IAMCR - International Association for Media and Communication Research

2009 IAMCR Congress Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco-UNAM Mexico City, Mexico July 21?24, 2009

‘If we are all communicating, is anyone listening?’ – John Downing (2007)

Community-based media has a close – and contested – relationship with information rights. The overarching theme of IAMCR 2009 is ‘Human Rights Communication’, incorporating ‘freedom of expression’ and ‘universal access to information and knowledge’.

IAMCR’s Community Communication section is therefore an important  opportunity to explore and debate the role of community and  alternative media from a rights perspective. Can community media advance communication rights? How do we ensure that communities, groups and individuals are given the means not only to speak, but to be heard?

We seek in?depth and cutting?edge research papers on issues of media access, participation and evaluation of outcomes; media projects undertaken by marginalized and under?represented groups; the development and support of public and community?based media institutions and infrastructures; the production and distribution of community and alternative media; and theoretical and historical contributions to the field.

About the Community Communication Section

IAMCR’s Community Communication section is the premier international forum for community and alternative media studies. This is the place for research on media practices that differ significantly from government and market?dominated paradigms. Community and alternative media originate, circulate and resonate from the sphere of civil society, yet may interact with both state and market. Community media serve specific cultural or geographic communities. The field includes do?it?yourself media, media for social change, and a wide range of non?government and non?commercial practices using all kinds of communication technologies.

Guidelines for Participants

Individual or co-authored papers: Applicants must submit a 500 word abstract that describes the topic of their paper and its significance, the theoretical framework,  and research methods.

Panel proposals: The panel coordinator must submit a well?defined statement of purpose, a complete list of panel participants, and full abstracts for each presentation.

All submissions should include a  paper title, as well as authors' names, institutional affiliations  and full contact information (mailing address, email address, and  telephone numbers). Submissions in the authors’ native language must  also include an English translation. Submissions should not be submitted to more than one IAMCR  division.

Please send abstracts via the IAMCR 2009 conference website form.

For further information or assistance, please contact the Community Communication Section Chair, Per Jauert, on: jauert[AT]imv.au.dk.

Submitting to the Right Section

Please consider carefully which IAMCR section is most appropriate for your paper. We cannot guarantee acceptance if your paper has been sent to the wrong section in the first instance (as places are extremely limited).

Please contact the Community Communication section committee well before the deadline if you are unsure.

• Researchers examining community media for development purposes should apply to the Participatory Communication Research section.
• Researchers studying ethnic community media within a Diaspora framework should apply to the Diaspora and Media working group.

Deadlines