- Air-L - lists.aoir.org

teaching postdoc positions
by Jennifer Stromer-Galley 28 Apr '19

28 Apr '19

Hi everyone! Syracuse University's iSchool is hiring 2 teaching postdocs. The job ad listing is here: https://www.sujobopps.com/hr/postings/79180. We also need help teaching a course on social media to undergraduates. Application review beings *May 1* (sorry for posting this so late. Where did the semester go?) ~Jenny Jennifer Stromer-Galley Professor Director, Center for Computational & Data Science jstromer(a)syr.edu<mailto:jstromer@syr.edu> 220 Hinds Hall, Syracuse, NY 13244 https://ccds.ischool.syr.edu/ Syracuse University

1 0

discourse analysis and conflict/peace studies
by Dr. Chiluwa 28 Apr '19

28 Apr '19

CALL FOR PAPERS for an edited book tentatively entitled: *Discourse Analysis and Conflict Studies: Applying discourse approaches to studying conflict and conflict resolution* The editors are in talks with *John Benjamins Publishing Company* (Amsterdam) and plan to publish the edited volume in the Benjamins’ *Discourse Approaches to Politics, Culture and Society *(edited by Jo Angouri and Andreas Musolff). This book series is peer-reviewed and indexed in Scopus. *Discourse Analysis and Conflict Studies* Interest in the broad subject of conflict studies by linguists and language scholars has increased over the years with the growing incidents of conflicts, wars and political violence around the world. There have also been increasing and interesting studies that applied linguistic and discourse approaches to the study of violent protests, activism and political struggles. These studies have given significant insights to the role of language use or discourse in conflict initiation and conflict resolution. From these burgeoning studies, it is clear that there is a strong connection between how what is said or written and how conflict may develop and escalate. Discourse theorists generally believe that oral or written discourse produced by different people vary with recognizable patterns, depending on their social domains of life (see, for example, Laclau & Mouffe, 1985). The work of a discourse analyst is to analyze these patterns and identify their significance and consequences. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) for example, shows how language works in sociocultural and political contexts, focusing on power relations and ideological perspectives reflected in discourse texts, and their wider implications for the society. Hence, a critical discourse study of subtle texts such as news reports (or “fake news”), editorials, propaganda, social media publications, etc. in the form of writing, visual or multimodal/video streaming will be very important in contemporary times. This collection of essays will aim to show the synergy between discourse analysis and conflict studies by showing how topics in conflicts studies and conflict resolution may be researched using methods and approaches in discourse analysis (e.g. CDA, multi-modal discourse analysis, conversation analysis, argumentation etc.) This study will attempt to cover all conflict-related topics within the fields of political science, international relations, sociology, media studies, applied linguistics etc., which will include: · Terrorism and extremism · Conflict and war · Political crisis · Ethnic violence/sectarian crisis · Activism and violent protest · Hate speech and verbal war (in the media and the Internet etc.) · Conflict resolution techniques · Discourse and peace processes · Etc. Contributors are invited to submit chapter proposals (about 200 words) not later than *30th* *June 2019. *Kindly send Abstracts or questions as email attachment to* Innocent Chiluwa*: *innocent.chiluwa(a)covenantuniversity.edu.ng* <innocent.chiluwa(a)covenantuniversity.edu.ng> -- *Professor of Language & Digital Communications* *Humboldt Fellow & Digital Expert* *Department of Languages & General Studies* *Covenant University, OTA, Nigeria* +234 8033536952; +234 8053240496

1 0

Plato and writing
by Jonathan Sterne, Dr. 27 Apr '19

27 Apr '19

The best statement of the media theory reading the Phaedrus is probably chapter 1 of John Durham Peters’ Speaking into the Air. I think the persistence of McLuhan and Ong’s explanations of orality (autocorrected to “morality” so draw your own conclusions) and literacy can be chalked up to some of the following: —they are compellingly written and easy to understand explanations of complex phenomena. — media history has a modern bias which means most people in the field wouldn’t know where to to to fact check. In other words, McLuhan and Ong are often the only texts people in media studies know on the subject. Maybe Havelock or Innis, maybe Eisenstein. But there’s a huge body of scholarship in the history of the book that reads very differently. —there is also almost complete ignorance of the findings of modern archaeology in media studies (even among most of the media archaeologists) , which would transform our understandings of the emergence of human communication. For an example from another field, see Gary Tomlinson, A Million Years of Music. — it is easy for (white?) readers to somehow read past McLuhan’s racism and Ong’s theology (in part because Orality and Literacy is scrubbed of the mysticism in Presence of the Word). And a self-citation for good measure: https://sterneworks.org/TheologyofSound.pdf —Jonathan

3 2

"Taking Stock: Researching Generic Images Across Representation, Circulation And Recontextualization", Giorgia Aiello, Wed 1st May, 4pm, King's College London
by Gray, Jonathan 26 Apr '19

