[Commlist] ECREA Journalism studies Section Conference “Journalism studies meets practice”

ECREA Journalism studies Section Conference “Journalism studies meets 
practice” will be hosted by Research Group Quality Journalism in Digital 
Transition at the University of Applied Sciences Utrecht

Utrecht, the Netherlands – February 25-26, 2021

Deadline for abstracts and submissions: *September 4, 2020.*

The 2021 Section Conference of the Journalism Studies Section of the 
European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA) will 
take place in Utrecht, the Netherlands, on *February 25-26, 2021.*

  * We welcome submissions focusing on *journalism in digital transition.*
  * We especially welcome proposals for co-creative sessions –
    co-creation understood as collaboration between researchers and
    practitioners.
  * We also want to make the regular sessions more collaborative by
    introducing active respondents. They will contact the participants
    before the session.

The process of digitalization has challenged professional journalism in 
every way, not only in its organization but also in the way its products 
are made, sold, and consumed.

For instance, while the newsroom is still often the core space of 
journalism, the place where the news-beat is felt, the transition to 
freelance practices and the collaboration with other professions in the 
creative industry have challenged both organizations and the identity of 
the journalistic profession. Also, moving away from traditional forms of 
consuming journalistic production, the public is offered information and 
entertainment via a multitude of, mostly online, channels. Technological 
innovation gives journalists and media organizations a range of 
opportunities. Algorithmic tools are increasingly used to uncover data 
and gather information. At the same time, artificial intelligence can 
provide a more personalized and tailor-made news experience. 
Technologies provide opportunities for storytelling in which the role of 
the user is more prominent – for example in interactive stories, 
immersive productions and podcasts.

At the same time concerns have been voiced about the negative aspects of 
these changes. It might promote fragmentation, polarization of 
deliberative spaces and the spread of disinformation, to name just a few 
of these concerns.

What is particularly fascinating in the process of digitalization is the 
question of how to study it. While the field of journalism studies is 
booming, the debate on methodological thinking is still surprisingly 
limited. Therefore, we also encourage submissions focusing on methods.

The scholarly field of journalism studies has developed into a 
sophisticated field of research. The question often remains how much of 
this scholarly knowledge is translated into journalism practice. This 
conference therefore especially invites journalism scholars who work 
together with practitioners or can show how their research impacts the 
field. Therefore co-creative sessions will be organized in which we will 
invite prominent journalists to join the scholarly discussion.

The journalism industry has always been dependent on technology. 
However, as scholars, we need to heighten our focus on the 
socio-cultural consequences of this dependence, more so because digital 
technology exponentially increases new theoretical, methodological, and 
ethical questions.

In sum, we encourage submissions in three main areas:

  * Research on how the digital transition challenges the field of
    journalism in the way it is produced, sold and consumed.
  * Methodological discussions, challenging current scholarly methods or
    proposing innovative methods in journalism studies.
  * Best practices, especially on how scholarly research is embedded
    into journalistic practice.

The conference will feature traditional paper presentations and 
co-creative sessions between academics and media professionals.

Traditional paper presentations: Traditional paper presentations will 
take place in panels consisting of four to five papers. Each panel will 
be moderated by an active respondent.

Co-creative sessions: A limited number of slots will be available for 
co-creative sessions in which one topic is addressed in four short 
presentations, followed by an organized debate between academics and 
invited media-professionals. We stimulate submissions for these 
sessions. We will also search for coherent papers to organize such 
sessions. Presenters will be informed beforehand.

SUBMIT

Submissions can be sent to (ecreajournalism2021 /at/ hu.nl) 
<mailto:(ecreajournalism2021 /at/ hu.nl)> no later than*4 September 2020*.

Please include in the email (1) the title of your paper, (2) an abstract 
of no more than 750 words, (3) names and affiliations of the authors.

Submission will undergo scholarly peer-review. Only one proposal per 
first author can be accepted. Notifications of acceptance will be issued 
early October 2020.

https://ecreajournalism2021.journalismlab.nl/


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