Public Media Working Group

Call for proposals 2026

The Public Media (PME) Working Group invites the submission of abstracts for its 2026 conference, to be held from 28 June to 2 July 2026 in Galway, Ireland, hosted by the University of Galway.

The deadline for submission is 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC.

Download this call for papers as a PDF file

Theme

IAMCR conferences cover a wide range of topics defined by our thematic Sections and Working Groups (S/WG). Each year, a central theme invites participants to engage in shared reflection across these diverse areas, fostering dialogue and collaboration.

The 2026 central theme, Peripheries and Connections: Media, Communication, and Transformation, addresses the complexities of contemporary media systems in a polarised and interconnected world. By interrogating the tensions between centrality and marginality—whether geographical, cultural, political, or conceptual—this theme aligns with IAMCR’s commitment to fostering critical and inclusive dialogues across diverse perspectives.

Peripheries, often seen as sites of inequality and exclusion, can also serve as spaces of innovation, resistance, and reimagined futures, as reflected in decolonial, feminist, Global South, and hybridity perspectives. As global media orders shift, what is peripheral today may become central tomorrow, raising questions about evolving boundaries, reconfigured hierarchies, and the forces driving transformation. The theme invites contributions that explore how marginality and global interconnection shape media and communication systems and challenge conventional notions of centre and periphery.

Consult a detailed description of the main theme

The Public Media Working Group invites individual paper and panel proposals that address the conference theme in relation to public media. We also welcome submissions on any other topic relevant to public media worldwide, even if they do not directly engage with the central theme.

For the 2026 conference, the IAMCR Public Media Working Group invites papers that investigate how public media navigate the shifting dynamics between centrality and marginality. Within the context of Peripheries and Connections, public media offer a compelling lens for exploring how media institutions negotiate their place in political, economic, cultural, and technological hierarchies. Traditionally positioned as central civic actors, public media increasingly operate under pressures that may push them toward various peripheries, while still being expected to represent diverse publics, including marginalised voices. We particularly encourage contributions that examine how public media respond to shifting hierarchies of legitimacy, contestations over public value, and struggles for relevance in an evolving media order. Proposals may consider public media as potential sites of resistance, innovation, adaptation, or co-optation, and explore how their missions, governance structures, content strategies, or audience relationships are shaped by changing dynamics between centres and peripheries.

Possible topics and questions may include, but are not limited to:

  • Position of public media in contemporary media ecosystems and shifts in centrality/marginality: How are public media positioned within national, regional, or global media systems, what factors shape their central or marginal status, and what are the consequences of this positioning for public service media as institutions, for their audiences, and for the wider media environment?
  • Pluralism and diversification of voices: How do public media contribute to (or struggle with) media pluralism and the inclusion of marginalised or peripheral communities?
  • Public media as cultural producers: In what ways do public media shape or reflect national, regional, or subcultural identities, and how do cultural expectations influence their role?
  • Public policies, funding, and business models for public media: How do policy frameworks and funding systems influence PM’s relevance, resilience, independence, and accountability?
  • Innovation, co-optation, and competition: How can public media function as spaces of democratic resistance and creative experimentation? Under what conditions do they align with dominant power structures to retain influence? And in what ways can competitors collaborate to develop new products and services that create public value for citizens?
  • Externalities and societal impact: What broader social, cultural, or democratic externalities do public media generate, and how are these recognised or overlooked in public discourse?
  • Artificial intelligence and digital disruption: How do algorithmic systems, AI-driven content production, or platform logics reposition public media within global media ecologies?
  • Audience relationships and expectations: How do shifting audience identities and fragmented publics affect perceptions of public media as central or peripheral institutions?
  • Comparative perspectives: What can cross-national or cross-contextual comparisons reveal about how public media navigate centrality, marginality, and transformation?

In addressing these themes and other relevant topics, we welcome both empirical studies and contributions that are normative in character or aimed at conceptual/methodological development. Proposals can be about single national case studies or comparative/cross-national in scope. We also welcome historical studies that, through the lens of the past, contribute to a critical understanding of contemporary issues facing public media. Finally, we welcome papers and panels from around the world and strongly encourage submissions from researchers, activists, and practitioners working in Indigenous and rural communities.

Guidelines for abstracts

Abstracts for papers to be presented in person at one of the Public Media (PME) Working Group’s conference sessions should be between 500 and 700 words, excluding references. There is no remote presentation option in this working group. They must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 28 November 2025 through 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC. Abstracts submitted by email will not be considered.

Submissions do not have to address the central theme.

It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts, either individually or as part of any group of authors and authors should not submit more than one abstract to any single section or working group. The same abstract, or a version with minor variations in title or content, must not be submitted to more than one Section or Working Group. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected. Authors submitting the same work to multiple Sections or Working Groups may be removed entirely from the conference programme.

Proposals are accepted for both single papers and for panels with several papers (in which you propose multiple papers that address a single theme).

Evaluation criteria

Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of:

  1. Technical merit – including a sound theoretical framework and a clear, transparent methodology
  2. Readability
  3. Originality and/or significance
  4. Use of or contribution to the field
  5. Relevance to the working group and current trends or controversies in its field
  6. Depth of knowledge of the research, theory, and/or literature related to the proposed topic as evidenced in the submission

Acceptance of proposals may also be conditioned by programme diversity and balance criteria. The PME Working Group aims to include a mix of established scholars, early-career researchers, students, community activists, and practitioners.

Languages

The Public Media Working Group can only accept abstracts, panel proposals, and papers in English for the 2026 conference.

Statement on use of AI tools

IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to prepare abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.

Intention to attend

Each abstract submitted to IAMCR represents a real cost to the Association and contributes to the workload of volunteer reviewers and organisers. As the number of submissions each year far exceeds the available presentation slots, we ask authors to submit only if they genuinely intend to attend and present their work at the conference if accepted.

Deadlines and key dates

The deadline to submit proposals is 3 February 2026, at 23:59 UTC. Other key dates. Dates are subject to change.

About the Public Media Working Group

Learn more about the work and scope of the Public Media Working Group

Contact the Working Group

If you have questions about the Public Media Working Group, its themes, submissions, and panels, please contact:

Co-Chair: Marta Rodríguez Castro (m.rodriguez.castro@usc.gal)
Co-Chair: João Paulo de Jesus Faustino (jpfaustino@letras.up.pt)
Vice-Chair: Marína Urbániková (urbaniko@fss.muni.cz)