26 Apr '19

For those of you in London we’ll have a public talk with Giorgia Aiello (University of Leeds) at King’s College London next Wed 1st May 2019 at 4pm. Further details and registration link below. Please do feel free to share with friends, colleagues and students. A list of other upcoming events in the series is available here: https://blogs.kcl.ac.uk/ddh/events-list/ Jonathan *** ### Taking Stock: Researching Generic Images Across Representation, Circulation And Recontextualization ### Giorgia Aiello (University of Leeds) ### When? Wed, 1 May 2019, 4pm ### Where? The Old Anatomy Lecture Theatre, K6.29, Strand Campus, King's College London, Strand, London, WC2R 2LS ### Register: https://generic-images.eventbrite.co.uk How can we study the meanings and circulation of generic images online? Join us for a public talk with Giorgia Aiello (University of Leeds). The bulk of images that we encounter in everyday life are generic images from global image banks like Getty Images and Shutterstock. Nevertheless, pre-produced, ready-to-use stock images are most often overlooked rather than looked at. Whether it is because of its poor quality, extreme blandness, lack of veracity, or exploitative cheapness, stock imagery is frequently discounted as insignificant and rarely taken seriously. Yet, in spite of all current emphasis on user-generated imagery as a dominant mode of communication in contemporary visual culture, we quite literally swim in an ocean of images that were made for and are distributed by a handful of corporations. Following Paul Frosh’s groundbreaking work on pre-digital stock photography, I argue that stock images are not just the ‘wallpaper’ of consumer culture, but are also central to the ambient image environment that defines our visual world. Key challenges in researching stock images are linked to their very essence in this regard, that is, their genericity. In this talk, I will outline some of the ways in which my collaborative work attempts to tackle some of these challenges in order to examine the meanings and implications of stock imagery. Through a combination of digital methods, visual analysis and interviews, this work links considerations about representation, circulation and recontextualization together with aspects of production to develop an empirical, critical understanding of generic images and image banks. To illustrate this approach, I will draw from three recent collaborative projects on feminist stock photography, generic visuals in the news, and representations of teens and technology in news media. Bio: Giorgia Aiello (@giorgishka) is Associate Professor and Director of Research and Innovation in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds. Giorgia’s work focuses on the politics and potentials of visual, multimodal, and material communication. Her book Visual Communication: Understanding Images in Media Culture (with Katy Parry) will be published by SAGE at the end of 2019. This event is part of an ongoing seminar series on "critical inquiry with and about the digital" hosted by the Department of Digital Humanities, King's College London<https://www.kcl.ac.uk/artshums/depts/ddh/index.aspx>. If you tweet about the event you can use the #kingsdh<https://twitter.com/hashtag/kingsdh> hashtag or mention @kingsdh<https://twitter.com/kingsDH>. If you'd like to get notifications of future events you can sign up to this mailing list<https://mailman.kcl.ac.uk/mailman/listinfo/kingsdh-events>. -- Jonathan Gray | jonathangray.org<http://jonathangray.org/> | @jwyg<http://twitter.com/jwyg> Lecturer in Critical Infrastructure Studies Department of Digital Humanities King’s College London Recent publications and projects: * Gray, J. (2019). Data Witnessing: Attending to Injustice with Data in Amnesty International’s Decoders Project<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/1369118X.2019.1573915>. Information, Communication & Society. * Gray, J. & Bounegru, L. (eds.) (forthcoming) The Data Journalism Handbook: Towards a Critical Data Practice<http://bit.ly/ddjbook-aup-toc-preview>. Amsterdam: Amsterdam University Press. * Gray, J., Gerlitz, C., & Bounegru, L. (2018) Data Infrastructure Literacy<https://doi.org/10.1177/2053951718786316>. Big Data & Society. * Gray, J. (2018). Three Aspects of Data Worlds<http://krisis.eu/three-aspects-of-data-worlds>. Krisis: Journal for Contemporary Philosophy. * Bounegru, L., Gray, J., Venturini, T., & Mauri, M. (2018). A Field Guide to “Fake News” and Other Information Disorders<http://fakenews.publicdatalab.org/>. Amsterdam: Public Data Lab.

1 0

Deadline for Expression of Interest April 30th: "Forced Migration: Making Sense of a Complex Ecosystem" for the Special Issue of IJIDI
by Violeta Trkulja 26 Apr '19

