[ecrea] Call for abstracts: Strategies for Media Reform - An International Workshop, ICA Pre Conference, London June 2013

Deadline for abstracts: Friday 30 November


Strategies for Media Reform: An International Workshop

International Communication Association Pre-conference

London - June 17, 2013



Sponsored by: Philosophy, Theory and Critique division, Communication 
Law and Policy division, and Global Communication and Social Change 
divisions of ICA



Hosted by: Department of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths, 
University of London and the Media Reform Coalition.



Supported by: Department of Communication, University of Illinois at 
Urbana-Champaign, Donald McGannon Communication Research Center, Fordham 
University, Global Media and Communication, Communication, Culture and 
Critique.



Given the crises of accountability, accessibility, legitimacy and 
funding facing media systems across the world, there are currently 
unprecedented opportunities for media reform: for re-imagining, 
restructuring and reviving our means of communication in the public 
interest. In a whole range of countries, from Australia to Argentina and 
from China to the US, we are seeing campaigns—from the hyper-local to 
the national—to secure more democratic, responsive and representative 
media systems and forms of media coverage. The need to redistribute 
cultural resources on a more equitable and transparent basis is rapidly 
becoming associated with wider movements for social justice not just in 
opposition to concentrated ownership but also in resisting the corporate 
grab of the internet, supporting public-oriented journalism and pressing 
for more accountability and diversity in our media systems.



This pre-conference will highlight efforts across a range of countries 
to build vibrant and viable media reform movements and offer all 
participants the chance to reflect on the strategies required to grow 
and sustain campaigns for media democracy. It will attempt to gather 
together significant examples of theory, advocacy and activism and to 
answer some of the most familiar questions facing media reform activists 
such as:

• How do activists and academics generate interest in media reform?

• How do we build meaningful coalitions that can secure progressive change?

• What is the role of academics in generating research and providing 
support to media reform networks?

• What are the intellectual and political foundations of media reform?

• What are the common threads that link reform movements internationally?

• Is media reform enough? How do we link with other campaigns for social 
justice?



Concrete outcomes of the pre-conference will include:

• Strengthening an emerging international network of media reform scholars;

• Mapping of common themes in terms of national, regional and global 
scope (e.g., cross-media ownership, digital freedom of expression);

• Ideas for collaborative and comparative research projects; and

• Potentially contributing chapters for an upcoming edited volume on 
Communication Research in Action: International Perspectives (working 
title, to be proposed for Fordham University Press).



Call For Papers



This pre-conference calls for contributions from scholars and activists 
reflecting on pressing concerns and complementary challenges facing 
media reform movements throughout the world. This could include:

• The use of social media to build reform movements

• Successes and challenges of movements for democratic media legislation

• Key principles and paradigms that underpin media reform campaigns

• How to prioritize media in wider movements for social justice

• How to resist the threat of unaccountable media power

• How best to theorize the democracy and activism that will empower 
media reformers

• How best to understand and apply historical battles for media 
democratization.



Abstracts of 300 words (maximum) should be submitted no later than 30 
November 2012. Send abstracts to: Philip Napoli at (mcgctr /at/ fordham.edu) 
Authors will be informed regarding acceptance/rejection for the 
pre-conference no later than December 20, 2012. Full papers will need to 
be submitted no later than May 15, 2013.



This pre-conference will be held at Goldsmiths, University of London, 
9.30-17:30 hrs, followed by a public rally in central London at 7pm for 
ICA and non-ICA delegates addressing key issues facing the international 
media reform movement.



Cost: $30 (includes morning and afternoon refreshments and lunch).



For informal queries, please contact Des Freedman, (d.freedman /at/ gold.ac.uk)







Dr Des Freedman
Reader in Communications and Cultural Studies
Department of Media and Communications
Goldsmiths, University of London
New Cross
London SE14 6NW, UK

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