Date: Mon, 6 Dec 2004 16:37:27 +0000
From: Convergence <[log in to unmask]>
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CALL FOR PAPERS
CONVERGENCE Summer 2006 - SPECIAL ISSUE
(copy deadline: 28 October 2005)
Guest Editor: REBECCA COYLE
Special Issue: Ether to 01 - Digitising Radio
To state that digital technologies have irrevocably altered radio
production practices can be taken as a given. This issue proposes to
tackle the hows and whys of those transformations and to examine in
detail the ways in which digital production technologies have
transformed philosophies, policies and practices of radio for
regulators, producers and audiences. Research articles and debates are
invited on topics such as digital broadcasting, digital editing
practices, digital exchanges of program material, digital networking,
the current state of play with various forms of ‘internet radio’ as
well as ethical issues of plagiarism and content regulation. The issue
offers a broad approach to this area, as outlined in the questions
below.
Internet radio immediately presents a challenge in terms of definition,
given that ‘internet radio’, ‘digital radio’ and other terms are often
used loosely or even interchangeably. This issue will establish a
framework for such nomenclature. In addition, radio on the internet can
be made available in various forms, as real time streamed audio or in
downloadable chunks. Technologies of digital radio production and
broadcast have affected all aspects of radio, from digital location
recording and non-destructive editing, to digital mixing. The euphoria
surrounding prototypes of digital receivers (for example, those that
include small screens for text and graphics) has gone into abeyance and
an exploration of why and how this occurred is invited for this issue.
In addition, the sonic value of mobile phone recorders and the
challenge this offers to traditional recording with handheld
microphones raises questions about audio ‘quality’ and high fidelity
radio.
Radio has always operated on various levels, from narrowcast stations
reaching a limited population or special interest group, to regional
broadcasters, and international services. Internet services challenge
this geographical categorization of different radio services. But the
address to audiences markedly changes when the audience is understood
to be potentially global rather than local. However, local services may
well be considered important in countries and locations, for example,
where emergency news or literacy pose problems. Internet radio, like
websites, may offer specialised services not restricted by geographical
boundaries. These and other issues of audience address are invited for
discussion in this issue.
Additional to its effect on audiences, regulation and controls of these
services present issues to be tackled. The blurring of reception
‘borders’ presents problems for policy-makers. The relevance of
country-originated content regulation is debatable in light of the
potential availability of material on a global scale. The ways by which
different regulatory authorities are approaching licences for digital
(and satellite) radio services is worth detailing in this issue.
Internet radio offers issues and challenges for station managers and
commercial owners as to how to incorporate radio into other media
services. Terrestrial services find their operations being fractured
where delivery of material is both via traditional broadcast services
(with specialist and trained personnel) as well as involving the
convergence of text, audio, visuals and interactivity on the internet.
An additional issue in relation to radio is that of programming
content. Where stations are primarily concerned with music, radio is
inevitably affected by many of the issues of music availability via the
internet that have brought about changes to music industries. This
issue invites articles on i-pod radio and other forms of personally
programmed music “radio”. The question must be asked as to whether this
is still ‘radio’ as such. Furthermore, this affects terrestrial
services, when individuals can readily find music in other ways than
listening to music radio. Interactivity in radio programs has always
been a feature for various reasons (such as the relative cheapness of
talkback or telephone caller radio) but internet services offer
different forms of interactivity that are worth analysing.
Internet radio also affects production practices and availability of
material, while at the same time presenting potential problems around
remuneration for journalists and radio-makers. Where journalists and
program-makers are increasingly expected to provide packages across
various media forms – radio, television and print – the specialist
skills of the radio-maker may not be so highly valued. Community radio
benefits by the ready availability of program material and internet
networks and program exchange services. Discussion of this sort of
activity is invited in this issue.
On a broader level, community radio and the spirit of volunteerism that
informs such services may well be challenged by internet operations
that tends to focus on individual activities. Some internet radio
offers similar opportunities for communal and outreach activities,
although to make such a comparison requires a study of how community
radio operates in various scenarios. How designated categories of radio
services are affected by internet radio is another issue that may be
debated in this special issue of Convergence, the International Journal
of Research into New Media Technologies.
Copy deadline for research articles: 28 October 2005
Proposal ideas and abstracts can be emailed to Rebecca Coyle at
[log in to unmask]
Rebecca Coyle is Course Coordinator for the Media Studies Program at
Southern Cross University in Lismore, Australia. A former radio
journalist, she has researched and taught radio theory and production
in London and Australia. She has edited a special issue of Convergence
(v3 n4 ‘More Than Meets The Eye’, 1997) and also published two books
and several journal articles and book chapters. Her PhD was on a
related area of sound production, film music.
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