26 Apr '19

REMINDER: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS A Special Issue of The International Journal of Information, Diversity, & Inclusion (IJIDI) FORCED MIGRATION: MAKING SENSE OF A COMPLEX ECOSYSTEM We seek to bring together researchers from the information fields broadly construed, along with researchers in related disciplines, to showcase a range of concepts, practices, and methodologies available for deeper engagement with issues related to forced migration. We invite work offering diverse perspectives on forced migration as a means of enriching our understanding of the range of actors involved in this complex ecosystem. Contributions to this special issue may look at forced migration through the lens of information and media practices, embodied experiences, memory work and curation, discourses and practices around diversity, and community building in a global and digital world. This approach will pave the way for a broader interdisciplinary conversation on forced migration. We welcome a broad spectrum of submissions that touch on the following aspects: * Frameworks that account for diverse information practices related to forced migration (including material, symbolic, affective dimensions); * The evolution of conceptual frameworks for understanding forced migration in an age of migration and displacement (including the role of social media and online spaces in creating/regaining a sense of place; credibility and assessment; multilingual interactions; user-generated content); * Current and future roles of cultural and memory institutions as resources on, and sites for, the documentation and curation of migration experiences and practices in our networked world (i.e., How can we best make space for refugees? Voice and agency); * Understanding the role of design, meaning-making, authenticity, and performativity in the context of diverse migratory experiences; * Practical initiatives and case studies from libraries, museums, archives, non-profit and settlement sectors, NGOs, policymaking and governance bodies around engaging and working with refugees and other forced migrants. We invite fully developed research papers for the Articles section, as well as shorter submissions for the Special sections; the latter may include opinion/viewpoint pieces, work in progress, reports from the field, doctoral projects, and theory-to-practice essays. Submission Process – Important Dates * April 30, 2019: Expressions of interest (name, role and affiliation; Extended abstracts of up to 1,000 words for full research papers, and up to 500 words for contributions to the special section). Please email your submissions to: nadia.caidi(a)utoronto.ca * May 30, 2019: Notification of acceptance * October 15, 2019 Full papers due * April 2020: Special issue published This issue will be guest edited by Dr. Nadia Caidi, Faculty of Information, Univ. of Toronto, Canada (nadia.caidi(a)utoronto.ca) Dr. Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, Computer Science, Univ. of Toronto, Canada (ishtiaque(a)cs.toronto.edu) Dr. Juliane Stiller, Berlin School of Library and Information Science, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany (juliane.stiller(a)ibi.hu-berlin.de) Dr. Violeta Trkulja, Berlin School of Library and Information Science, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Germany (violeta.trkulja(a)ibi.hu-berlin.de) Author Guidelines and Peer Review Process Please consult IJIDI Author Guidelines and IJIDI Peer Review Process at https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/ijidi/about/submissions#authorGui… Any questions related to this issue should be addressed to nadia.caidi(a)utoronto.ca -- Dr. Violeta Trkulja Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin Berlin School of Library and Information Science Sitz: Dorotheenstrasse 26, 10117 Berlin Post: Unter den Linden 6, 10099 Berlin Tel: +49 30 2093-70963 Fax: +49 30 2093-70951 Mail: violeta.trkulja(a)ibi.hu-berlin.de Web: www.ibi.hu-berlin.de _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/ _______________________________________________ The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org mailing list is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers http://aoir.org Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org Join the Association of Internet Researchers: http://www.aoir.org/

1 0

Registration open for 'Digital Diasporas: Interdisciplinary Perspectives' conference, London, 6/7 June 2019
by Naomi Wells 25 Apr '19

25 Apr '19

*With apologies for cross-posting* Digital Diasporas: Interdisciplinary Perspectives 6/7 June 2019 Venue: Fyvie Hall (University of Westminster), 309 Regent Street, London W1B 2HW Funded as part of the translingual strand of the AHRC Open World Research Initiative ‘Cross-Language Dynamics: Reshaping Community’ project, and led by the Institute of Modern Languages Research and Digital Humanities at the School of Advanced Study (University of London). This conference aims to inspire greater dialogue across disciplinary boundaries in order to explore the relationship between digital technologies and diasporic communities, with particular attention to linguistic and cultural diversity. The programme includes a public lecture by Roopika Risam (Salem State University) 'Mobilizing New Digital Worlds: The Stakes of Postcolonial Digital Humanities’, in collaboration with Digital Humanities and the Language Acts & Worldmaking project at King’s College London. Keynotes: Mirca Madianou (Goldsmiths) 'Technocolonialism: Digital humanitarianism as extraction' & Jannis Androutsopoulos (Universität Hamburg/Multiling, University of Oslo) 'Mediational repertoires and diasporic connectivity: from Senegal to Oslo and back again'. Plenary Panels: Digital Media and the Diasporic Self - Alex Georgakopoulou (King’s College London), Sandra Ponzanesi (Utrecht University) Polish Communities in the UK: Diasporic Spaces and Media in the Past and Present - Janet Zmroczek (British Library), Caroline Tagg (Open University) & Agnieszka Lyons (Queen Mary, University of London) Mapping Migrations - Dana Diminescu (Télécom ParisTech/DiasporasLab), Funda Ustek-Spilda (London School of Economics), Tobias Blanke (King’s College London) Early-bird registration (until 7 May 2019): Standard rate: £80 Concession rate (students/unwaged): £50 Late registration (from 8 May 2019 depending on availability): Standard rate: £90 Concession rate (students/unwaged): £60 Registration fees include lunch and refreshments on both days of the conference. Conference homepage and provisional programme: https://crosslanguagedynamics.blogs.sas.ac.uk/digital-diasporas/ Registration page: https://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/events/event/19276 Conference hashtag: #DigitalDiasporas Conference Committee: Francielle Carpenedo, Doctoral Researcher, School of Advanced Study Saskia Huc-Hepher, Senior Lecturer in French, University of Westminster Dong Nguyen, Research Fellow, Alan Turing Institute Naomi Wells, Research Fellow, School of Advanced Study Jane Winters, Chair of Digital Humanities, School of Advanced Study Dr Naomi Wells Postdoctoral Research Associate in Translingual Communities and Digital Humanities Institute of Modern Languages Research School of Advanced Study | University of London Room 238 | Senate House | Malet Street | London WC1E 7HU | UK Email: naomi.wells(a)sas.ac.uk http://modernlanguages.sas.ac.uk/ https://crosslanguagedynamics.blogs.sas.ac.uk/

