Social Media, Journalism and Communication Practitioners - International Symposium - Call for Papers

7th September 2012, North Holmes Campus, Canterbury Christ Church University

Event organized by the Department of Media, Art and Design in collaboration with the Business School, Canterbury Christ Church University, Canterbury, UK

Social media, and the Internet in general, are having dramatic impacts on journalism (Deuze, 2007; Sarrica, 2010). Traditional practices of newsgathering, verifying stories and reporting are transforming and with that the profession itself is perceived to be changing fundamentally. 

Web 2.0 Internet technologies are viewed to have changed "newsroom culture and the professionals involved" and they "challenge perceptions of the roles and functions of journalism as a whole" (Deuze and Paulussen, 2002, p. 216). But scholars continue to debate exactly how journalism as a profession is changing and about the impacts of new technologies such as social media (Lasorsa et al., 2012). Discussion on the impacts of these technologies have centred on three main issues: changes in relationship with the audience, changing journalistic practices and changes in professional values and the profession as a whole. This international symposium explores these and related issues.

The conference is open to academics as well as industry practitioners. Papers/presentations are invited in the general subject area of social media. Suggestions include, but are not limited to:

• Comparative study of social media use
• Impact of social media on audience relationship
• Changing journalistic practices
• Purposes of social media use
• Attitudes towards social media
• PR professionals and social media
• Patterns of social media usages
• Impacts of social media on journalistic values
• Influence of social media on communication practices

Best papers from the symposium will be published in a special edition of a refereed journal.

Please send 250 word abstracts to Agnes Gulyas (agnes.gulyas@canterbury.ac.uk)

Deadline for abstract submission is May 15th, 2012.

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Audiences, Users, and Producers of Public Service Content: Challenges Ahead

May 23rd, 2012 - Canterbury Christ Church University (CCCU))

A symposium organised by the Department for Media, Art and Design, CCCU -  Call for Papers

Keynote speaker: Dr James Bennett

Dr   Bennett  is Senior Lecturer in Television at Royal Holloway, University of London. He is currently principal investigator on an AHRC funded project on multiplatform television and the relationship amongst the BBC, Channel 4 and the television and digital media independent production sector. His paper will offer some provocations on the way in which these production strategies, and cultures, conceive of the newly empowered audience of multiplatform television.

Public service provisions are going through dramatic transformations as a result of technological developments, policy changes, market pressures and new user habits in the media sectors. A significant part of this transformation is connected to the enhanced and novel roles of audience initiative to use and generate content. The scale and significance of the understanding of the new public service content use is still contested, evidences are often sporadic, case studies are still often isolated. Fundamental questions are still abound: Is the public ready to fulfil roles outlined by the new participatory content use culture? Are public service media organisations, and professionals consider seriously shifting to a radically more demand-oriented mood in the daily practice? How the populist feature of „from below“ user activity would change political discourses and landscapes? 

We invite submissions for a symposium on assessing recent developments in the fields of audience activity, platform and content use, and user content making in the public service framework. The symposium is open to academics as well as media industry practitioners working in the field. Papers/presentations are invited in the general subject area of user generated content and public service provisions, including:

• active (intended or unintended) audience practices vis-à-vis public service contents;
• public uses of public service media platforms;
• user generated public service content;
• gaming in the public service framework;
• uses of public service contents and platforms overlapping with e-politics, e-health, e-education, etc. platforms.

All abstracts should be submitted via e-mail to:  Ferenc Hammer f.hammer73@canterbury.ac.uk 

The deadline for the submission is March 18th, 2012. Authors of selected proposals will be notified by March 30th, 2012. A selected group of the best contributions are planned to be published in a scholarly journal. For further information please contact: 

Dr Ferenc Hammer
| Department for Media, Art and Design, CCCU

The Burton Gallery

The Burton Gallery at Broadstairs, is named after the late Nick Burton who initially trained as a photographer before studying Fine Art at Leeds College of Art and later moving to London to pursue postgraduate work in Film at the Royal College of Art. Nick went on to  work in the cinema and television industries and made a number of films culminating in the award-winning feature At the Fountainhead of German Strength (1980).

In 1981 Nick Burton moved to Canterbury to teach film and eventually ran the Department of Media at Canterbury Christ Church University where his commitment to the integration of theory and practice shaped the philosophy of the current Department. It was under his direction that Media and the Arts were first brought to the Broadstairs Campus.

Whilst at Christ Church, Nick continued to write and direct films, to paint, draw and write fiction, and to encourage the creativity of those around him. He was an inspirational educator and a greatly respected colleague. Nick died in 2006 and he continues to be remembered across the University. Through the Burton Gallery, his philosophy of incubating creative talent and locating the visual arts at the very centre of University life can be made manifest.

The project allowed a number of emerging practitioners a funded residency and the opportunity for a first solo show; for more experienced practitioners it offered a site in which to share practice with the communities; to demonstrate techniques and provide advice on how one might further develop a creative life.