*apologies for cross posting* Dear Colleagues and air-L-Friends, Please find below the Call for Papers for the Media and Communication 2022 Special Issue Journalism, Activism, and Social Media: Exploring the Shifts in Journalistic Roles, Performance and Interconnectedness Details: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/nextissues#J... For any additional information, please contact me (mailto:nuernbergk@uni-trier.de) or Peter Maurer (mailto:maurer@uni-trier.de) Best, Christian Media and Communication Volume 10, Issue 3 Title: Journalism, Activism, and Social Media: Exploring the Shifts in Journalistic Roles, Performance and Interconnectedness Editor(s):  Peter Maurer (Trier University, Germany) and Christian Nuernbergk (Trier University, Germany) Submission of Abstracts: 1-15 September 2021 Submission of Full Papers: 15-31 January 2022 Publication of the Issue: July/September 2022 Information:  Journalists perform in an increasingly networked, yet politically fragmented context. Both conditions may affect the role conception of news professionals, the type of information and the style of reporting they provide to the public as well as their relationship and interaction modes with sources, publics and critics. Social media platforms afford journalists opportunities to voice views in public channels outside their media outlets. Thus, journalists develop individual political profiles and may engage themselves in "interpretive communities" emerging around political events (Zelizer, 1993). In digital spaces, journalists are also 'influencers' given their visibility and may serve as hubs and potential amplifiers in online networks. The presence of journalists on platforms such as Twitter allows citizens, sources, activists and pressure groups to engage with them, publicly criticize them and to intrude into the formerly shielded environment of journalists and sources. In this vein, ubiquitous attempts of manipulating or influencing public opinion occur. Likewise, the affordances of social media platforms bring the network structure between journalists and political actors more into the open and provide new opportunities for research into relationships, group dynamics and power. Moreover, journalism now operates in the midst of a confrontation of beliefs and political discourses, epitomized for example in the struggle between populist and 'mainstream' parties. In the wake of these political fights, journalists may abandon their observer role and become advocates of a cause. Activists, pressure groups and parties try to hijack journalism for their goals. At the same time, the discourse around the appropriate norms of journalism is intensifying as well. This thematic issue of Media and Communication seeks contributions that examine and explore potential shifts or trends in journalistic beliefs, outputs and interactions given these transformations. We welcome contributions from a wide range of theoretical and methodological approaches in the intersection of journalism studies and (digital) political communication. Instructions for Authors:  Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (see https://www.cogitatiopress.com/abstracts). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee). Open Access:  The journal has an article publication fee to cover its costs and guarantee that the article can be accessed free of charge by any reader, anywhere in the world, regardless of affiliation. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and advise them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication fees. Institutions can also join Cogitatio's Membership Program at a very affordable rate and enable all affiliated authors to publish without incurring any fees. Further information about the journal's open access charges and institutional members can be found here: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/about/editorialPolicies.... -- Prof. Dr. Christian Nuernbergk Professor für Medien- und Kommunikationswissenschaft  mit Schwerpunkt Öffentliche Medienkommunikation Fachbereich II, Medienwissenschaft Tel. +49 651 201-4022 Fax +49 651 201-4021 E-Mail nuernbergk@uni-trier.de Web medien.uni-trier.de Sprechzeiten: Termine und Anmeldung via Stud.IP Besucheradresse: Raum A333, Universitätsring 15, 54296 Trier Universität Trier | Universitätsring 15 | 54296 Trier | Germany www.uni-trier.de