1 0

CFP Disertaciones: The challenges of narrative journalism
by Francisco Seoane 25 Apr '19

25 Apr '19

CFP Disertaciones, anuario electrónico de estudios en Comunicación Social The challenges of narrative journalism Guest editors:• Adriana Amado Suárez (UADE, Universidad Argentina de la Empresa) • Francisco Seoane Pérez (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Spain) Deadline for submissions: 30 November 2019 CFP text available in English, Spanish and Portuguese: https://revistas.urosario.edu.co/index.php/disertaciones/announcement/view/… "Long breath" journalism is as old as journalism itself. In Latin America it has its roots in brochures full of social and political criticism such as Periquillo Sarniento by Lizardi or Facundo by Faustino Sarmiento. In North America, literary and investigative journalism go hand in hand, with the muckrakers anticipating the New Journalism coined by Wolfe in the 60s and 70s of the 20th century. In Europe, interestingly, the development of narrative journalism is linked to colonialism, with figures such as Albert Londres, George Orwell and Ryszard Kapuścińsk acting as uncomfortable correspondents of their respective metropolises. Although narrative journalism has been considered the epitome of good journalism, revealing hidden realities through expressive precision and the aesthetic joy of good writing, its closeness to literature has led some authors to engage in pure invention, breaking the pact of truthfulness with the reader through credible fiction. The cases abound, from the recent Claas Relotius scandal in Der Spiegel, to the falsehoods and plagiarism of Jason Blair for the New York Times at the beginning of this century, by way of the historical farces of Janet Cooke (who had to return a Pulitzer Prize because of a story invented for the Washington Post in 1980), the fictitious interviews of Nahuel Maciel for El Cronista in the early 90s, or the fakes of Stephen Glass for The New Republic in the late 1990s, which were turned into a Hollywood film in 2003. More recently, narrative journalism has been accused of being prone to act as a conduct of hoaxes, or of what we might contemporary understand as 'fake news'. In the wake of the scandal caused by a feature by Rolling Stone on a gang rape at the University of Virginia, which did not properly check the statements of the alleged victim, New York University professor Jay Rosen placed the origin of the error in a practice that he considers usual in magazine journalism: to settle on a narrative (in this case, the impunity of campus rape) and then look for supporting stories, instead of the other way around. The digital revolution in journalism also presents another dilemma for literary journalism. Have not journals of extended periodicity been the best supports of a journalism that demands extra attention on the part of the reader? Can long journalism survive in the age of tweets and clickbait? In this call for papers, the academic journal Disertaciones seeks original articles on the challenges of narrative journalism. To wit: - The boundaries between non-fiction and fiction, and their ethical consequences - The survival of narrative journalism in the digital era - Multimedia storytelling as a development of literary journalism - Relations with ethnography and social anthropology - The political function of narrative journalism, its ability to influence social and political change - The star themes in literary journalism: its concern for marginality - Past and future of narrative genres: profiles and features - The great authors of narrative journalism, and the undeservedly unknown - Publication outlets: the book as a dissemination platform - Financing narrative projects: philanthropy and crowd-funding - Literary journalism beyond the text: sound and image (including comic-books and animation) - The relationship between narrative and investigative journalism - Narrative journalism and online social networks: new ways of telling stories? - How to name the journalism that tells: narrative, literary, long-form… Narrative journalism, of deep historical roots in Latin America, is alive and well thanks to figures like Leila Guerriero, Martín Caparrós and Alma Guillermoprieto. However, despite the existence of associations such as the International Association for Literary Journalism Studies, narrative journalism has received little attention from academics. This special issue of Disertaciones wants to awake among communication scholars the interest that literary journalism deserves, by encouraging research on the challenges it must face in this digital age. ### -- Francisco Seoane Pérez Assistant Professor / Profesor Visitante Lector Co-Editor, International Journal of Media & Cultural Politics Departamento de Periodismo y Comunicación Audiovisual Universidad Carlos III de Madrid Facultad de Humanidades, Comunicación y Documentación Despacho 17.2.03 Calle Madrid, 133. 28903 Getafe (Madrid) Spain Tel. +34 91 624 85 55 Ext. 8555 E-mail: fseoane(a)hum.uc3m.es Buy my book 'Political Communication in Europe' here: http://a.co/91Ufz4k

1 0

Re: [Air-L] history of Plato's Phaedrus as example of moral / media panic?
by Aaron Hung 25 Apr '19

