IAMCR newsletter October 2026
Dear IAMCR friends and colleagues,
Hope you are all well.
It was very nice to see many of you at our annual conference in Galway. Despite a very hectic schedule, I was able to personally meet many of you and attend some of the panels, apart from the plenaries and special sessions. As always, I was most impressed by the conversations and discussions that followed the formal sessions over cups of coffee and tea. The geographical and cultural diversity of our membership as well as the increasing presence of young researchers provide fresh energy to such conversations, especially related to new and exciting areas of research and scholarship, namely artificial intelligence and its growing impact on almost all aspects of communication, cognition and culture.
I am expecting this trend to strength at our 2027 annual conference which will take place from 18 to 22 July 2027 in São Paulo, Brazil, hosted by the School of Communications and Arts at the University of São Paulo in partnership with the Associação de Apoio à Arte e Comunicação (ARCO). Its theme - Multilateralism, Democracy, Diversity: Communication for a More Just World – reflects the values and intellectual traditions of IAMCR which has been at the heart of debates about a more just and equitable global order. We will be retuning to South America after a decade. Next year is particularly significant as it marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of our association in 1957, in Paris with support from UNESCO. I encourage colleagues to convene regional conferences in collaboration with regional or national communication associations on this excellent and very timely theme, to mark the occasion.
As a membership-based organization, our growing membership is a sign of the vitality and verve of IAMCR as home to one of the world’s most diverse groups of researchers from across the globe. The profile of our members continues to shift towards a higher proportion from middle-income countries, especially in Asia, demonstrating how our organization is increasingly representative of the international academic community.
I take this opportunity to thank the members of the Executive Board as well as International Council for helping with further internationalization of academic discourse and debate. The role of IAMCR ambassadors is crucial in expanding and consolidating our presence in their respective countries/regions. Our various committees, Section and Working Group Chairs and Vice-Chairs put in extraordinary effort to make sure that professional standards are maintained, and academic rigour never compromised, ably supported by very small but effective secretariat under the dynamic leadership of Executive Director Salvatore Scifo.
Best wishes,
Daya Thussu
President, IAMCR