Community Communication and Alternative Media Section

IAMCR's Community Communication and Alternative Media Section invites submissions of abstracts for papers and panel proposals for the 2019 IAMCR conference to be held from 7-11 July, 2019 in Madrid, Spain.

The deadline to submit abstracts is 23:59 GMT on 8 February 2019

IMPORTANT: please note the abstract submission system will open on 3 December 2018.

Conference theme:"Communication, Technology, and Human Dignity: Disputed Rights, Contested Truths"

The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section (COC) brings together research on community, alternative and citizens’ media, media activism, and other forms of civil society-based communication. It considers a range of non-governmental and non-commercial communication practices such as do-it-yourself media, media for and by communities of locality, identity or interest, Indigenous media, social movement communication, social media protests, counter-cultural expressions, people-based and participatory media and media that form a ‘third sector’ distinct from public service and commercial media. Such communication practices may use a variety of communication technologies, from print newsletters to mobile phones, from community radio to online social networks.

The section asks questions such as:
    • How do marginalized groups develop, adapt, use and appropriate communication technologies?
    • What makes citizen media effective and sustainable? What are innovative forms of media activism?
    • What is the social, economic, legal and political environment of community and alternative media?
    • What are appropriate theories and research methods for these media?
    • What forms of journalism do they practice?
    • Do they point us to new forms of networked publics, participatory democracy, and active citizenship (and/or are these concepts problematic)?

The section welcomes current research conducted with grassroots and systemically marginalized communities and social justice movements. COC is a large, diverse, open and friendly section. We are committed to the discussion of current practices and challenges facing social justice communications, the development of appropriate research approaches that can be useful for grassroots communities and social justice movements.

Community Communication and Alternative Media focus areas, IAMCR 2019

The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section welcomes contributions from all scholars who research and work in this field and is particularly interested in submissions on the following themes:

    1. Communication and media strategies to face environmental risks and challenges
    2. Indigenous/First Nations communications and media practices
    3. Journalism practices from below, citizens’ journalism, challenges to journalism in an era of fake news and social media.
    4. Media Activism: practices, outcomes, challenges
    5. Media Justice/Data Justice
    6. Methodological frameworks and approaches to work with and research about community communication and alternative media
    7. Community Radio/Podcasting cultures and practices
    8. South to South exchanges and dialogues in relation to community communication and alternative media
    9. Theories and key concepts to approach community communication and alternative media initiatives.

Languages

This Section accepts abstract submissions and presentations in ALL THREE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF IAMCR - English, French and Spanish.

You can submit the abstract and present the paper (if accepted) in any of these three languages. Papers will be organized in panels according to the themes they have in common, so panels will be multilingual. We will request that all presenters at the conference prepare their slides/handouts in a language different to the one they are presenting. For example, if you present a paper in English please have your slides or a handout in Spanish, and vice-versa.

We will also make every effort to ensure that we have whisper translators in each session. To this end, we are looking for volunteer translators/interpreters. If you can contribute and help translate into Spanish, French or English, please contact Andrea Medrado directly at andreamedrado [at] id.uff.br

Submissions Format

Please make sure you complete all the metadata fields correctly at the OSC platform when submitting your abstract (Title, author/coordinator name(s), institutional affiliation(s) and full contact information (mailing address, email address, and telephone number).

Also, note that these should NOT be in the abstract, as they will delay the blind peer review process

Types of proposal:

TYPE A: Individual or co-authored scholarly paper:
Applicants must submit a 300-500 word abstract. The abstract should describe:
•    the research question
•    a brief context of the problem to be discussed
•    the theoretical framework
•    what is known from existing research
•    the research method
•    expected outcomes/ preliminary findings
•    relation with the chosen topic area

Submitted abstracts will be evaluated on the basis of:
•    theoretical foundation
•    empirical soundness (use of research methods)
•    quality of writing
•    literature review
•    relevance of the submission to the work of the Section or Working Group
•    originality and/or significance

Please note: descriptive case studies will not meet the selection criteria. Submissions should be scholarly papers that engage with theoretical concepts and academic literature as well as practice in community and alternative media.

