IAMCR Newsletter - November 2020

In this issue...

Welcome to the IAMCR newsletter

This newsletter is being sent to all IAMCR members. Read on for news about IAMCR, the IAMCR 2021 conference, and matters of interest to the global media and communication research community.

Letter from the President Reflections, opportunities and challenges

Nico Carpentier, President, IAMCR

In this letter to the members, IAMCR's newly elected president, Nico Carpentier, reflects on IAMCR's 2020 conference and the opportunities and challenges raised by our first online conference. Read the letter >

Nairobi2021 to be online

The Department of Journalism & Corporate Communication of the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya will host IAMCR 2021. The association's 33rd conference will explore the theme: "Rethinking borders and boundaries: Beyond the global/local dichotomy in communication studies". See the call for proposals >

In alignment with the possibilities offered by the COVID-19 pandemic, and with the conference’s main theme, Rethinking Borders and Boundaries, IAMCR 2021’s conference will offer multiple modalities for participation. It will be an online conference with an African “hub” at USIU-Africa, and satellite activities at various points around the globe. Read about the conference model and components >

IAMCR News

Awards of excellence from Islam and Media Working Group

IAMCR's Islam and Media Working Group offered three awards of excellence for three papers presented at IAMCR 2020 that enriched the research scope of the working group. Congratulations to Daniel Cao (Shanghai International Studies University), Pizwak Imtiaz (Tsinghua University), and Sidra Tariq Jamil (Islamic World Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization), winners of the awards. Read more >

Section and working group leadership changes

Several of IAMCR’s thematic sections and working groups held online elections for new heads this year. Please join us in thanking the outgoing heads of sections and working groups and welcoming the new ones. For a list of the nine sections and working groups that held elections, and the election results, see the Section & Working Group election results.  

International Council 

With the elections of the Section and Working Group leadership over, the final makeup of the International Council is now known. International Council members include 15 members elected by the membership in May and one representative of each Section. The new council formally took position during the General Assembly on 17 July and has already held two online meetings on 20 July and 8 October. A third meeting, scheduled for January 2020, will examine IAMCR’s publishing projects and plans. Get to know the members of the IC >. 

Co-sponsored events

IAMCR co-sponsored the 2020 Moscow Readings conference organised by the Faculty of Journalism, Lomonosov Moscow State University in partnership with IAMCR's Digital Divide Working Group, Communication in Post- and Neo-Authoritarian Societies Working Group, UNESCO chair in communication, and National Association of Mass Media Researchers. The conference was held a virtual event with all sessions taking place online. Read more >

Clearinghouse for Public Statements

IAMCR’s Clearinghouse for Public Statements issued two statements related to the anti-racism protests that took place in the United States and elsewhere in recent months, one calling on police chiefs, mayors and governors in the United States to ensure that journalists can cover events comprehensively, and a second one standing in solidarity with all those who insist that Black Lives Matter, who demand an end to all institutional practices that deny equality, dignity and opportunity, and who call for a resolute commitment to the renewed pursuit of economic, social and cultural justice. A third statement was issued on behalf of the Association calling on the Australian Government to roll back the proposal of increasing university fees for communications and media studies degrees and for humanities, arts, and social science students (HASS) more generally, while cutting the cost of degrees in science, technology engineering and math-related subjects (STEM).

The Clearinghouse on Public Statements processes statements and/or manages the process of signing statements generated by others when they are principally concerned with issues relating to media/communications and where IAMCR members have substantive expertise. 

Publications

IAMCR/Palgrave series

Six new titles from the IAMCR/Palgrave series “Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research” have recently been published. They are:

  • The Independence of the News Media
  • Platform Capitalism in India
  • Media Activist Research Ethics
  • Digital Inequalities in the Global South
  • Communication and Peace
  • The Local and the Digital in Environmental Communication

IAMCR members are entitled to a special 35% discount on all titles in the series.

IAMCR/Wiley series

The Handbook of Media Education Research

The Handbook of Media Education Research is the sixth title in the “Global Handbooks in Media and Communication Research” series, co-published by Wiley and IAMCR. Edited by Divina Frau-Meigs, Sirkku Kotilainen, Manisha Pathak-Shelat, Michael Hoechsmann, and Stuart R. Poyntz, this timely volume discusses recent developments in the field in the context of related scholarship, public policy, formal and non-formal teaching and learning, and DIY and community practice. Read more >

IAMCR members are entitled to a special 20% discount on this title with the discount code VBT41 until 31 December 2020.

S-WG Publications

Journal of Alternative & Community Media

The Community Communication and Alternative Media Section collaborates with the Journal of Alternative & Community Media, an international journal publishing high-quality, peer-reviewed research. Read more > 

Journal of Global Diaspora and Media

The Diaspora and Media Working Group collaborates with the Journal of Global Diaspora and Media, a peer-reviewed journal that provides a platform to theorize the complexities of the notion of diaspora and investigates the representations of diaspora people in both diasporic and mainstream media from an interdisciplinary approach. Read more > 

Global Media and China

The International Communication Section collaborates with Global Media and China, a peer-reviewed, open access, scholarly journal that provides a dedicated, interdisciplinary forum for international research on communication and media with a focus on China. Read more > 

Interactions Journal - Special Issue

This themed issue originates from a one-day post-conference held at the 2018 annual conference of IAMCR held in Eugene, Oregon (US). The event, titled ‘Public Service Media (PSM) in a Time of Global Reordering: Sustainability, Reinvention and Extension’, was co-organised by the IAMCR Public Service Media Policies Working Group (chaired by Alessandro D’Arma and Yik Chan Chin) and the International Network of PSM Experts (represented by Minna Horowitz). Read more > 

The Political Economy of Communication

Volume 8, Number 1 of The Political Economy of Communication is now available online. The peer-reviewed and open access journal is published under the auspices of the IAMCR Political Economy Section. Read more >

Recent books by IAMCR members

IAMCR's members' books section features recent books by our members. Visit the section to see all of the recent publications >