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From: Alon Lischinsky <alischinsky@gmail.com> Subject: [Critics-l] CfP: Rethinking Journalism II - The Societal Role & Relevance of Journalism in a Digital Age Date: September 13, 2013 4:36:55 AM EDT To: Lista SED <SED@discursos.org>, Lista DISCURS <DISCURS@llista.upf.edu>, critics-l@charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu, Lip Group <lip@lists.lancs.ac.uk>, MKV mailing list <kultmed-personal@lists.umu.se>, ACS mailing list <ACS@uta.fi> Reply-To: critics-l@charlemagne.cddc.vt.edu

(With apologies for cross-posting)

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Call for Papers – Expert Workshop Rethinking Journalism II: The Societal Role & Relevance of Journalism in a Digital Age Centre for Media and Journalism Studies, University of Groningen January 23/24, 2014.

Keynote Speakers:

Pablo Boczkowski (Northwestern University) Nick Couldry (LSE) Jane Singer (City)

Confirmed Expert Invitees:

Stuart Allan (Bournemouth), Karin Wahl-Jorgensen (Cardiff)

It’s easy to make a rhetorical case for the value of journalism. Because, it is a necessary precondition for democracy; it speaks to the people and for the people; it informs them and enables them to take rational decisions; and it functions as their watchdog on government and other powers that be….

All true! But does rehashing such familiar rationales bring Journalism Studies forward? Does it contribute to ongoing discussions on journalism’s viability?

This expert workshop aims to discuss what journalism is beyond the established rhetoric among scholars and practitioners. For all their seeming self-evidence, what bearing do these platitudes have in terms of the actual social relevance of journalism in the digital age? How much affinity does this talk share with the concrete roles journalism performs? And what about journalism as a cultural form itself? Is there a singular journalism that has one well-defined role in society?

This expert workshop will explore journalism(s)’ roles in terms of actual social value, relevance and use as opposed to established discourses. Specifically, we invite contributions that consider:

- Innovations, successful or otherwise, that challenge traditional conceptions of journalism

- Audience-related studies that look at actual everyday use and the function of journalism in people’s daily life

- Studies of changing newsroom practices and, perhaps more importantly, shifting organizational strategies, anticipating shifts in societal function

- The ongoing (re)definition of journalism

- Comparative socio-cultural studies of the place of news in society

- Theoretical explorations of the conceptions of news and journalism

While the keynote addresses will be public, this event is a closed expert workshop, limited to 15-25 invited participants to encourage collaborative engagement and discussion on this theme. It is the second Rethinking Journalism conference hosted by the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen. It builds upon themes raised in Rethinking Journalism (Routledge, 2012), a collection generated out of a similar workshop organised in 2009. This new workshop is the next event hosted by the research network, Capturing Change in Journalism: Shifting Role Perceptions at the Turn of the 20th and 21st Centuries. This network is funded by the British AHRC and the Dutch NWO, and is run by the journalism departments of the universities of Groningen and Sheffield.

- Abstracts (maximum 500 words) are invited for consideration as contributions to this workshop.

- Deadline for submission: Oct. 15, 2013

- For more information, please contact: Chris Peters (c.j.peters@rug.nl) or Marcel Broersma (m.j.broersma@rug.nl) _______________________________________________ Critics-l mailing list Critics-l@listserv.cddc.vt.edu http://listserv.cddc.vt.edu/mailman/listinfo/critics-l

Jeremy Hunsinger Communication Studies Wilfrid Laurier University Center for Digital Discourse and Culture Virginia Tech Words are things; and a small drop of ink, falling like dew upon a thought, produces that which makes thousands, perhaps millions, think. --Byron