The Media, Communication and Sport Section will be holding elections for one co-chair position, for the term 2023 – 2027.
The elections will be held online from 31 May until 16 June using the SurveyMonkey platform. Individual members and representatives of institutional members in good standing, who are also registered as members of the Media, Communication and Sport section will be eligible to stand for a position and to vote.
The deadline to receive candidate statements was 17 May.
The current Head comprises two co-chairs, Alina Bernstein and Xavier Ramón. Xavier is ending his term in 2023.
Read about the Media, Communication and Sport section
More information and timeline at https://iamcr.org/s-wg/elections2023
Candidate for co-chair:
- Xavier Ramon (Pompeu Fabra University, Spain)
Statement
Xavier Ramon (Pompeu Fabra University, Spain)
I am a lecturer at the Department of Communication of Pompeu Fabra University (Barcelona, Spain). I hold a PhD in Communication from the UPF. I am also affiliated to the Autonomous University of Barcelona Sport Research Institute (IRE-UAB). My research interests lie in the intersection of sports communication, journalism ethics and media accountability. I have published in several outlets in the field, including Communication & Sport, Journalism Studies, International Review for the Sociology of Sport, Journal of Sport and Social Issues, International Journal of Sport Communication, and Digital Journalism and since 2019 I have served on the editorial board of Communication & Sport. I have been a visiting researcher at the University of Stirling, the University of Glasgow, the University of Alabama, the University of Seville, and the IOC Olympic Studies Centre. I also occupy the position of vice-chair of the ECREA temporary working group “Communication & Sport”.
My relationship with IAMCR goes back to Braga 2010, where I attended the conference as an undergraduate student. After Eugene 2018, I joined the IAMCR Media, Communication & Sport section management, working with Alina Bernstein in the preparation for Madrid 2019. In this conference I was formally elected as co-chair of the section and since then I have been involved in the organization of the last IAMCR conferences (Tampere 2020, Nairobi 2021, Beijing 2022, and Lyon 2023).
In the past four years, together with Alina Bernstein, we have strengthened the section as an international venue that contributes to advance the understanding of the media, communication, and sport nexus. Through different activities, during the pandemic the group has continued to bring together a global community of researchers to stimulate the debate about the wide range of areas in the field (diversity, inclusiveness, and respect in sports communication; emerging technologies; ethics and accountability; production and coverage of sporting mega-events; the evolution of the sports media rights market, and far beyond). Nowadays, our research agenda is broad, international, and increasingly interdisciplinary. We have also intensified the dialogue with other IAMCR sections and working groups and cooperated with other academic associations such as the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), the International Association for Communication and Sport (IACS), and the International Communication Association (ICA). The help and commitment from our participants, reviewers, and collaborators has been essential in achieving those milestones.
Shall I given the opportunity to be re-elected as Co-Chair for the term 2023 – 2027, I will continue working to make the Media, Communication & Sport section grow in size, impact and international visibility. First, it will be crucial to continue fostering exchanges between borders and attract new participants from a diverse range of backgrounds and geographical areas. Second, it will be of high priority to support young researchers who can bring new and distinctive perspectives into the field. Third, it will be enriching to strengthen the collaborations with longstanding sports communication interest groups and networks around the world.
Dr Xavier Ramon, Department of Communication, Pompeu Fabra University
xavier.ramon@upf.edu