Concourse: 02/08/18

Thursday, February 8, 2018

International Conference on Journalism: Who Creates the News?- 13 January 2019, United Kingdom

Call For Papers:

News making and the influence of sources on news production have been a focus of interest of scholars since 1970s when Sigal published his seminal study on news sources. Much has changed since then and while routine sources such as Government’s press releases and other information still influence news agenda, entrepreneurial sources such as charities and NGOs are also making a momentum in acting as sources to journalists. In part, charities became sources because of newsworthiness their work adds to journalists who can argue they are serving the public by reporting on charity activism and raising awareness of charitable causes. However, journalists also report using contacts when sourcing news, and many academic studies reported increased reliance on PR content, because of which journalism also earned the nickname “chournalism”.

In addition, growing number of studies report that women are not as present in newsrooms as much as men, and that newsrooms still remain a place for blokes. Nevertheless, some studies reported that not only women do not participate in main news writing as much as men but that when something moves from traditional “female” sections (such as health, lifestyle and food) to news then it is again men who write on these topics and not women.

Major political debates revealed question of media ownership and influence of editorial policies on news content and sourcing stories. For example, during the Brexit debate in the UK newspapers such as The Guardian took a pro-remain stance while newspapers such as The Daily Mail and The Sun pushed for the leave vote. Therefore, the question is also who creates editorial policy, and how these editorial policies influence the agenda of each newspaper? What does having an editorial position means for news and journalism? How do we understand news and news making? Is impartiality truly a myth?

Nevertheless, SEO also had an impact on journalism because media organisations now need not only serve as watchdogs of democracy and inform the public on current events, but they also need to create content that their audiences are searching for on search engines. Some argue that this has had a negative impact on journalism as media organisations are producing content their audiences want to consume rather than serving the public by informing them on what they find relevant and newsworthy. Whether we see SEO as negative or positive, it is a fact that it changed journalism and brought to a stakeholder orientation within media organisations, with which it also diminished media’s traditional gate keeping function.

These and other issues are the subjects of our conference. Papers are invited (but not limited to) for the following topics,

Exploration of sources in creating news
Agenda setting studies
Women in journalism
Editorial policies and news making
Media ownership and its influence on news making
Impartiality in news reporting
Journalism education
Journalism and public opinion
Journalism freedom
Fake news
Fact checking
Reporting the truth
SEO and its influence on journalism
Reporting standards
Investigative journalism
Social media as a source of news stories
The role of social media presence in building a career in journalism
Citizen journalism
The role of PR in news production

Both researchers and practitioners are welcome to submit paper proposals.

Submissions of abstracts (up to 500 words) with an email contact should be sent to Dr Martina Topić (martinahr@gmail.com) by 15 October 2018. Decisions will be sent by 1 November 2018 and registrations are due by 15 December 2018. In case we collect enough abstracts earlier, we will send decisions earlier.

Conference fee is GBP 180, and it includes
The registration fee
Conference bag and folder with materials
Access to the newsletter, and electronic editions of the Centre
Opportunity for participating in future activities of the Centre (research & co-editing volumes)
Meals and drinks
Sightseeing for second day of the conference
WLAN during the conference
Certificate of attendance

Centre for Research in Humanities and Social Sciences is a private institution originally founded in December 2013 in Croatia. Since July 2016 the Centre is registered in Leeds, UK.

Participants are responsible for finding funding to cover transportation and accommodation costs during the whole period of the conference. This applies to both presenting and non-presenting participants. The Centre will not discriminate based on the origin and/or methodological/paradigmatic approach of prospective conference participants.

Information for non-EU participants:

The Centre will issue Visa letter to participants with UK entry clearance requirement. The British Home Office has a very straightforward procedure, which is not excessively lengthy and the Centre will also issue early decisions to participants with Visa requirements.

Contact Info:

Dr Martina Topic

Contact Email:

martinahr@gmail.com

URL:

http://www.socialsciencesandhumanities.com/international-conference-on-journalism-who-creates-the-news/

Fifth International Conference on Women's Studies- January 26, 2019 : United Kingdom

RATIONALE

Feminists started to advocate equality and fight for women rights decades ago, and so far we have experienced several waves of feminism. While at the beginning of activism, the issue was in women’s equality in general for women were banned from exercising even basic rights such as the right to vote or work, current feminism is standing up against issues such as glass ceiling (where women can only progress in their careers up to a certain point, but fail to obtain managerial positions), wage gap (where women are paid less for same positions as men), as well as traditional battle against patriarchy that is clearly still alive and well. For example, even though it is legally possible for men to take paternal leaves and stay at home to take care of children and household, it is still women who have these requests approved more often than men, which testifies that patriarchal views of expected roles are still present. In addition, in some countries women are still banned from exercising basic rights such as the right to vote, work in all positions and even the right to drive. While there is a number of men that experience family violence, it is still women who mostly suffer from this type of abuse, while those men who do suffer from it fear reporting it due to expectation that the men is the boss in the house. Nevertheless, with the rise of Far Right political candidates and public speakers started to question Feminism and argue that it fulfilled its purpose, while at the same time re-introducing old prejudices and practices against women where an emphasis is based on their appearance, etc.

The questions the conference addresses are how far have we got, and what needs to be done to achieve true equality of both men and women, and a society where there are no expected roles? Has Feminism failed?

Papers are invited (but not limited to) for the following panels:
Patriarchy
Women and the rise of Far Right
Women and labour
Women and discrimination
Women and sexual violence
Women and religion
Women in the media
Women and politics
Women and sexuality
Theory and methodology in women’s studies
Women: East vs West
Women and reproductive rights
Women and education
Women and leadership
Men’s rights

Prospective participants are also welcome to submit proposals for their own panels. Both researchers and practitioners are welcome to submit paper proposals.

Conference fee is GBP180, and it includes,
The registration fee
Conference bag and folder with materials
Access to the newsletter, and electronic editions of the Centre
Opportunity for participating in future activities of the Centre (research & co-editing volumes)
Meals and drinks
WLAN during the conference
Certificate of attendance

Centre for Research in Humanities and Social Sciences is a private institution originally founded in December 2013 in Croatia (EU). Since July 2016 the Centre is registered in Leeds, UK.