25 Apr '19

You might also want to look into Eric Havelock's *Preface to Plato <https://monoskop.org/images/0/0d/Havelock_Eric_A_Preface_to_Plato.pdf>*. Ong draws on him a lot but I'm less familiar with it myself so I'm not sure how that argument developed. On Wed, Apr 24, 2019 at 2:26 PM Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess(a)media.uio.no> wrote: > Thanks in turn for the reference! And you, along with Mark Johns, may > well be onto something here - somewhere between Ong and Postman at least > some version of the mythos becomes familiar to folk ... and somewhere > along the line it gets appropriated, if in a (necessarily) simplified > version, into discourse on moral / media panics. > But where / when / and by whom? > > Again, just curious - and concerned that I may be missing an important > set of arguments somewhere. > > best, > - c. > > > > On 24/04/2019 20:12, Aaron Hung wrote: > > What a fascinating discussion! And coincidentally, I came across this > > just last night when reading /Paper /by Mark Kurlansky. > > > > In terms of how this notion of moral panic has been attributed, fairly > > or not and accurate or not, to Plato, I trace my own familiarity to this > > argument to my first introduction to Walter Ong, who wrote in /Orality > > and Literacy > > < > http://dss-edit.com/prof-anon/sound/library/Ong_orality_and_literacy.pdf>: > > > "/Writing, Plato has Socrates say in the /Phaedrus/, is inhuman, > > pretending to establish outside the mind what in reality can be only in > > the mind. It is a thing, a manufactured product. The same of course is > > said of computers. Secondly, Plato’s Socrates urges, writing destroys > > memory. Those who use writing will become forgetful, relying on an > > external resource for what they lack in internal resources. Writing > > weakens the mind. Today, parents and others fear that pocket calculators > > provide an external resource for what ought to be the internal resource > > of memorized multiplication tables. Calculators weaken the mind, relieve > > it of the work that keeps it strong. Thirdly, a written text is > > basically unresponsive. If you ask a person to explain his or her > > statement, you can get an explanation; if you ask a text, you get back > > nothing except the same, often stupid, words which called for your > > question in the first place. In the modern critique of the computer, the > > same objection is put, ‘Garbage in, garbage out’. Fourthly, in keeping > > with the agonistic mentality of oral cultures, Plato’s Socrates also > > holds it against writing that the written word cannot defend itself as > > the natural spoken word can: real speech and thought always exist > > essentially in a context of give-and-take between real persons.Writing > > is passive, out of it, in an unreal, unnatural world. So are > > computers...." (p. 78). > > > > This juxtaposition between what Plato said about writing and how people > > said/say about computers may have led to some of the comparisons > > you mentioned. > > > > - Aaron Hung > > > > On Wed, Apr 24, 2019 at 1:56 PM Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess(a)media.uio.no > > <mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no>> wrote: > > > > Hi Thomas, > > > > thanks, and forgive me for being somewhat vague in this regard. > > I'm reluctant to provide specific examples because my intent is not > to > > develop or direct a critique against specific authors / colleagues, > or > > even give the impression thereof. It is rather, as stated, a genuine > > concern that I've missed something somehow and am curious about the > > history of the trope. > > > > So perhaps a generic description will do? An author/s seek to build > a > > case that criticisms of a specific new media technology / use are > > somehow off the mark or misleading as the these criticisms can > > rather be > > understood to fit the model of a media panic. E.g., Tindr and other > > hook-up apps are not necessarily the end of real romance and deep > > relationships; these reactions are rather a media panic - one that > > overlooks several positives uncovered by more careful / empirical > > analysis. > > > > To be sure, such an account can be built - and, in my reading, often > so > > - quite carefully and successfully. > > > > Often, these accounts (rightly) draw on Kirsten Drotner's Dangerous > > Media? Panic Discourses and Dilemmas of Modernity, Paedagogica > > Historica: International Journal of the History of Education, 35:3, > > 593-619 > > http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/0030923990350303 > > To be explicit, Kirsten does _not_ invoke Plato or the Phaedrus, but > > rather begins her exquisite account with panics surrounding print > > media. > > In addition, building in part on the work of Stanley Cohen (1972), > > Kirsten develops a very helpful taxonomy of primary criteria of such > > panics. > > > > At least on occasion, however, as the argument continues, in > > providing a > > few examples of earlier moral / media panics to helpfully illustrate > > what these are, an author will further invoke the mythos of the > > invention of writing in the Phaedrus as just such an example of a > media > > / moral panic. Doing so aims at establishing a (broad) conclusion to > > the effect that we always panic with the emergence of new media - but > > this is more or less absurd, i.e., look at Plato's critique of > writing. > > By the same token, critiques of new technology X (e.g., Tindr, but > the > > list is all but endless, of course) are (ridiculous) media / moral > > panics and so critiques of new technology X can be easily dismissed. > > > > (There's a second logical problem in at least some examples of this > > argument - namely, the fallacy of affirming the consequent. Roughly: > > If you have a strong example of a moral / media panic --> (then) you > > will find X out of Y criteria (as listed by Drotner and/or others). > > SO: if I find X out of Y criteria surrounding media coverage of new > > technology x --> THEN I can conclude the criticisms included here are > > but instances of moral panic and, by implication, deserve no further > > attention. > > This is a variation of the social science chestnut that correlation > > does > > not equal causation.) > > > > I hope this helps give a better sense of the argument strand / trope > > I'm > > curious about? > > > > Again, many thanks > > - c. > > > > On 24/04/2019 18:50, Thomas Ball wrote: > > > Dr Ess- > > > This is a challenging query. One thing that might help orient > > > potential respondents would be for you to cite one or two articles > > > exemplifying "moral / media panics that > > > consistently invoke Plato's _myth_ of the invention of writing." > > > As it is, we're left guessing what you have in mind. > > > Thank you, > > > Best regards, > > > Thomas > > > > > > On Wed, Apr 24, 2019 at 12:37 PM Charles M. Ess > > <c.m.ess(a)media.uio.no <mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> > > > <mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no <mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no>>> > wrote: > > > > > > Dear AoIRists, > > > > > > Please be kind and patient with me, recalling that my formal > > academic > > > training was in history of philosophy, German literature, and > > ancient > > > Greek. I am comparatively still a little wet around the ears > > with > > > regard to media and communication studies - or so it seems in > > this > > > instance. > > > > > > I keep encountering discussions of moral / media panics that > > > consistently invoke Plato's _myth_ of the invention of > writing. > > > > > > This seemingly standard invocation puzzles me greatly for a > long > > > list of > > > reasons. I include a short list below for anyone with time > and > > > interest > > > in looking them over. > > > > > > The upshot is that I'm left wondering: who - and when - > > introduced what > > > has apparently become received tradition in these domains > > that the > > > mythos (see "2" below) of the invention of writing in the > > Phaedrus is a > > > prime or supportive example moral or media panic? > > > > > > This is, as they say in administration-speak, an appreciative > > inquiry. > > > I'm genuinely curious for the sake of better understanding > > how this > > > trope first appeared, etc - as well as genuine worried that I > > may have > > > somehow missed something that is considered elementary and > > obvious for > > > those of you with academic training more directly within > > media and > > > communication studies. > > > > > > Many thanks in advance for any enlightenment and eludation! > > > best, > > > - charles ess > > > > > > PS: The short list includes: > > > 1) the account is taken (bloody and screaming) out of the > > context of > > > the > > > larger dialogue in the Phaedrus. When read within the larger > > context - > > > beginning with (the young) Phaedrus' effort to impress > > (perhaps seduce) > > > Socrates by memorizing a speech he has copied down on a > > scroll and > > > initially tries to hide from Socrates - the mythos works much > > more > > > immediately as a lightly veiled (and hence, pedagogically > > speaking, > > > likely more successful) chastisement of Phaedrus' efforts at > > > dissimulation. By no means a wholesale critique of writing > > per se. > > > 2) The account is explicitly delivered as a _mythos_ - too > easily > > > translated as a "myth." But: a _mythos_ in Plato is a > technical / > > > philosophical form, going well beyond and in some ways > directly > > > contradicting more everyday notions of "myth" as a false > story; a > > > mythos > > > is specifically an _oral_ story, with its own set of > distinctive > > > strengths and limitations. It is often used in Plato when > > > interlocutors, > > > attempting to pursue a reasoned argument (logos), come to an > > impass. > > > The relation between mythos and logos is hence often > > complementary, not > > > contradictory. > > > 3) It would seem very odd for an author of multiple > dialogues, of > > > sometimes staggering sophistication and literary nuance, to > > sincerely > > > believe that writing is somehow an entirely suspect > technology. > > > Different from orality, certainly, as is suggested by the > > consistent > > > presentation of Socrates as an oral teacher, the careful use > > of mythos > > > vs. logos, etc. - but hardly an example of media / moral > panic. > > > And so on. > > > Again: what am I missing? > > > > > > Again, many thanks, > > > - c. > > > -- > > > Professor in Media Studies > > > Department of Media and Communication > > > University of Oslo > > > < > http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> > > > > > > Postboks 1093 > > > Blindern 0317 > > > Oslo, Norway > > > c.m.ess(a)media.uio.no <mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> > > <mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no <mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no>> > > > _______________________________________________ > > > The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org <mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> > > <mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org <mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org>> > > mailing > > > list > > > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers > > http://aoir.org > > > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: > > > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > > > > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > > > http://www.aoir.org/ > > > > > > > -- > > Professor in Media Studies > > Department of Media and Communication > > University of Oslo > > <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> > > > > Postboks 1093 > > Blindern 0317 > > Oslo, Norway > > c.m.ess(a)media.uio.no <mailto:c.m.ess@media.uio.no> > > _______________________________________________ > > The Air-L(a)listserv.aoir.org <mailto:Air-L@listserv.aoir.org> mailing > > list > > is provided by the Association of Internet Researchers > http://aoir.org > > Subscribe, change options or unsubscribe at: > > http://listserv.aoir.org/listinfo.cgi/air-l-aoir.org > > > > Join the Association of Internet Researchers: > > http://www.aoir.org/ > > > > -- > Professor in Media Studies > Department of Media and Communication > University of Oslo > <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html> > > Postboks 1093 > Blindern 0317 > Oslo, Norway > c.m.ess(a)media.uio.no >

