[ecrea] CFP: The Invisible Actors Within Journalistic Production

About journalism – Sur le journalisme – Sobre jornalismo

International academic journal

http://surlejournalisme.com/rev

Call for papers

The invisible actors within journalistic production

Starting date: September 15th 2012 – Deadline for paper submission: 
March 15th 2013
Editors of this special dossier: Béatrice Damian-Gaillard, Jean Charron, 
Isabel Travancas

(beatrice.damian /at/ univ-rennes1.fr), (Jean.Charron /at/ com.ulaval.ca), 
(isabeltravancas /at/ yahoo.com)

Journalistic production is a collective activity which requires the 
cooperation of several actors. These actors intervene at various stages 
in the production chain and occupy different positions within the 
collective action. As Howard Becker underlines in his 1984 work, Art 
Worlds, in which he focuses on the creation of art works, ‘[t]he work 
always shows signs of that cooperation. The forms of cooperation may be 
ephemeral, but often become more or less routine, producing patterns of 
collective activity we can call an art world.’ Where this collective 
activity is part of legal, economic and organisational frameworks, its 
actors also contribute to the creation, development or reshaping of 
professional norms via their interactions and through exchanging skills 
and experiences.

Collective activity also introduces a logic of segmentation, both 
explicit and implicit, in the positions occupied by social actors in the 
process of product creation. Some activities are recognised as creating 
collectively recognised skills, whereas others are not. How does this 
recognition work? How is it evaluated? Who are the actors involved in 
these activities; in which areas do they develop; who are the people who 
have the authority to validate the hierarchy of positions via status, 
employment contracts, remuneration, promotion, etc?

This issue of About Journalism – Sur le journalisme – Sobre jornalismo 
aims to take a closer look at the least recognised producers within the 
journalistic space (in terms of who is awarded a press card, training, 
notoriety, etc.), at how involved they are in producing the collective 
work; at the type of commitment they make to it; at their social and 
professional trajectories; at how their activity has become devalued; 
and at the personal investments they would have to demonstrate in order 
to be recognised.

Contributions may therefore adopt – and potentially crosscut – a number 
of analytical approaches. They may focus on the following areas:

* The mechanisms which render actors visible or invisible in editorial 
output (use of pseudonyms, the right to sign one’s article, for 
example). In some contexts of production or of reception, such tactics 
may underpin strategies of recognition between the initiated, and 
contribute to the closing of particular spaces of media expression by 
making certain practices and social relations harder for the 
non-initiated to understand. In some cases, these mechanisms may be 
based on technological devices.

*

The professional spaces in which these invisible actors operate. How 
were these spaces constituted? How are they set up in terms of actors, 
of social interactions, regulatory frameworks, professional norms, 
economic models etc.? Which other professional spaces do they border? 
What social spaces are they connected to?
*

The social and professional trajectories of these ‘invisible actors’ in 
the production chain in relation to the characteristics of the 
journalistic sector in question. This means resolving questions linked 
to how competencies are defined, how production and work are organised, 
which positions of power these actors occupy, the conditions governing 
how they exercise their activity, etc.

* A category of actors whose activity and/or position in the hierarchy 
puts them in a position of dependence in relation to those activities 
and statuses which are afforded recognition. This approach implies an 
understanding of the dynamics of heterogeneous actors involved in 
producing the same product but taking from it different symbolic and 
material rewards.

Submission of articles (30.000 to 50.000 signs, including References and 
footnotes) before 15th March 2013.

Please indicate your interest in this special issue by sending a 
two-page summary of your article proposal to the guest editors before 
the 15th November 2012, to : (beatrice.damian /at/ univ-rennes1.fr), 
(Jean.Charron /at/ com.ulaval.ca), (isabeltravancas /at/ yahoo.com)

Articles may be offered in English, French or Portuguese.

The articles will be subject to ‘double-blind’ assessments; they should 
include theoretical references, research methods and a corpus reference.

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