[Commlist] CFP: PSA Media and Politics Group Annual Conference

MPG Annual Conference CFP
Political Studies Association Media and Politics Group Annual Conference 
2023, School of Film, Media and Communication, University of Portsmouth
26-27 October 2023
Hybrid Conference

Deadline for submitting abstracts: Monday, 26 June 2023

The School of Film, Media and Communication at the University of 
Portsmouth will host the PSA Media & Politics Specialist Group Annual 
Conference in October 2023. This will be a hybrid event.

Theme: Re-imagining Media and Politics

The orthodoxy of political communication has been challenged in recent 
years. The impact of digital media, alongside socio-cultural changes, 
has transformed the roles and relationships between citizens, the media, 
and political organisations. As the work of our keynote speakers 
demonstrates, this opens up potential exciting democratic opportunities 
and disruptive innovations.

For political elites, these changes have resulted in a media environment 
that is harder to manage than ever before. As the sources of political 
information become more abundant and diverse, and the significance of 
relationships with journalists is called into question, parties and 
candidates have experimented with new forms of digitally-mediated 
communication. From micro-targeted adverts to social media campaigns, 
direct communication raises new questions about the agency of political 
elites in framing political messages and their implications for democracy.

For the media, digital disruption is radically changing existing 
business models. With advertising revenues and print circulation 
declining, news organisations are seeking to generate funding through 
other means, such as paywalls and membership models. Many rely on social 
media platforms for traffic, with news increasingly filtered through 
opaque and unpredictable algorithms. These changes raise normative 
questions about the role of journalism in society and its form, style, 
and tone, with innovations such as emotional storytelling, solidarity 
journalism, and constructive journalism reflecting scholarly recognition 
that the norms of political reporting may need to adapt if they are to 
appeal to the needs of contemporary audiences.

For citizens, new technologies have transformed audiences from passive 
observers to active participants in political communication. >From 
citizen journalism to digitally-enabled social movements like Occupy 
Wall Street and #MeToo, scholarly work has demonstrated the disruptive 
role that citizens now play. However, such opportunities are not equally 
distributed across society. Changing news consumption habits give rise 
to fears about news avoidance and, worse still, exposure to 
misinformation and disinformation that can harm the quality of public life.

This conference invites empirical and theoretical contributions that 
seek to analyse and understand these transformations.

While the main theme of this conference is re-imagining media and 
politics, the Media and Politics Group operates an open and inclusive 
policy, and papers dealing with any aspect of media and politics are 
welcomed. This may include areas of political communication and 
journalism but also includes a broader view of the political within 
online media, television, cinema and media arts, both factual and fictional.

Potential topics could include (but are not limited to):
• The media’s changing role in political communication
• The rise of alternative political media and changing public attitudes 
towards mainstream media
• The politics of representation across media genres
• The power of political satire, cartoons, and memes
• Online harassment and abuse
• The role of affect, emotion, and authenticity within political 
communication
• Disinformation, misinformation, malinformation, and threats to 
democratic health
• The opportunities and challenges of digital campaigning
• Datafication and challenges to democracy
• Activism, social movements, and the media
• Media, communication, and inequality
• Media and human rights
• The methodological challenges of researching media and politics
• Decolonising/diversifying political communication research

Keynote speakers

We are delighted to share our two keynote speakers for the conference 
who will lecture on innovations in journalism:
• Professor Dan Jackson (Bournemouth University) on constructive journalism
• Dr Anita Varma (University of Texas at Austin) on solidarity journalism

Deadline for abstracts: Monday, 26 June 2023.

Please send abstract proposals for 15-minute papers to 
(James.Dennis /at/ port.ac.uk) <mailto:(James.Dennis /at/ port.ac.uk)>. These should 
include the following: title and name, institutional affiliation and 
address, and email address, together with a paper title and abstract of 
no more than 250 words. Proposers should also indicate whether they are 
a current postgraduate student and if they intend to present their work 
remotely.

Decisions about inclusion in the programme will be communicated on 
Monday 10 July 2023.

 
Panel proposals

We welcome panel proposals for this conference. If you wish to propose a 
panel, please note for following stipulations from the organising committee:
• Panel proposals should include a panel overview (max. 300 words), 
outlining the title, synopsis, and chair details, as well as the 
abstracts for each contributor (no more than 250 words).
• Panels usually consist of three to four papers and a chair.
• Panels should aim to reflect the diversity of the profession and 
all-male panels will not be considered.

Registration fees

The cost of in-person attendance is £120 for salaried academics and £60 
for PGR/low waged. This covers lunches, coffee breaks, and a wine 
reception. The cost of remote attendance for online participants is £30 
for salaried academics and £15 for PGR/low waged.

Financial support

The Media & Politics Group offers a limited number of travel subsidies 
(up to the value of £100) to support postgraduate student participation 
in this event. Postgraduate students interested in applying for these 
subsidies should please note this in their submission.

James Thomas Memorial Prize

Full papers of a maximum of 2000 words submitted by postgraduate 
students will be entered into the James Thomas Memorial Prize. This 
annual award is presented to the most outstanding paper by a 
postgraduate student at the Media & Politics Group Annual Conference. 
Postgraduate students wishing to be considered for the prize should 
please note this in their submission. Please send full papers to James 
Dennis: (James.Dennis /at/ port.ac.uk) <mailto:(James.Dennis /at/ port.ac.uk)> by 
Monday, 16 October 2023.

Travel

The University of Portsmouth is accessible via a direct train from 
London Waterloo to Portsmouth and Southsea in just over 90 minutes. 
There are also direct train services from London Gatwick Airport and 
Southampton Airport.


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