Section Head Election 2016 - Candidate statements

International Communication Section

Chair and vice-chair openings for the International Communication Section of the IAMCR. Deadline for nominations: 13 July 2016, midnight Eastern Standard Time, US (05:00 GMT)

The International Communication Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites nominations (self, other) for the chair and vice chair positions to lead the Section. Nominees should provide: full name, rank, institutional affiliation, location/country, major areas of research, and a short candidate statement outlining why they think they are a good fit for the position and their vision for the section during their leadership tenure. Nominations should be e-mailed to outgoing Section Head, Herman Wasserman at <herman.wasserman[at]uct.ac.za> with a copy to IAMCR General Secretary Maria Michalis <M.Michalis[at]westminster.ac.uk> and to the IAMCR secretariat <membership[at]iamc.org>. The deadline for submitting candidacies is July 13th.

Elections will take place at the Section’s business meeting in Leicester, England, during the IAMCR Conference 2016. The date and time of the business meeting will be announced previously and will be included in the final programme of IAMCR 2016.

Elected officials will lead the Section in a variety of ways and have the opportunity to shape the Section’s thematic descriptions for the time of their tenure. The main responsibilities for these positions pertain to planning for the annual IAMCR conference, from the Call for Papers stage to finalizing the Section program, and all the stages in-between. Section heads may elect to pursue other tasks and projects they see fit for the benefit of the Section’s members. Conference locations are international, and attendance for the elected officers is mandatory for the conferences. Outside of caring about their own Section, the Section Heads are also ex officio members of the International Council, and should plan to attend its meetings.

The International Communication Section is one of the largest, and oldest, Sections in the Association and draws sizeable membership both in terms of geographical areas as well as a range of ranks in academia and the international development industry. The section has a roster of senior and distinguished scholars who, besides holding leadership positions in their respective academic institutions, have served in various consultative capacities in several intergovernmental organizations. Annual conference programs for the Section reflect a vibrant, diverse, and inclusive research program and often carry at least one distinguished panel, and presentations by authors from both academic and non-academic backgrounds.

As of 2015, the journal African Journalism Studies is affiliated with this section. Each year, the top conference paper related to Africa is awarded a book prize and is considered for publication in this peer-reviewed journal.

Candidates for Section officers and their statements

Two teams are contesting this year’s election for chair and vice-chairs of the International Communication Section.

1. Karen Arriaza Ibarra, Iiris Ruoho and Deqiang Ji
2. Tania Cantrell Rosas-Moreno, Matt Mogekwu and Viola Milton

Statements

Karen Arriaza Ibarra, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain

After four years acting as Vice Chair of the International Communication Section, I am delighted to run for Chair at this year’s elections. To me it is very evident that this Section ‘incarnates’ the great spirit of the whole IAMCR – one in which we are all willing to share our views of academic cultures and traditions with others. My main objective is to make this a Section open to different cultures, languages, and projects through dialogue and consensus. For this purpose, it becomes necessary that we strengthen this spirit through a multi-lingual, interdisciplinary and multi-cultural heads’ structure. That is why I present this candidacy together with the candidacies of Iiris Ruoho, from the University of Tampere in Finland, and Deqiang Ji, from the Communication University of China in Beijing. Both of them are running for Vice Chairs of Section, and you can find their statements below. Together, we would like to make the International Communication Section the ‘leading ship’ of the IAMCR.

I am Professor in Media and Audiovisual Communication at Universidad Complutense de Madrid, where I also coordinate the International Relations of my Department. During the last decade, I have participated in more than fifty international conferences, seminars and workshops all over the world. I have published extensively on media structure, media economy, political economy of the media, and the different digital scenarios in which media develops nowadays.

My research focuses on the different international scenarios for the Information Society. At my university I am a member of the research group “The Information Society in the Nordic Countries: Similarities and Differences with the Spanish case”. As a result, three books and two international conferences have seen the light. I also publish often, in English and Spanish, my mother tongue, in paper and online journals. One of my recent publications is the book Public Service Media in Europe: A Comparative Approach, published in 2015 by Routledge and distributed to all European universities through ECREA. As a docent, I have also been guest professor at eight universities in Sweden, Germany, Italy and Belgium.

Besides from Spanish, I speak fluently English and French, and have a basic knowledge of Italian, Portuguese and German; also I am currently in the third year of learning Swedish.

