[Air-L] CFP Shenzhen forum-communication innovation, new media, digital journalism

[Rolien Hoyng]

Dear Colleagues

I hope this forum, which includes three separate tracks, is of interest to
some of you! Rolien Hoyng

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*THE SHENZHEN FORUM 2019*

COMMUNICATION INNOVATION, NEW MEDIA, AND DIGITAL JOURNALISM


<https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/pages/Internationalization_NCA_Shenzen.pdf>
https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/.../Internationalization_NCA_Shenzen.pdf
<https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/pages/Internationalization_NCA_Shenzen.pdf>

<https://www.natcom.org/sites/default/files/pages/Internationalization_NCA_Shenzen.pdf>

Shenzhen, China, June 26 –28, 2019
Co-sponsored by the Shenzhen University (SZU) of China and the National
Communication Association (NCA)

THE SHENZHEN FORUM WILL BRING TOGETHER SCHOLARS AND MEDIA PRACTITIONERS
from around the world to engage in conversations about cutting-edge
communication-based issues. The Forum will include three “tracks”:

TRACK 1: EXPERIMENTS IN COMMUNICATION INNOVATION, led by Dr. Rolien Hoyng,
Chinese University of Hong Kong, rolienhoyng at cuhk.edu.hk (the NCA
representative), and Dr. Chen Changfeng, Tsinghua University,
fengchen5266 at 163.com (the SZU representative)



Despite critiques of the ongoing glorification of “innovation” within
multiple corporate spheres, scholars remain committed to both studying and
practicing inventiveness, newness, and difference. This track accordingly
reflects on how different communicative habits emerge from within processes
of technological standardization, global integration, and digital
innovation. It looks across the front-end experiences of users and the
back-end infrastructures of digital and global communication to prompt
participants to consider the dilemmas and opportunities of innovation and
inventiveness. On the one hand, the globalization of infrastructures and
platforms seems contingent on their ability to accommodate different
practices and uses, even while doing so within increasingly standardized
settings. On the other hand, new technological applications may not simply
partake in ongoing processes of globalization, but also can change where
globalization is headed. This track will ask: Does “innovation” support or
compromise existing corporate control and statecraft? Does it fuel targeted
struggles for social justice in the age of globalization? Or, does
“innovation” call forth new communicative possibilities that transcend our
understanding? This track will pursue these questions by inviting scholars
to share specific case studies of communication “innovation” in practice.

TRACK 2: INTERSECTIONS IN NEW MEDIA AND HEALTH COMMUNICATION, led by Dr.
Yuqiong Zhou, Shenzhen University, yuqiongzhou at 126.com (the SZU
representative), and Dr. Amy Hasinoff, CU Denver, amy.hasinoff at ucdenver.edu
(the NCA representative)



Traditional health communication scholarship has focused on face-to-face
interactions, yet the proliferation of new media technologies means that
many patients now speak with their doctor or nurse-practitioner via online
messaging platforms, while many health care seekers resort to online
systems for information and advice. At the same time, public communication
about family health, dieting, gender and sexuality, and aging is now widely
practiced via new media platforms, few of which are refereed for accuracy,
and many of which are little more than marketing scams. Thus, while there
has never before been so much information available to users regarding
their health, there has also never been so much disinformation waiting to
send users into tailspins of bad advice, risky behavior, and financial
ruin. In addition, in both China and America, questions of new media and
health communication hinge on access to the internet, meaning these issues
touch upon class, wealth, and debates about how “public” the internet
really is. In short, health communication and new media are now interlaced
in empowering, alarming, and confusing ways. This track will enable
participants to study the interweaving of new media and health
communication via specific case studies drawn from American, Chinese, and
other international contexts.



TRACK 3: THE DIGITAL JOURNALISM CHALLENGE, led by Dr. Qingwen Dong,
University of the Pacific, qdong at pacific.edu (the NCA representative) and
Xiaojin Gu, Shenzhen University, gxj at szu.edu.cn (the SZU representative)



A digital revolution is transforming how we think about journalism.
“Legacy” outlets such as the New York Times and People’s Daily face
challenges from a vast array of websites and emerging new media platforms.
Some of these new outlets offer exciting opportunities for producing
“citizen journalism” or “backpack journalism,” thus furthering the cause of
social justice. Yet many of them have become the purveyors of lies,
conspiracy theories, and calls for violence, meaning the world of
journalism is fracturing. For example, in America, the “news” is now
produced not only by credible journalists but also by propagandists at Fox,
neo-Nazis at the Daily Stormer, and a reality-challenged tweeter from the
White House. In China, the “news” is now produced not only by the Party’s
many outlets, but by separatists in Xinjiang and radicals in Tibet. In
India, Myanmar, and Iran, digital outlets have called for riots and stoked
ethnic and religious violence. Many observers are therefore calling ours a
“post-truth” age. Indeed, all around the world, we are facing a crisis in
journalism that is underwritten by a crisis in notions of evidence, trust,
and credibility—with the whole process being driven by revolutions in
digital media production and distribution. This track will pursue the
causes and consequences of this digital revolution in journalism, and will
feature case studies of both negative and positive examples.



SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
NCA participants will arrive in Shenzhen on the evening of Wednesday, June
25. On Thursday, June 26, we will lead a morning excursion to the
international headquarters of TenCent, one of the largest media companies
in the world, where participants will interact with China’s new social
media leaders. That afternoon, NCA will lead a pre-Forum workshop to
discuss best practices in international communication, offering
participants an opportunity to engage in open conversation regarding the
complicated terrain of academic and political life in contemporary China.
The Shenzhen Forum will then hold sessions all day on Friday, June 27, and
Saturday, June 28, concluding Saturday evening with an NCA-hosted
reception. Participants will depart from Shenzhen on Sunday, June 29. In an
act of great generosity, SZU will cover hotel accommodations for the nights
of June 25, 26, 27, and 28, as well as all conference registration fees. To
support the travel needs of NCA-member graduate students and early-career
faculty members, NCA will award 10 $1,000 travel grants to selected
individuals.

APPLICATION INFORMATION
We invite submissions that address any of the “tracks” cited above.
Applicants should submit a project proposal of roughly 1,000 words.
Submissions can be made in English or Chinese and should indicate the
submitter’s home institution. Submissions should be in Microsoft Word or
Adobe.pdf format. The deadline for all submissions is February 1, 2019.
Applicants will be contacted with results by March 1, 2019. Please note
that we assume all applicants are making good-will submissions and will, if
accepted, attend the Forum. Submitters should send their materials to the
appropriate “track leader” listed above (with all English language
submissions going to the NCA representative for that track and all Chinese
language submissions going to the SZU representative for that track).

RESULTING PUBLICATIONS
Following the model used to publish Imagining China: Rhetorics of
Nationalism in the Age of Globalization (Michigan State University Press,
2017), the track leaders will edit two volumes, with one in English (NCA in
charge) and another in Chinese (SZU in charge). These are not conference
proceedings, but academic books wherein each chapter is an expanded version
of the original conference presentation. The track leaders will solicit
chapters from the conference presenters and will handle all subsequent
book-publishing tasks working in conjunction with the series editor,
Stephen J. Hartnett.



Rolien Hoyng

Assistant Professor, School of Journalism and Communication

Director MA Program in Global Communication

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Sha Tin, New Territories

Hong Kong SAR