[Commlist] Call for Participants: Media Capture in the Global South: Power & Resistance Unconference

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Call for Participants:

Media Capture in the Global South: Power & Resistance

One-day Unconference & Book Launch, University of Glasgow

Organised by members of Sociological & Cultural Studies and the Glasgow 
University Media Group in partnership with the Glasgow Latin American 
Research Network at the University of Glasgow.

Date: Friday, 30 May 2025
Location: Advanced Research Centre (ARC), University of Glasgow
Cost: Free

This dynamic half-day unconference combines the launch of the edited 
book Media Capture in Africa and Latin America: Power & Resistance 
(Palgrave, 2025) with a participant-led dialogue that brings together 
established scholars, early career scholars, journalists, and civil 
society organisations to explore the particularities of media capture – 
the covert instrumentalisation of the news media by various centres of 
power – in the Global South.

For decades, alarm bells have sounded over severe forms of media 
influence, and, in an era of deepening media control and shrinking press 
freedoms, the phenomenon of media capture has emerged as a defining 
challenge in the Global South. While much scholarly attention has 
historically focused on established capitalist societies in the Global 
North, regions of the Majority World, such as Africa and Latin America, 
reveal distinct and evolving forms of control. Governments, corporate 
interests, and powerful elites are increasingly exerting influence over 
news ecosystems, shaping narratives to serve their own agendas. From 
direct ownership and regulatory pressures to the subtle forces of 
digital platform dominance, underpinned by the growing influence of Big 
Tech platforms and algorithm-driven influence that shapes public 
discourse and suppresses independent journalism. Media capture thus 
manifests not as a singular process but as a complex and evolving system 
of control. Yet, resistance persists. Independent journalists, 
alternative media, and civil society actors continue to challenge these 
forces, deploying innovative strategies to push back against censorship 
and distortion. However, much remains to be understood about the 
viability and scalability of such countermeasures, as media ecosystems 
become increasingly fragmented and digitalised.

This inclusive and dynamic unconference is an opportunity to share 
current expertise and address the research gap on the topic in the 
Global South. It will include a book launch, unconference and roundtable 
of civil society experts.

We invite researchers working in this area – particularly early career 
researchers (ECRs), who would benefit from the opportunity to present 
their research and network with senior colleagues, journalists, and 
civil society organisations – to submit short topic proposals or 
discussion prompts that outline your topic and key questions for 
discussion while offering empirical or theoretical insights. These may 
include (but are not limited to) the following:

- Media capture as contested term in the Global South
- Exploring the distinctive forms and manifestations of media capture in 
the Global South
- The increasingly sophisticated nature of media capture, focussing on 
Big Tech/AI/algorithms
- Distinctive forms of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech in 
the Global South
- The impact of media capture in the context of Sustainable Development 
Goals
- How transnational actors, media outlets/journalists and civil society 
are responding to media capture

Please submit your brief topic proposal (max 50 words) for a 5 minutes 
presentation and a short bio (max 50 words) by 4th April 2025 here 
https://eur03.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fforms.office.com%2FPages%2FDesignPageV2.aspx%3Fprevorigin%3Derrp%26origin%3DNeoPortalPage%26rpring%3DBusiness%26rpsession%3D4a59e16c-c422-4bec-b989-9fcad1a1616e%26subpage%3Ddesign%26id%3DKVxybjp2UE-B8i4lTwEzyBePqHbEHcRPmMgtN9GNEBZUMTJJWFhUUUdFT1lNNzkyOEpXTDk3SkxYQy4u&data=05%7C02%7CHayes.Mabweazara%40glasgow.ac.uk%7Cf26cc2a72c6343281c5108dd66949c54%7C6e725c29763a4f5081f22e254f0133c8%7C1%7C0%7C638779510657685755%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJFbXB0eU1hcGkiOnRydWUsIlYiOiIwLjAuMDAwMCIsIlAiOiJXaW4zMiIsIkFOIjoiTWFpbCIsIldUIjoyfQ%3D%3D%7C0%7C%7C%7C&sdata=8WBWMZA%2BfhYglPGR1d7rio0mLKjts%2BT61EpTnPO3zJM%3D&reserved=0 
<https://forms.office.com/Pages/DesignPageV2.aspx?prevorigin=errp&origin=NeoPortalPage&rpring=Business&rpsession=4a59e16c-c422-4bec-b989-9fcad1a1616e&subpage=design&id=KVxybjp2UE-B8i4lTwEzyBePqHbEHcRPmMgtN9GNEBZUMTJJWFhUUUdFT1lNNzkyOEpXTDk3SkxYQy4u>

Notifications of Acceptance will be sent out on 15th April 2025.

For questions, please contact the conference convenors Dr Hayes 
Mabweazara and Dr Beth Pearson: (mediacapture-globalsouth /at/ glasgow.ac.uk)


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