In this letter to the members, IAMCR's newly elected president, Daya Thussu, reflects on last year's activities and invites members to renew their memberships and be part of a promising 2025.
Dear colleagues,
As we look ahead to 2025, let’s reflect on some of our achievements from this past year:
- A Landmark Conference: Our conference in Ōtautahi Christchurch, New Zealand, brought together over 1,300 participants from 66 countries. Under the theme Whiria te tāngata / Weaving people together: Communicative projects of decolonising, engaging, and listening, it was highly praised. You can watch or revisit the plenaries here.
- Leadership Renewal: IAMCR elected a new leadership team. I am honoured to have been elected president and encourage you to meet the members of our new Executive Board and International Council.
- New Working Groups: This year, we launched four new thematic working groups, expanding collaboration opportunities in critical areas such as social justice, inclusive communication, organisational communication and multimodal research.
- Supporting Diversity: We awarded 28 travel grants and numerous other awards in vital areas such as climate change communication, urban communication, rural communication for development, to early-career scholars from around the world, strengthening inclusivity in our events.
- Webinars: We hosted more than a dozen webinars, including practical webinars to help emerging scholars prepare their conference abstracts and presentations, or to examine the opportunities and pitfalls of open access publishing, and thematic sessions on topics as varied as epistemic rights, religious practices on digital platforms, and radical ecological democracy.
- Publishing Opportunities: IAMCR has two book series and several of our thematic sections and working groups have close collaborations with journals, offering numerous outlets for members' research.
Looking forward, 2025 promises to be equally busy! Our annual conference in Singapore (July 13–17) will explore the theme Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet. Learn more about the event and discover opportunities to contribute. We’ll also offer a range of regional and online events throughout the year. Explore the current lineup here.
Your membership is the foundation of IAMCR’s success. Membership fees make up the majority of our operating income, enabling us to organise impactful events, support emerging scholars, and foster a global community of researchers.
I would like to invite you to renew your membership today to continue being part of this vibrant community!
Thank you for your ongoing support and commitment to IAMCR. Together, we’ll make 2025 another outstanding year for media and communication research and education.
Warm regards,
Daya Thussu
President, IAMCR