TYPE B: Panel proposal:
Applicants must submit a 300-500 word abstract of the panel including
•    the main theme to be discussed by the panel
•    the perspectives from which the theme is developed in the different papers
•    the theoretical and research frameworks used in individual papers
•    relation with the chosen topic area
•    the titles of the individual papers (4 or 5)

Please note that the panel proposal and the individual paper abstracts must be submitted separately. Thus, a panel with 4 papers will require 5 separate submissions via the OCS website.

TYPE C: Innovative formats:
We encourage proposals for innovative formats such as workshops, video screenings, and performances, among others. Please bear in mind that these should include scholarly analysis. The coordinator must submit a well-defined 300-500 word document including
•    statement of purpose
•    conceptual framework or theoretical background
•    a detailed description of activities
•    any infrastructure requirements (space, projectors, etc.).

We cannot guarantee that all these formats will be feasible, but we commit to supporting proponents in making them possible.

Submitted abstracts will be evaluated on the basis of:
1. theoretical contribution
2. innovation of format
3. quality of writing
4. conceptual framework
5. relevance of the submission to the work of the Section or Working Group
6. originality and/or significance
7. feasibility within the conference logistics

TYPE D: Pre-recorded video presentation (virtual participation):
This year, for the first time, our section is taking part in a virtual participation experiment. We are launching a separate specific subcall for this. If you are interested in presenting a pre-recorded video presentation, please have a look at the subcall, Joint Call for Video Presentations, and follow the guidelines

We ask you to kindly submit proposals in good time at the abstract submission site – https://iamcr-ocs.org.

Important

It is expected that for the most part, only one (1) abstract will be submitted per person. However, under no circumstances should there be more than two (2) abstracts bearing the name of the same author either individually or as part of any group of authors. Please note also that the same abstract or another version with minor variations in title or content must not be submitted to more than one Section or Working Group. Such submissions will be deemed to be in breach of the conference guidelines and will be rejected by the OCS system, by the relevant Head or by the Conference Programme Reviewer. Authors submitting them risk being removed entirely from the conference programme.

Decisions on acceptance of abstracts will be communicated to applicants no later than 28 March 2019.

Paper Submission

Presenters are expected to present fully developed work to the conference. Prior to the conference, it is suggested that a completed paper will be submitted to the Section. We strongly recommend presenters to bring full papers to the conference for their discussion with colleagues and to consider submitting them for publication in the Journal of Alternative and Community Media (https://joacm.org/index.php/joacm).

Submitting to the Correct Section

It is very important that you submit your proposal to the right section. Failure in doing so could mean that your proposal is rejected. Please consider carefully if the Community Communication and Alternative Media Section is most appropriate for your proposal (check the list of sections at https://iamcr.org/s-wg and their calls for proposals at https://iamcr.org/madrid2019/cfp). Please contact us well before the deadline if you are unsure.

Deadline and important dates

The deadline for submission of abstracts is 8 February 2019. Please note that this deadline will not be extended.

Decisions on acceptance of abstracts will be communicated to applicants by their Section or Working Group Head no later than 28 March 2018.

Other important dates and deadlines to keep in mind:
• 3 December 2018 - Abstract submission system opens at https://iamcr-ocs.org
• 8 February 2019 - Deadline to submit abstracts
• 28 March 2019 - Abstract decisions announced by sections and working groups
• 7 April 2019 - Deadline to apply for travel grants and awards
• 11 April 2019 - Deadline to confirm participation
• 7 May 2019 - Draft conference programme schedule released
• 14 May 2019 - Last day for Early bird registration
• 7 June 2019 - Deadline for full paper submission
• 17 June 2019 - Last day for changes to be made in the print version of the programme
• 7-11 July 2019 - IAMCR Conference

Community Communication and Alternative Media Section

Co-Chairs:
Salvatore Scifo
sscifo [at] bournemouth.ac.uk
Andrea Medrado
andreamedrado [at] id.uff.br

Co-Vice Chairs:
Tanja Dreher
t.dreher [at] unsw.edu.au
Claudia Magallanes
claudia.magallanes [at] iberopuebla.mx

Website: https://iamcr.org/s-wg/section/community-communication