The Public Service Media Policy (PMP) Working Group of The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites submissions of abstracts for papers and panel proposals for the IAMCR 2019 conference to be held at the Computense University of Madrid, Spain, 7-11 July 2019. The deadline for submission is 8 February 2019, at 23.59 UTC.
The Public Service Media Policies Working Group is open for panel proposals, workshop sessions and research paper proposals to address, in keeping with the overarching theme of the conference of “Communication, Technology, and Human Dignity”, core issues around public service media (PSM) in the context of the explosion of digital media, the emergence of artificial intelligence and big data, and the more than ever importance of communication-related rights.
We welcome both empirical studies and contributions that are normative in character or aiming at conceptual/methodological clarification and development amid the impact of the latest advances in communication technology on public service media, society, culture and human rights. Proposals can be about single national/organisational case-studies or be comparative/cross-national in scope.
We are equally interested in papers addressing contemporary policy, regulatory and technology issues on public service media (PSM) (e.g., research on PSM audience, content analysis of PSM output, economic analysis of PSM performance; PSM and AI…).
Historical studies that can contribute, through the lens of the past, to a critical understanding of contemporary issues facing PSM are also welcome.
Finally, we welcome papers from around the world and we strongly encourage submissions from researchers based in countries outside the heartlands of PSM.
Possible topics include, but are not limited to:
• Normative analyses about the value and role of PSM amid the latest technology changes;
• Fakes News, Disinformation and role of PSM
• Protection of Privacy, Public Interests, and journalistic practices of PSM
• The relationships between PSM, state and technology (issues of technological governance);
• Artificial Intelligence (AI), big data and PSM
• Intellectual property, news aggregation and PSM
• Online Platforms, digital monopolies and PSM
• PSM’s role in promoting citizens’ cultural entitlements and communication-related rights
• Emerging models of sustainability and its relations with PSM;
• PSM’s evolving relationships with commercial rivals, suppliers and Internet technology players (e.g., social networking websites, online video streaming services);
• Funding issues facing PSM (budget cuts, reform of funding systems, PSM involvement in commercial activities);
• PSM, innovation and audience engagement (personalization, mobility, on-demand and social sharing);
• PSM’s strategy, activities and performance in relation to specific areas of content provision (e.g., news and journalism; children’s; dramas and comedy; religious programming).
Languages
The official languages at IAMCR are English, Spanish and French and hence this Working Group will programme sessions in these three languages. However, all the abstracts should be submitted in English in order to facilitate the review process (please indicate in your proposal if you are presenting in Spanish or French).
Whenever possible, we encourage people making presentations in French or Spanish to consider preparing their slides in English.
We are looking for volunteer translators/interpreters for abstracts, sessions and papers. If you can contribute and help translate some papers or key points into Spanish, French or English, please contact us (see details of Co-Chairs below).
Deadlines and Important Dates
The deadline to submit abstracts is 8 February 2019, at 23.59 UTC. It will not be extended.
Decisions on acceptance of abstracts will be communicated to applicants by PMP working group heads no later than 28 March 2019.
• 3 December 2018 - Abstract submission system opens at https://iamcr-ocs.org
• 8 February 2019 - Deadline to submit abstracts
• 28 March 2019 - Abstract decisions announced by sections and working groups
• 7 April 2019 - Deadline to apply for travel grants and awards
• 11 April 2019 - Deadline to confirm participation
• 7 May 2019 - Draft conference programme schedule released
• 14 May 2019 - Last day for Early bird registration
• 7 June 2019 - Deadline for full paper submission
• 17 June 2019 - Last day for changes to be made in the print version of the programme
• 7-11 July 2019 - IAMCR Conference
Guidelines for Abstracts
Abstracts should be between 300 and 500 words. Abstracts should be submitted via the IAMCR Open Conference System at http://iamcr-ocs.org from 3 December 2018 through 8 February 2019. Abstracts sent by email will not be accepted.
It is expected that each person will submit only one (1) abstract. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same author, either individually or as part of any group of authors. Please note also that the same abstract or another 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 by the OCS system, by the relevant Head or by the Conference Programme Reviewer. Authors submitting them risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.
Criteria for Evaluation
Submitted abstracts will generally be evaluated on the basis of:
1. theoretical contribution
2. methods
3. quality of writing
4. literature review
5. relevance of the submission to the work of the Section or Working Group
6. originality and/or significance
Public Service Media Policies Working Group
Co-Chairs:
Alessandro D’Arma
University of Westminster
A.Darma02(at)westminster.ac.uk
Yik Chan Chin
Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University
yik-chan.chin@xjtlu.edu.cn