The aims of this Working Group are to contribute to theoretical understanding of inequality in access to information and media in the new digital environment; trace the development of new media through the concept of digital divide; identify gaps and inconsistencies in the digital media world, their origins and development; specify problems for media and communication systems brought about by ICT progress in local, national and global environments; promote better communication between researchers from different countries and continents; support innovative research in the field; and support young researchers.
This Working Group is concerned with issues around whether it is possible to measure the ‘digital divide’ and with new signs of knowledge and information inequalities and their implications. Members examine these issues in the light of the history of the interrelations between media, technology and their uses by audiences as well as the social implications of unequal access by the general public to the media.
Co-chair: Anna Gladkova (Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University) [Contact]
Co-chair: Massimo Ragnedda (University of Sharjah, United Arab Emirates) [Contact]
See the list of all current members of the Digital Divide Working Group.
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IAMCR's Digital Divide Working Group invites submissions for IAMCR 2024, which will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand, from 30 June to 4 July 2024. The deadline for submission is 7 February 2024, at 23.59 UTC.
IAMCR's Digital Divide Working Group invites proposals for IAMCR 2023, to be held in Lyon, France, from 9 to 13 July (Lyon23) with an Online Conference Papers (OCP23) component from 26 June to 5 July. The deadline for submission is 9 February 2023, at 23.59 UTC.
IAMCR's Digital Divide Working Group invites the submission of proposals for papers and panels for IAMCR 2022, which will be held online from 11 to 15 July 2022. The conference will also have a national hub at Tsinghua University in Beijing. The deadline for submission is 9 February 2021, at 23.59 UTC.
The Digital Divide Working Group (DID) will be holding online elections for two co-Chair positions, for the term 2021 - 2025. The deadline to submit candidacies is 16 May.
A special issue of Information, Communication & Society that originated from a pre-conference held during the 2019 IAMCR conference in Madrid, Spain is now available. The issue is guest-edited by Bruce Mutsvairo, Massimo Ragnedda, vice-chair of IAMCR Digital Divide Working Group, and Kristin Skare Orgeret.
IAMCR's Digital Divide Working Group invites the submission of proposals for single papers and multi-paper sessions (the online conference equivalent of a panel in a face to face conference) for IAMCR 2021, which will be held online from 11 to 15 July, with a regional hub in Nairobi, Kenya. The deadline for submission is 9 February 2021, at 23.59 UTC.
19-20 November, 2020 - IAMCR is co-sponsoring the 2020 Moscow Readings conference organised by the Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University in partnership with IAMCR Digital Divide and Communication in Post- and Neo-Authoritarian Societies working groups, UNESCO chair in communication, & National Association of Mass Media Researchers.
This message from the heads of the Digital Divide Working Group was distributed to all the working group members on 23 April 2020.
IAMCR's Digital Divide Working Group invites the submission of abstracts of papers and proposals for panels for the 2020 conference of the Association, which will be held from 12 to 16 July, 2020 at Tsinghua University in Beijing, China.
The IAMCR Digital Divide Working Group will run partial elections for a co-vice chair position during its business meeting at the upcoming conference in Eugene, Oregon.
The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) will hold its annual conference from 20-24 June 2018 at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, USA.
IAMCR's Digital Divide Working Group invites proposals that reflect the section's interest.
The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) will hold its annual conference from 16-20 July, 2017 in Cartagena, Colombia. IAMCR's Digital Divide Working Group invites proposals that reflect the the section's interest.
The IAMCR Digital Divide Working Group will hold elections during the working group business meeting at the upcoming conference in Leicester. Both the chair and the vice-chair positions are open. The terms run for four years.
The IAMCR Digital Divide Working Group invites proposals for papers to be presented at the annual conference for the International Association for Media & Communication Research at the University of Leicester, UK, July 27 -31, 2016.
The IAMCR Digital Divide Working Group invites proposals for papers to be presented at the annual conference for the International Association for Media & Communication Research at the University of Quebec, Montreal, Canada, July 12-16, 2015.
The Working Group on Digital Divide of the International Association for Media and Communication Research invites submissions for the IAMCR Conference that will be held from July 15-19, 2014 at the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India. The deadline for submissions is February 10, 2014.
The Digital Divide Working Group invites submissions for its open session at IAMCR-2013 conference that will be held in Dublin, Ireland from 25-29 June 2013.
The Working Group on Digital Divide of the International Association for Media and Communication Research invites submissions for the IAMCR Conference that will be held from July 15-19, 2012 at the Howard College Campus of the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) in Durban, South Africa. The deadline for submissions is February 14, 2012.
The conference will be held under the general theme, 'South-North Conversations'. The theme reflects the asymmetry of global communication flows, but without implying the negatives that usually accompany discussions of the 'digital divide'. The theme also calls for balanced and empowering narratives that do not regard those in ‘the South’ as victims primarily in need of handouts from the more affluent.
The Working Group on the Digital Divide has just issued its Report from the 2011 Istanbul Conference:
Digital Divide Working Group Report 2011 (33.81 kB)
The WG on Digital Divide invites submissions for its open sessions at the IAMCR Conference (July 21-24 2009) in Mexico City, Mexico, under the general theme of the Conference "Human Rights and Communication".
The Conference addresses relationships between media and contemporary understanding of the freedom of expression and right to information. It will explore the pivotal roles of the media with regard to today's global injustices to the human rights.
The Working Group on Digital Divide of the International Association for Media and Communication Research invites submissions for the IAMCR Conference that will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, from July 13 to 17, 2011.
The general theme of the conference is 'Cities, Creativity, Connectivity'.
The Working Group on Digital Divide of the International Association for Media and Communication Research invites submissions for the IAMCR Conference that will be held in Braga (Portugal) 2010 from July 18-22. The overall conference theme is Communication and Citizenship. Rethinking Crisis and Change.
This year the theme to be discussed in WG on Digital Divide is The Influence of Crises on Digital Media: Digital Communities Divided. Papers addressing the theme are most welcome.
EXTENDED DEADLINE: 15 FEBRUARY 2008!
In modern societies the role of media is getting more crucial. Our
political life and national economy, professional career and leisure
time are increasingly been shaped by the media in various respects. The
idea of a mass mediated society is getting more popular. However, the
process of media being increasingly digitized there is a clear need to
ask how different media consumption and media performance become in
different national digital environments.