[ecrea] CFP: The Arab Spring: A Symposium on Social Media and the Politics of Reportage

*Call for papers:*

*Global Media Journal Australian Edition together with*
* Swinburne University's Faculty of Life and Social Science present*

*The Arab Spring:*

*A Symposium on Social Media and the Politics of Reportage*

/Friday June 8, 2012/
/Advanced Technologies Centre, Swinburne University/
/Melbourne Australia/
/Special issues editors Diana Bossio and Saba Bebawi/

Beginning in Tunisia in 2010, what has been termed the 'Arab Spring' 
protests spread to Egypt, Libya, Syria and many other areas of the 
Middle East, toppling governments and calling for democratic political 
change to otherwise authoritarian government regimes. Perhaps one of the 
more interesting aspects of these protests is the use of social media 
and alternate digital media technologies to both co-ordinate action by 
protesters and to report upon the events. Activists, protesters and 
traditional and mainstream journalists were seemingly innovative in 
their interactions, digitally sharing each others' eyewitness accounts 
of events through interview, reportage, image and video online.

This symposium proposes to both theoretically and empirically consider 
the social, political and cultural ramifications of these interactions 
and their meaning in a digital media age, seeking to derive 
conceptualisations of social media and the politics of reportage.

Proposals for presentations are now invited to be submitted for 
inclusion in the one-day symposium program.  Interested participants 
should email a 200-word abstract for a 20-minute presentation during the 
seminar.

We are seeking abstracts from authors that present new analyses of the 
changes and tensions that have occurred in the relations between the 
different forms of reportage, especially with the rise in popularity of 
social media platforms in times of crisis. Specifically we are 
interested in papers that critically examine the supposed dichotomy 
between what is perceived as the authenticity, authority and credibility 
of traditional journalism and the efficiencies and audience-driven 
content of alternative media practice.

Research that explores the following themes would be welcomed:

-The different uses of social media during the Arab Spring protests
-The interaction between 'traditional' and 'alternative' media 
practitioners during the protests
-Specific ethical issues in reportage that arose during the interaction 
between mainstream and alternative media practitioners during the protests
-How has mainstream media practice positioned itself within a discourse 
that has suggested the Arab Spring protests as a 'social media revolution'?
-How can the Arab Spring protests be used a point of reference or case 
study to discuss this interaction between 'traditional' and 
'alternative' media platforms?
-How has the political and policy landscape transformed nationally and 
internationally in the past decade?

* *

**Other global examples which cover the above areas are also encouraged 
to apply.

Participants will be invited to submit a paper for publication in the 
Issue 3, 2012 of the Global Media Journal Australian Edition.

* **Abstract deadline:  COB April 1, 2012*

Please email abstracts as word document attachments to Seminar 
organisers: Diana Bossio (dbossio /at/ swin.edu.au) 
<mailto:(dbossio /at/ swin.edu.au)> or Saba Bebawi (sbebawi /at/ swin.edu.au) 
<mailto:(sbebawi /at/ swin.edu.au)>

*About the Journal*

The Australian Edition is a member of the innovative and original Global 
Media Journal <http://lass.calumet.purdue.edu/cca/gmj/>: an online-only, 
open access, global resource for communication and media studies 
scholarship, with independent editions around the world. The Australian 
edition of Global Media Journal invites the submission of essays and 
research reports that focus on any aspects in the field of 
Communication, Media and Journalism. The Global Media Journal continues 
to expand worldwide, adding new editions, including African, Australian, 
and Persian editions.

More information is available at: 
http://www.commarts.uws.edu.au/gmjau/index.html

Dr Diana Bossio
Lecturer
Media and Communications
Swinburne University