[Commlist] Call for Chapters – Voices Without Faces (edited volume)

Call for Chapters—Edited Volume

Voices Without Faces: Synthetic Communicators, Trust, and Accountability 
– Arab and Global Perspectives

Editors: Prof. Alamira Samah Saleh (Cairo University and Sinai 
University, Egypt) and Prof. Nermeen Alazrak (Cairo University and 
Canadian International College, Egypt)

Volume proposal in preparation for Emerald Publishing

Synthetic communicators are already at work in newsrooms, broadcasting 
studios, and communication departments worldwide, including across the 
Arab region: AI news anchors, automated bylines, virtual influencers, 
and AI spokespersons who answer the public around the clock.

This edited volume treats the synthetic communicator as a single 
phenomenon across journalism, broadcasting, and public relations. It 
asks three questions: Who is speaking when AI speaks for us? Do 
audiences have a right to know the communicator is not human? Who is 
accountable when the one who errs has no face? The volume brings 
together theory, empirical research, and practitioner insight, with 
particular attention to Arab and Global South experiences.

Possible themes include, but are not limited to:
1. Concepts and mapping: typologies, histories, and organizational uses
2. Ethics and accountability: disclosure, consent, voice rights, and 
responsibility
3. Disinformation: deepfakes and the impersonation of communicators
4. Journalism: AI bylines, automated news, synthetic journalist personas
5. Broadcasting and audio: virtual presenters, voice cloning, automated 
dubbing
6. Public relations: virtual influencers, AI spokespersons, crisis 
communication
7. Audiences: trust, credibility, and parasocial bonds
8. Identity and representation: gender, language, culture, and synthetic 
Arabic voices
9. Regulation and professions: codes, policy, the future of work, media 
education

Key dates
- Abstract deadline: 15 December 2026
- Notification of acceptance: 10 January 2027
- Full chapters due: 31 August 2027

Submission guidelines
Please send a chapter abstract (around 300 words) and a short author 
biography (around 100 words) to both editors:
(samahsaleh2002 /at/ cu.edu.eg)
(nermeenalazrak /at/ mcomm.cu.edu.eg)

Two referees will blindly peer-review full chapters (6,000–7,000 words).

No payment will be required from authors at any stage of the publication 
process.


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