Deqiang Ji, Communication University of China, China

As a Chinese scholar of communication and media studies, former secretary of China Communication Association (2006-2010) and editor-in-chief of www.ChinaMediaResearch.cn (2006-), a leading academic website with more than 10 thousand subscribers from both domestic and overseas Chinese scholars’ communities, I feel extremely honoured to run for Vice-Chair of the International Communication Section at this year’s IAMCR elections, together with Prof. Karen Arriaza Ibarra (Universidad Complutense de Madrid) who runs for Chair and Prof. Iiris Ruoho (University of Tampere) who runs for Vice-Chair, as a team.

Given the fact that IAMCR, particularly the INC section, is a truly international organization in comparison with other international associations in media and communication studies, I am willing to devote myself to the further internationalization of this section through the following plans: first, connecting the INC section with more Chinese universities who have established schools, departments, research institutes and academic programs in the research and education of international communication, in order to build collaborations in either organizing conferences, promoting scholars’ exchange or developing joint degree programs; second, promoting the IAMCR annual conference and the academic events held by the INC section among Chinese scholars in order to bring more Chinese scholars in; third, bridging the INC section with universities, research institutes and academic associations in East Asia and Southeast Asia ; fourth, creating more chances to translate the scholars’ publications from either the INC section or the IAMCR in general into Chinese in collaboration with Chinese publishers, as I involved for the Chinese translation for the Handbook of Political Economy of Communication.

I am PhD and associate professor of communication at the National Centre for Radio & TV Studies at Communication University of China. His research interests include international communication, political economy of communication, media and Chinese society. He is now leading two research projects on anti-corruption communication in China and the world, funded respectively by China’s Ministry of Education and the National Social Science Fund. He published five papers and two chapters in English, of which three are SSCI indexed; and no less than thirty papers and book chapters in Chinese. His most recent publications include Digitizing China: The Political Economy of China’s Digital Switchover (2016, in Chinese), the China chapter of The International History of Communication Studies (co-edited by Peter Simonson and David W. Park, Routledge, 2016), and the China chapter of Mapping BRICS Media, co-edited by Kaarle Nordenstreng & Daya Thussu, Routledge, 2015). He was a visiting research student at the Department of Media and Communication of City University of Hong Kong (2009), and a visiting scholar at the School of Communication of Simon Fraser University in Canada (2010–2011). He has also lectured or attended conferences in no less than twelve countries.

Iiris Ruoho, University of Tampere, Finland

I present my candidacy together with Deqiang Ji, from the Communication University of China in Beijing. Both of us are running for Vice Chairs of Section. Both of us are a team, together with Karen Arriaza Ibarra, who is running for Chair of Section. As a team, we would like to make the International Communication Section the ‘leading ship’ of the INC Section of IAMCR.

Personally I consider it important to develop a theoretical dialogue between researcher from the East, West, North and South.

I am Adjunct Professor in Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Tampere, in Finland.  My international vocation is shown through the many international exchanges that I have made with several countries, mainly US and China. I am a pioneer scholar for both feminist media studies and TV drama in Finland. Nowadays my study interest is focused in the visual cultures of BRICS countries and digitalization of media and society. During my academic career, I have had several positions of trust; as an example, my current board membership at the Nordic Institute of Asian studies at the University of Copenhagen.

Besides from Finnish (my mother tongue) I speak English fluently and I can read Swedish and Danish. I also have a basic knowledge of German and Chinese. As a part my academic duties at University of Tampere I take care of the Sino-Nordic cooperation, e.g. by organizing international conferences – this year the theme was Women and leadership (Tampere, Finland) and next year the theme will be Digital culture and society (Shanghai, China).

Tania Cantrell Rosas-Moreno, Loyola University Maryland, USA

Tania Cantrell Rosas-Moreno, Ph.D. (associate professor at Loyola University Maryland), an (inter)national award-winning researcher and teacher, seeks consideration of your vote. Her candidacy is for Section Head of the IAMCR International Communication Section, or ICS. Affiliated with IAMCR since 2004, Dr. Rosas-Moreno has served the ICS for more than a decade, with nine years being in a formal capacity; she currently serves as Co-Vice Chair under incumbent Section Head Dr. Herman Wasserman, and she previously served as the Vice Chair under the former Section Head, Dr. Sujatha Sosale. Prior, she served, in an unofficial capacity, in ICS leadership with the preceding Section Head, Dr. Allen Palmer.

