Call For Papers: The Future of Politics & Media Movement 1.2 In this historic presidential election, the interactions between media and politics were as symbiotic as they perhaps have ever been. However, virtually all interactions between the two can be seen as all three of the biological types of symbiosis at once – mutualastic, parasitic, or commensal. With various new media outlets and new movements in global, national, and local politics, there is much work to be done on the most effective ways to think about these interactions. The future of politics and media is the subject of Issue 1.2 of Movement. Some potential questions: -- How do 24-hour news networks and websites contribute to political discourse? -- How have forces of globalization affected political media in the US and in other national contexts? -- How do national and transnational news outlets differ in their political reportage? -- What is the role of blogging in the 21st Century political landscape? What is the difference between an organization or news company having a blog and a regular Joe or Jane Sixpack having his or her own blog? -- How is the political establishment reacting to new media types and outlets? How do political organizations use new media for processes such as community organization, information dissemination, recruitment, rumor spreading, or smearing? -- How are political stars (e.g. Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, Michelle Obama, the Kennedy's) formed? To what purposes are they utilized? How do pre-established media stars (e.g. Jesse Ventura, Al Franken, Arnold Schwarzenagger) make the transition to politics? -- How do entertainment media affect contemporaneous politics? One may consider the satire of The Daily Show, Colbert, SNL, or W. or political documentaries. These questions can be treated as mere starting points. It is not necessary for proposals to be focused on US politics in isolation or at all. Comparative studies and studies of non-US media/politics are encouraged. Submitted papers need not solely be limited to addressing these specific questions—any proposals related to the subject at large on topics not specifically addressed here are encouraged as well. In addition to being futuristic in aim, papers are strongly encouraged to engage with media and political history. Please send 300-400 word abstracts addressed to movement.journal_at_gmail.com by December 20. You will be contacted by January 2 as to whether or not your paper has been chosen for publication. A brief description of the journal: Media, as history has shown, has never been a static concept. And as the form and definition of various media continue to change, "media studies" changes as well. Movement, simply put, is a journal dedicated towards looking to the future in studies of the moving image. Movement aims not only to conceptualize the future of "media," but also to examine how studies in visual media can be adapted to the ever-changing agents, consumers, and distributors of such media. Movement was created by graduate students, and is intended as a voice for scholars of all ages to commentate, analyze, and speculate on the future of media. As audio-visual media becomes more complex and pervasive, understanding such media becomes more essential to perceiving the world around us. Movement welcomes papers that aim to develop a progressive understanding of contemporary visual media. This also means rethinking the past, and Movement encourages submissions that aim to expand or challenge established studies in order to develop a more complete understanding of the future of visual media. Movement 1.1 will be available mid-December at www.movementjournal.com. -- Ogunleye, Yemisi (Miss) www.iq4news.com Head of Communications, MeCCSA Post-Graduate Network website: http://www.meccsa.org.uk/pgn/ Media & Communications Dept., Birmingham City University, City North Campus, Birmingham B42 2SU