[Commlist] CfP: Mediální Studia / Media Studies special issue: How is online incivility and toxic talk changing public participation

CALL FOR ARTICLES
MEDIÁLNÍ STUDIA / MEDIA STUDIES SPECIAL ISSUE (Autumn 2022) How is 
online incivility and toxic talk changing public participation?

Guest Editors: Marisa Torres da Silva (Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 
ICNOVA, Portugal), Maria José Brites (Universidade Lusófona, CICANT, 
Portugal) & Miguel Vicente (Universidad de Valladolid, Spain)

Article submission deadline: March 15, 2022
Expected publication date: October/November 2022

This special issue of Mediální Studia / Media Studies aims to address 
forms on how online incivility and toxic talk are contributing to change 
public participation and questions attitudes and practices that publics 
and audiences develop to surpass these contexts. How is online 
incivility and toxic talk changing public participation? Which attitudes 
towards incivility are developed by publics and audiences? What kind of 
(formal or informal) norms are set to counter incivility?

As a transformed media environment has brought more opportunities for 
public debate and discussion, the rapid spread and amplified impact of 
incivility has become an important concern of scholars and citizens 
(Sobieraj & Berry, 2011; Coe, Kenski, & Rains, 2014). Although 
incivility is very difficult to define, with notable variations among 
scholars, it can be considered as a set of behaviors that threaten 
democracy and deny people their personal freedoms (Papacharissi, 2004), 
frequently including elements such as intimidation, disrespectful 
speech, hostility and hate speech. Incivilities traditionally associated 
with risk behaviors in the cities (Park, 1984; Roché, 1996) are now 
transposed to online environments with a huge impact in peoples’ lives. 
In contrast to the relatively regulated spaces of mainstream media 
(Waisbord, 2018) digital and social media offer accessibility to spheres 
that are often shaped by competition and conflict (Jakubovicz, 2017).

Incivility has effects on those who encounter it, whether as 
participants or observers often in negative ways (Kenski, Coe, & Rains, 
2017), such as the “nasty effect” of encouraging negative perceptions of 
issues (Anderson et al., 2014, 2018) and political arguments (Mutz, 
2007). Incivility also has a polarizing effect pushing people to extreme 
positions. However, although the phenomenon of incivility and its 
potential effects is rather extensively present in the scholarly 
literature, the ways by which publics and audiences interpret and act on 
incivility and online toxic environment (including non-participation, 
news avoidance, or digital disconnection) is a less visible topic.

Online incivilities call for social imaginaries of the media related to 
its engagement of people through conflict and contestation, through its 
potentially harmful or fatal consequences to individuals, society and 
democratic politics as well as being a source of moral panic anxieties 
(Critcher, 2008). Audiences use strategies of self-regulation against 
invasiveness (Syvertsen, 2017), also because they are seen as 
responsible for their online choices (Syvertsen, 2020), developing 
coping strategies to deal with unpleasant online experiences.

We encourage submissions which address topics such as (but not limited to):

  *

    ●  Incivility and the quality of public deliberation

  *

    ●  The desire to conflict and contest in mediated public spaces

  *

    ●  Incivility as a way to express strong views or to contest
    strongly held views

  *

    ●  Consequences of incivility in public discussions

  *

    ●  Generational audiences and online incivilities

  *

    ●  Nonparticipation or avoidance in the face of incivility and hate
    speech

  *

    ●  Digital disconnection as a consequence of media incivility and
    toxic environments

  *

    ●  Critical media literacy and the intent to surpass toxic environments

  *

    ●  Norms and rules developed against online incivility, developed by
    public institutions or

    Internet companies (SNS)

  *

    ●  Tracking and evaluation of norms and rules

  *

    ●  Audience attitudes, actions, and initiatives to fight against
    online incivility

  *

    ●  Political and media polarization as causes of incivility

    KEY DATES

    Article submission deadline: March 15, 2022 Editors’ decision on
    articles: May 2022
    Expected publication date: October/November 2022

EDITION AND SUBMISSION

Mediální studia / Media Studies (ISSN 2464-4846) is a peer-reviewed, 
open access electronic journal, published in English, Czech and Slovak 
twice a year. Based in disciplines of media and communication studies, 
it focuses on analyses of media texts, media cultures, media 
professionals practices, and media audiences behaviour. We especially 
support the emphasis on the dynamics of local-global knowledge on media 
and its mutual connections. The journal is indexed in Scopus, MLA, 
Central and Eastern European Online Library (CEEOL), and European 
Reference Index for the Humanities and the Social Sciences (ERIH PLUS).

Articles must be submitted by email to the guest editors of this special 
issue:

(marisatorresilva /at/ fcsh.unl.pt) <mailto:(marisatorresilva /at/ fcsh.unl.pt)> , 
(mariajosebrites /at/ ulp.pt) <mailto:(mariajosebrites /at/ ulp.pt)> , 
(miguel.vicente /at/ uva.es) <mailto:(miguel.vicente /at/ uva.es)>

Additional queries can be submitted to (medialnistudia /at/ fsv.cuni.cz) 
<mailto:(medialnistudia /at/ fsv.cuni.cz)>
Please carefully read the journal’s submission guidelines before sending 
your contribution.

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