Dr. Rosas-Moreno has had her research featured in the top peer-reviewed journals in our industry, and her first book, on Brazilian media and national identity, has been extremely well received. She is the mastermind behind and founding co-editor of the first and only theory-driven journal in our discipline: The Agenda Setting Journal: Theory, Practice, Critique, which debuts early 2017. Regarding awards, this year alone, she is the recipient of her university’s top award, the Faculty Award for Excellence in Engaged Scholarship – an award at a top university in the United States for service-learning. She is also the recipient of the AEJMC CSW’s top award, the Mary Ann Yodelis Smith Award for Feminist Scholarship. The quality of her research, which focuses on international news and diversity issues, and its contribution to the field, is, hence, unquestionable.

Dr. Rosas-Moreno runs with two other outstanding IAMCR ICS members, Dr. viola milton (associate professor, University of South Africa) and Dr. Matt Mogekwu (associate professor and chair, Department of Journalism, Ithaca College). Each boasts an impressive vitae of research complemented with years of leadership across different institutions and cultures. This ticket, then, is a perfect picture of the diversity and inclusion that a section like ours — the International Communication Section — needs to and should portray. 

Together, this leadership team would provide strong, diverse international leadership, with the Global South, in particular, richly represented through personal experience and impressive research histories. Our combined strengths, networks and expertise can contribute to the development of the section, internationalization of the organization, and professionalization of the section. Building on the strong leadership trajectory begun by former section heads, some election goals include:

Knowledge-sharing points: encouraging inter- and intra-group interaction and knowledge sharing both during and outside the conference; working to ensure a truly international representation of scholarship within the ICS, with scholarship voices from the global South; stimulating more interchange between North and South perspectives and scientific production; and promoting more collaboration among Sections and Working Groups for joint sessions.

Additional quality-control points: sustaining strict blind peer review processes and standards; maintaining the Section’s journal relationship with African Journalism Studies, as begun by Dr. Herman Wasserman, to further increase the ICS’ level of scholarship.

Outreach: re-energizing the ICS membership through outreach including a newsletter and social media, like our Section’s Facebook page.

Inclusive environment: Our ticket provides diversity and inclusion, not only in the area of demographics but also in current thinking on any global issues. Ideas and perspectives in which people’s opinions and work from all angles are understood and appreciate will dominate. The outgoing leadership has already put us on the right path in this direction. We will like to develop it further.

Matt Mogekwu, Ithaca College, USA

Our ticket is a perfect picture of the diversity and inclusion that  a section like ours – International Communication -  needs and should portray.  The internationalization of our section should not only be in name but also in ideas and perspectives in which people’s opinions and work from all angles are understood and appreciated. Our diversity should also be in the extent to which our leadership represents the global north and south and our diverse areas of specialization. This diversity can be found in all three of us. Our ticket will strive to create an environment in which no region dominates the other in our interactions, paper presentations and ideas.

Our ticket provides diversity and inclusion, not only in the area of demographics but also in current thinking  on any global issues. The outgoing leadership has already put us on the right path in this direction. We will like to develop it further.

With my background in  international communication/international newsflow; development communication;  the infusion of peace journalism in the search for global peace and  cross-cultural understanding; and my foray into understanding indigenous knowledge systems as they impact international communication and understanding, I will help  create a broad base for diverse and inclusive discussion of numerous issues and thus open up our section for more diversified input from IAMCR members.

I am determined to encourage members to submit proposals for conferences with the assurance that all thoughts are worthy of consideration.

Our goal is to sustain the growth that ICS has experienced so far.

Viola Milton, University of South Africa, South Africa

With this statement I wish to stand for election for the position of became an IAMCR International Communication Section vice-chair.  I have been a member of IAMCR since the Durban conference in 2012.  From 2012 to 2014 I was co-chair and then sole chair of the Journalism and Media Studies Interest Group of the South African Communication Association.  I am therefore familiar with the organizational development and management of a large academic association and I will be happy to put my expertise in this regard at the service of IAMCR.

I teach at the University of South Africa in Pretoria, South Africa, where I am an associate professor, and I conduct primarily qualitative popular media and media policy research in the Southern African region. I am also the Executive Editor for Communicatio: South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research, the oldest Communication Studies journal in South Africa.

My motivation to stand as candidate for vice-chair of the International Communication Section of IAMCR is that I would like to contribute to IAMCR’s efforts to reshape itself as a leading academic association in service of a truly global community of scholars. In this respect, I would like to increase contributions from the South, facilitate the exchange of knowledge and experiences by working group members from the South and across continents and in that way, enhance international cohesion within the section.