3 2

CFP: Vint Cerf & Larry Irving Keynotes; International Digital Divide Conference 22-24 May 2019, Washington, DC USA
by Susan B. Kretchmer 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

KEYNOTES * Vinton Cerf, Father of the Internet and Vice President and Chief Internet Evangelist for Google * Larry Irving, former US Assistant Secretary of Commerce who in 1994 sparked global interest in digital divide research and evidence-based policymaking PLENARIES * Geoffrey Starks, Commissioner, United States Federal Communications Commission in conversation with Gigi Sohn, Distinguished Fellow, Georgetown Law Institute for Technology Law & Policy and former Counselor to then-Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission Tom Wheeler * Avi Gillis, Head of Digital Inclusion Policy & Diversity in Tech, DCMS Digital and Tech Policy, Government of the United Kingdom Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS) * Hopeton S. Dunn, Professor of Communications Policy and Digital Media, University of the West Indies; Director, Caribbean Institute of Media and Communication (CARIMAC), University of the West Indies; Director, Telecommunications Policy and Management Programme, Mona School of Business, University of the West Indies; Chairman, Broadcasting Commission, Jamaica * Laura Breeden, former Program Director for Public Computing and Broadband Adoption, National Telecommunications and Information Administration, United States Department of Commerce * Barry Wellman, Co-Director, NetLab Network; Distinguished Visiting Scholar, Social Media Lab, Ryerson University; Senior Research Fellow, Pew Internet and Society Project; Fellow, Royal Society of Canada Please check http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/ for additional prominent speakers to be announced soon. PARTNERSHIP FOR PROGRESS ON THE DIGITAL DIVIDE (PPDD) 2019 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE 22-24 May 2019 Washington, DC USA http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/ FINAL CALL FOR PARTICIPATION AND CONSIDERATION FOR PUBLICATION Submit your 250-words-maximum abstract to present your work at PPDD 2019, be included in the PPDD 2019 Proceedings and E-Book, and have your work considered for publication in PPDD's edited volumes and special issues of PPDD's five Publishing Partners’ peer-reviewed journals. PPDD 2019 invites work that informs issues related to the digital divide broadly defined, the nature of life in the digital age, the many challenges and opportunities of information and communication technologies, and the interplay of influence between technological and social change. DEADLINES Submission Deadline: 6 May 2019 11:59 p.m. Hawaii Time Submit sooner for rapid notification Notification of Acceptance/Rejection: ASAP on a rolling basis after submission and no later than 8 May 2019 Deadline for Accepted Presenters to Register for PPDD 2019: 8 May 2019 Submission Instructions: http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/cfp/ CONFERENCE, HOTEL, AND REGISTRATION DETAILS Full PPDD 2019 Conference Information: Please see http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/ and http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/program/ PPDD 2019 Hotel Reservations: Please see http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/hotelactivities/ for complete details to reserve at the deeply discounted $149USD/night PPDD 2019 room rate, which is also available if you wish to stay while attending ICA or sightseeing. PPDD 2019 Registration Information: Please see http://www.ppdd.org/conferences/ppdd2019/registration/ PARTNERSHIP FOR PROGRESS ON THE DIGITAL DIVIDE 2019 INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide (PPDD) is the only academic professional organization in the world focused solely on the digital divide and on connecting research to policymaking and practice to strategize actions and catalyze solutions to this pressing societal concern. The research, policymaker, and practitioner community represented by PPDD stands ready to advance the agenda on broadband and the digital divide, to address the many challenges and opportunities presented by the digital world, and to further evidence-based policymaking and practice so that all citizens can participate fully in the digital, networked age. The interdisciplinary Partnership for Progress on the Digital Divide 2019 International Conference brings together researchers, policymakers, and practitioners for an extended, in-depth dialogue about key issues that inform information and communication technologies and the digital divide around the world. The Conference works to identify new areas of necessary, productive focus, foster greater understanding, advance research, and enlighten policy and practice going forward. An optional 21 May afternoon Field Trip to digital inclusion program sites offers the opportunity to learn firsthand about innovative initiatives to bridge the digital divide in the Washington, DC area. PPDD 2019 is particularly significant as it marks the 25th anniversary of the recognition of the digital divide through social scientific research. And, within PPDD 2019, we plan to have a major worldwide gathering of experts on technology, disability, and the digital divide. The unprecedented broad multi-disciplinary coalition of PPDD 2019 co-sponsoring organizations from academic, policymaking, and practitioner communities, who will also have representatives participating, ranges from the Internet Society to the Governments of France Ministry for the Economy and the Finances The French Digital Agency, the Government of the United Kingdom Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport and more to the American Library Association to just about every academic discipline that works on digital divide issues. Please join us to share your insights and expertise, explore the issues, and grow your knowledge and network of connections. Together, we will enrich the dialogue, connect research, policy and practice, and advance the agenda on the digital divide. Please contact conference [at] ppdd [dot] org with any questions not answered on the website.

