Call for Papers
Broadcast News and the Active Citizen
Thursday, January 10, 2008
University of Leeds
Keynote Speakers:
- Peter Horrocks, Head of BBC Television News
- Professor John Downing, Southern Illinois University
The Institute for Communications Studies of the University of Leeds invites
paper proposals for a one day conference entitled Broadcast News and the
Active Citizen.
Broadcast news institutions are responding in unprecedented ways to a public
which increasingly produces and consumes its own journalism. These trends
challenge traditional notions of citizenship and the role of broadcasters.
While enabling exploration of a broad range of topics related to these
phenomena, we seek to develop insights, in particular, into how the major
news broadcasters of the UK - at the local and national levels - can adapt
to an increasingly active, engaged, and demanding public.
The conference will be structured to promote dialogue between academic
researchers and leading broadcast news professionals with an interest in
these issues, and will feature keynote addresses by Peter Horrocks, Head of
BBC Television News and John Downing, Professor of International
Communication, Southern Illinois University, author of Radical Media (2001,
Sage).
The conference will explore the changing relationship between Broadcast News
and Citizenship through a focus on three key themes.
We invite proposals for research papers corresponding to the following themes:
Theme One
What does "broadcast news" mean in the new media age? Further questions to
be explored in this strand might include:
- In what ways must broadcast news adapt to an increasingly engaged,
participatory, and demanding public?
- In the age of the citizen reporter, is "professional" news broadcasting
endangered?
- Does the migration of broadcasters to new distribution platforms and new
production practices signal a new approach, or a cynical attempt to use
gimmicks to hold a steadily disinterested audience?
Theme Two
How has participatory journalism challenged notions of citizenship in the
UK? Further questions to be explored in this strand might include:
- Is a new kind of citizenship emerging, and how can traditional
broadcasters engage with it?
- Are viewer contributed content and citizen journalism the same things, and
do either genuinely challenge traditional hierarchical models?
- Have broadband access and the rise of participatory online media
challenged the traditional dominance of broadcast news, especially in local
communities?
- How are broadcasters meeting those challenges?
Theme Three
How communication is now 'mediated' (in both senses of the word) between
traditional media and audiences/local communities/citizens? Further
questions to be explored in this strand might include:
- Are traditionally marginalized communities finding a new voice through
citizen journalism?
- Are emerging participatory media practices permitting greater democratic
engagement at the local level, or simply providing another route to the
audience for traditional media giants?
- Is any new media journalism genuinely "alternative"?
- Do responses by major media to an increasingly active public threaten or
encourage diversity?
To submit a paper proposal, please email an abstract which does not exceed
500 words to the organisers before October 1, 2007. Paper acceptance
decisions will be made in October.
Postgraduate researchers who do not wish to submit a full paper proposal are
encouraged to participate in a separate postgraduate research seminar to
present and discuss research in progress related to the conference themes.
The seminar will be held on the Friday following the conference. Please
contact the organisers for details.
Email: [log in to unmask]
Website: http://ics.leeds.ac.uk/news-citizen
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