[Commlist] Call for Papers for a Special Issue of The International Journal of Press/Politics: ”Youth, News, and Democratic Engagement”

Call for Papers for a Special Issue of The International Journal of
Press/Politics: ”Youth, News, and Democratic Engagement”
(No Article Processing Charges required)

Also available at
https://journals.sagepub.com/pb-assets/cmscontent/HIJ/CfPYouthNewsDemocraticEngagement-1594077808667.pdf

Guest editors:
Kim Andersen, University of Southern Denmark and University of Gothenburg
Jakob Ohme, University of Amsterdam
Erik Albæk, University of Southern Denmark
Claes H. de Vreese, University of Amsterdam

Citizens’ political engagement is essential for the well-functioning
of democracies. From boycotting products and signing petitions to
discussing politics, attending demonstrations, and voting, citizens’
political engagement shapes our societies. In order for such
engagement to take place, people need information that can mobilize
them. For a long time, the news media was the key source in this
regard. As a natural consequence exposure to news and political
information in the media is a well-known forerunner for democratic
engagement.

The relationship between news exposure and democratic engagement is
constantly evolving, however. In today’s hybrid media system, people
get information about politics and society from various sources and on
many different platforms. In the contemporary media environment an
endless list of information sources, including legacy news outlets,
alternative news sites, politicians, and interest organizations, are
therefore competing for people’s attention. Exposure to political
information can take place on traditional platforms, like television
or newspapers, or on new digital platforms, such as social media sites
or other private online platforms. Not all information is equally
reliable, and mis- and disinformation is part of the information
ecosystem. At the same time, new forms of political participation are
also emerging, especially online where people, for example, can
discuss politics or contact politicians without much investment.

When examining the consequences of such changes it is relevant to
focus on young people. Young people grow up with and get socialized
into a political world full of new information and engagement
possibilities. As such, young people are to an increasing extent
turning their backs to traditional legacy news outlets and getting
political information on social media sites. At the same time, they
are engaging in new forms of political participation. Young people can
thus be seen as first movers—both when it comes to news ways of
getting political information and new ways of engaging in politics.

In parallel, broader societal tendencies make young people especially
interesting to study in this regard. Across Western societies, as seen
with examples like the election of President Trump, Brexit, and the
battle against climate change, the combination of changing demography
and differential levels of political participation across age groups
mean that younger generations are experiencing that older generations
are deciding their future. Often these decisions are characterized by
increasing support for authoritarian populists and redistributive
policies that massively disadvantage the youth.

The developments described above call for new research examining young
people’s exposure to news and their democratic engagement. Despite the
high relevance of this relationship in contemporary societies, we know
relatively little of how changes in the media and political
environments are affecting the relationship between news exposure and
democratic engagement for young people. How do young people engage
with news and politics, and is their democratic engagement able to
generate the change they hope for and in which way?

Against this backdrop, this special issue invites original research
that fits the theme “Youth, News, and Democratic Engagement”. The
invitation is open for any methodological tradition, seeks
international contributions from across the globe, and is especially
welcoming comparative work drawing attention to how contextual
differences influence the relationships under consideration.

Possible topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

Comparative differences and similarities in young people’s news
consumption patterns across the world
What kind of political information are young people engaging with and
with what democratic consequences?
Young people’s news avoidance and news snacking
Young people’s exposure to news on social media sites and its
consequences for political knowledge and participation
Political socialization in a new and hybrid media environment
How does young people’s (digital) media literacy enable them to engage
with news in today’s media environment with varying quality of
political information?
Young people’s political discussions in networked (online) settings
How young people’s democratic engagement is affecting and affected by
the norms of political discussion (civility, trolling, etc) and the
quality of news?
Whether and how generational conflict between younger and older
citizens is articulated on digital media
Novel news products and their relation with young people’s democratic 
engagement

Submission Information
Manuscript submissions for this special issue are due on 1 February 2021.
Please submit your work through our online submission portal
(https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ijpp) and ensure that the first line
of the cover letter states: “Manuscript to be considered for the
special issue on Youth, News, and Democratic Engagement”. Manuscripts
should follow the IJPP submission guidelines
(https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/journal/international-journal-presspolitics#submission-guidelines).
Submissions will be subject to a double-blind peer review process and
must not have been published, accepted for publication, or under
consideration for publication elsewhere.

Please note that, to ensure consistency, submissions will only be
considered for peer review after the 1 February 2021 deadline has
passed.

The journal does not require authors to pay any Article Processing Charges.

Authors interested in submitting their work are encouraged to contact
Kim Andersen ((kand /at/ journalism.sdu.dk)) with questions.

Timeline

Submission of full papers: 1 February 2021
Revisions and resubmission: August 2021
Online publication: January 2022
Print publication: April 2022 (issue 2-2022)

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