1 0

CFP: Social Platform Accountability in Global Perspectives: Responsibility, Manipulation, and Control in Digital Social Spaces
by Hazel Kwon 24 Apr '19

24 Apr '19

***Apoligies for cross posting!*** Dear Colleagues, The American Behavioral Scientist (ABS, Impact Factor: 1.79) invites submissions for a special issue on “Social Platform Accountability in Global Perspectives:Responsibility, Manipulation, and Control in Digital Social Spaces.” Please find the full CFP below, also available at: https://tinyurl.com/abscfp <https://tinyurl.com/abscfp?fbclid=IwAR06YVDLlx-46OTKYBILDqy_MaqwJI2Jp33UzPo…> *Social Platform Accountability in Global Perspectives: Responsibility, Manipulation, and Control in Digital Social Spaces * *Guest Editors:* K. Hazel Kwon (Arizona State University), khkwon(a)asu.edu W. Wayne Xu (University of Massachusetts at Amherst), weiaixu(a)umass.edu Barry Wellman (NetLab Network), wellman(a)chass.utoronto.ca *Description:* The American Behavioral Scientist (ABS, Impact Factor: 1.79, https://journals.sagepub.com/home/abs) invites submissions for a special issue on “Social Platform Accountability in Global Perspectives:Responsibility, Manipulation, and Control in Digital Social Spaces.” Democratic potentials of social technologies have been under threat in recent years, along with an expanding spread of manipulative and extreme digital activities. Examples of such activities vary from self-motivated sharing of radicalized content to coordinated propagation of disinformation. Many countries have been struggling with the rise of these activities within their own sociopolitical contexts, attesting to the globally shared awareness of the lack of accountability and transparency in the current digital environment. This special issue calls for conceptual and empirical understanding of social platform accountability in global perspectives. This issue broadly defines a social platform as digital social space where online users interact with content and share their opinions or their own content with other users. Examples of social platforms may include mainstream social network sites, discussion forums like Reddit, online comment sections in news sites, anonymous communities like 8chan, and sites hosted in dark web. Conceptualizing social platform accountability requires understanding the roles of various stakeholders (e.g., users, tech industry, activists, government, policy makers, etc.) as well as multifaceted related issues (e.g., user responsibility, content moderation mechanisms, political economic motivations underlying digital manipulation, ethical tensions between responsible control and censorship, etc.). Furthermore, sociopolitical contexts where a society is situated may complicate the process of rationalizing and normalizing discourses surrounding social platform accountability within the society. *Submission Topics:* This special issue invites scholarship that examines causes and conditions that compromise –or strengthen –the accountability of social platforms. The special issue also seeks submissions from global scholars whose work may promote comparative understanding of the topic. It welcomes various methodological approaches (qualitative, quantitative, computational, etc.) and theoretical perspectives (empirical, legal/ethical, historical, etc.). Possible topics, but not limited to, may include: 1) a case study of media manipulation or extreme content sharing, which addresses causes and conditions that deteriorate the accountability of social platforms; 2) an international case study focusing on the national context that influences the politics of social platform accountability; 3) a theoretical discussion and/or historical review of social platform accountability; 4) a systematic assessment of content moderation mechanisms (algorithmic filtering, harnessing human labors, etc.) in digital social platforms; 5) a discussion of legal, ethical, and/or regulatory frameworks pertinent with social platform accountability; 6) a discussion of roles and/or interrelationships of different stakeholders (e.g., individual users, tech industry, government, civil society, etc.) in making social platforms more accountable. *Submission Guidelines:*Submitted manuscripts must be in MS Word (.doc) format with a separate title page that includes the title of the paper, full names, affiliations, email addresses, telephone numbers, complete addresses, and biographical sketches of all authors. Please send your submission via email to Hazel Kwon (khkwon(a)asu.edu) The main texts should remove any indicator of authorship, and thus be ready for a blind, peer-reviewed process. Manuscripts must adhere to the APA (6th ed.) style and should contain between 5,000 and 7,000 words, including a 250-world abstract with 5-6 key words, all references, and notes. Manuscripts must contain original material that has not been previously published elsewhere or is not currently under consideration by another journal. *Submission Date:*The manuscript should be submitted by December 1, 2019. The first round of peer-reviews and decision will be sent out by March 1, 2020, and the revision (if needed) and final decision will be made by August 1, 2020. This special issue is expected to be published online in October/November 2020, with hard copy publication by the end of 2020. *Contact: *If you have any question, please contact Hazel Kwon, khkwon(a)asu.edu <khkwon(a)asu.edu> -- "Truth will sooner come out from error than from confusion" - Francis Bacon K. Hazel Kwon (권경희) Assistant Professor Barrett Honors Faculty Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication Arizona State University ASU profile: https://isearch.asu.edu/profile/1949238 Homepage: www.hazelkwon.net @HazelKwonASU (Twitter) Tel: 602-496-5268

1 0