[Air-L] Call: 2016 Challenging Media Landscapes conference, November 2016

[Christian Fuchs]

Sent on behalf of Simpson Seamus <S.Simpson at salford.ac.uk>:

2016 Challenging Media Landscapes Conference
Access, Participation and the Mediatised World
CALL FOR PAPERS AND PANELS: SUBMISSION DEADLINE WED 22 JUNE
SUBMIT PROPOSALS TO:artdes-cmlabstracts at salford.ac.uk
http://blogs.salford.ac.uk/research/2016/04/19/2016-challenging-media-landscapes-conference/

Conference date: Monday 14 November 2016
Venue:  MediacityUK, Salford, Manchester.
This conference is hosted and organized by the University of Salford and is part of the four day 2016 Salford International Media Festival (see:www.salfordmediafestival.co.uk)

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS
Professor Christian Fuchs (University of Westminster, UK)
Professor William Uricchio (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA)

Access, Participation and the Mediatised World
In a world replete with media networks, content and services delivered through traditional and newer wired and wireless environments, the opportunities for access to, and participation in, media are seemingly proliferative. The accessible and inclusive nature of media is often emphasised and celebrated strongly by commercial players and governmental interests, as well as a considerable number of academic voices. Others, hailing from academia and civil society quarters, whilst recognising the accessibility and participative affordances of media environments, also point to serious deficiencies.
Whilst some endorse strongly the ease of access and participation in media environments driven by commerciality, others point  to a perceived devaluation of public service media of various kinds. Whilst some herald the existence of diversity of supply of content and point to a plurality of voices engaged in rich, vibrant and challenging exchange, others are concerned by a lack of variety of content beyond the mainstream, as well as the latter's marginalisation despite network expansion. Whilst some are enthused by the increased creative agency that the digital landscape affords media users, others are critical of the imbalanced power structures within participatory cultures that typically result in media corporations exploiting users' labour. The increased technological sophistication and capability of easily accessible media environments celebrated by some, stands in contrast to concerns over network security, including covert intrusion into, and surveillance of, online mediatised environments leading to concerns over the quality of participatory life in a mediatised world. Yet again, the activism of a wealth of civil society groups and other alternative voices to the 'mainstream'  - arts organisations, those campaigning for participative rights of various kinds; and media industry reform campaigners to mention but a few -  points to uneasiness with the idea of a fully accessible and participative media system, as well the role and potential of these voices as agents for change.
This conference calls for individual papers and themed panels which engage critically with these ideas and approaches. We welcome a range of work which might be conceptual and theoretical, 'applied' subject focused, practice-as-research, or advocacy based, in orientation. We are interested in papers in -  or across - following broad areas and themes:
* Access, participation and gender
* Access, participation and ethnicity and diversity
* Access and participatory approaches and experiences in television
* Access to, and participation in, social media environments
* Journalism (encompassing citizen journalism; literary journalism, and journalism as a participative practice)
* Access to, and participation in, media and cultural policy processes
* Access to, and participation in, media education practice
* Participatory digital cultures and the Web
* Participatory approaches in film making
* Computer and videogames and participation

Conference Panel Session Proposals
Proposals for subject panels are invited in any of the above areas. Your proposal should be no more than 500 words long and submitted in Word document format by Wed 22 June 2016 to:
artdes-cmlabstracts at salford.ac.uk.
The panel proposal should  include an indication of the topics to be covered by each speaker (including a draft title of each presentation, if possible). Panels should comprise 3-4 participants.
Proposals should give the names, institutional affiliations and email addresses of all panel speakers. You will be notified of acceptance by Tuesday 12 July, 2016.

Individual Conference Abstract Proposals
Abstracts of no more than 400 words should be submitted in Word document format by Wed  22 June 2016 to:
artdes-cmlabstracts at salford.ac.uk.
Your abstract should address one of the above themes and have a separate cover sheet providing your name(s), institutional affiliation(s) and e-mail address(es). You will be notified of acceptance by Tuesday 12 July, 2016. Full papers are due no later than 1 November, 2016.

Details on booking registration and accommodation options will follow on acceptance of your proposal.

For further enquiries, contact:
Seamus Simpson,
Professor of Media Policy,
University of Salford,
MediaCityUK,
Salford Quays,
Salford.
Manchester M502HE
Email:s.simpson at salford.ac.uk