[Air-L] CfP: Journalism and Social Media: Redistribution of Power?

[S.A. Eldridge II]

Dear Colleagues,

For those working in areas of journalism studies and social media, this Call for Papers may be of interest.

Kind regards,
Scott Eldridge and Marcel Broersma
Journal: Media and Communication (Open Access Journal)

Title: Journalism and Social Media: Redistribution of Power?

Editors: Marcel Broersma and Scott Eldridge II (University of Groningen, The Netherlands)

Deadline for Abstracts: 1 March 2018
Deadline for Submissions: 30 September 2018
Publication of the Issue: February/March 2019

Information: In the last decade, social media have been fully integrated into journalism practice. This has had an impact on how news is produced, what online news texts look like, and how audiences consume news, and even what we consider “news” and “journalism” to be. This has led some scholars to argue that social media have been “normalized” within existing frameworks, and further that their rise has not had an impact on journalism’s core. Others contend that norms, practices, and forms are fundamentally changing. This would, by extension, suggest a major change in journalism’s relationships with other agents in the networked ecology of news, including its relationship with sources, social media platforms, technology companies, and the citizens their content reaches.

In the wake of a particularly tumultuous year for news and journalism, where social media and its pervasive nature within and around news media and politics have been front and center and where journalism’s public role has been under review, this thematic issue offers an opportunity to conceptualize the relationship between journalism, social media, and the mechanisms of power anew. We invite scholars to contribute papers which advance our understanding of these dynamics, which are increasingly part of our public discussions of news, media, and power within society, through critical and reflective academic study.

This thematic issue focuses on questions of if and how the rise of social media has redistributed power in the news media ecosystem. We invite scholars to explore questions around the functions and roles journalism traditionally fulfilled, and weigh whether and how these have been altered—or taken over—by other players. Exploring how sources can now bypass reporters to get their message across to new audiences, and how citizens can navigate social platforms for news independent of traditional journalism heavyweights, we invite scholars to contribute to debates around this reorientation of media power.

We are interested articles that shed new light across these themes, including papers which explore:

The power balance between journalists and sources, including politicians and industry leaders, and where these have changed with the rise of social media;
Transformations in journalism practice, epistemology, and (online) news texts that reflect shifting power distributions in the news ecology;
Distributors of “fake” news, or commercial message such as native advertising, who get their messages legitimized in news media discourses and the implications of these distributors on news dynamics;
Participatory practices, polarized audiences and social media for what they signal about divisions within broader society;
Novel methodological approaches to exploring the shifting power relationships between journalism, social media platforms, and other realms of societal power;
Other papers which expand our understanding of these dynamics within fields of journalism, media, and communications studies.
Instructions for Authors: Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal’s instructions for authors: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/forauthors <https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/forauthors>  

If interested,please send an abstract of max. 400 words to: s.a.eldridge.ii at rug.nl before 1 March 2018. Authors will be notified about acceptance before 21 March 2018. Deadline for the submission of full papers will be 30 September 2018. Final papers can be 8,000 words max.

Open Access: The journal has an article processing charge to cover its costs, so authors are advised to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication fees. Further information about the journal’s open access charges and institutional memberships can be found here: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/about/editorialPolicies#publicationFees

Website for this call: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/nextissues#journalismsocialmedia <https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/pages/view/nextissues#journalismsocialmedia>
________________________________
Dr Scott A Eldridge II
Assistant Professor
Centre for Media and Journalism Studies 

Harmoniecomplex 1312.0132

University of Groningen
Postbus 716
9700 AS, Groningen, NL

telephone • +31 (0)503637263
twitter • @seldridge
skype • scotteldridgeii
http://www.rug.nl/staff/s.a.eldridge.ii/ <http://www.rug.nl/staff/s.a.eldridge.ii/>

Now out: Online Journalism from the Periphery: Interloper Media and the Journalistic Field. <https://www.routledge.com/Online-Journalism-from-the-Periphery-Interloper-Media/Eldridge-II/p/book/9781138945456>