papers presented during the Colloquium 
will be published in online Proceedings
available from 1st May, 2011 on www.mejor.com.br 
and on www.surlejournalisme.com. In
addition, a revised version of the 15 best 
papers, following the judgment of the scientific
committee, could integrate a publication in 
Portuguese (book or journal), scheduled for the
second semester of 2011.


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Nico Carpentier (Phd)
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Vrije Universiteit Brussel - Free University of Brussels
Centre for Studies on Media and Culture (CeMeSO)
Pleinlaan 2 - B-1050 Brussels - Belgium
T: ++ 32 (0)2-629.18.56
F: ++ 32 (0)2-629.36.84
Office: 5B.401a
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European Communication Research and Education Association
Web: http://www.ecrea.eu
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E-mail: (Nico.Carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
Web: http://homepages.vub.ac.be/~ncarpent/
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