IAMCR MADRID 2019

The IAMCR 2019 was the largest conference ever organized by IAMCR, with 1,785 registered participants from 83 countries and 5 continents. The International Association for Media and Communication Research – the preeminent worldwide professional organisation in the field of media and communication research – organized the conference at the Universidad Complutense de Madrid from the July 7 – 11, 2019.

The day before the main conference, I co-organized with my colleagues Bruce Mutsvairo (University of Technology Sydney) and Kristin Skare Orgeret (Oslo Metropolitan University) a preconference/Special issue Information, Communication and Society. The preconference Era or Error of Transformation? Assessing Afrocentric Attributes of Digitalisation has been really successful with 18 case studies presented and discussed.

IAMCR 2019. Digital Divide Working Group

We have been receiving many great submissions to our Working Group in the past weeks. Looks like we’ll have lots of interesting discussions and presentations at IAMCR 2019, Madrid. You can still submit your abstract (both individual and panel proposals are welcome) before February 8, 2019 through OCS system.

The overarching conference theme in 2019 is “Communication, Technology, and Human Dignity: Disputed Rights, Contested Truths”. The theme addresses issues of human rights and dignity in a modern globalized world, where ICTs and artificial intelligence are influencing the way human rights are currently understood, promoted and protected. The theme seeks to explore the role of information and communication technologies in both supporting and subverting the exercise of rights and the achievement of universal dignity. It also argues that such rights as the right to voice and visibility, to have one’s experiences and ideas fairly represented in public sphere, to have access to the comprehensive information are now gaining a status of fundamental rights in the society.

Elected as co-vice chair of the Digital Divide Working Group (IAMCR)

I am honoured and happy to be elected as co-vice chair of the Digital Divide Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR). The Digital Divide Working group was established in 1998. The main goal of this working group is to stimulate new theoretical approaches and empirical findings resulted from the research of digital inequality as a multi-dimensional phenomenon influencing various aspects of social life in different countries

The Digital Divide Working Group aims at providing a forum for scholars researching various aspects of digital inequality across the world.

Digital Divide Working Group – CFP 2018

The IAMCR’s Digital Divide Working Group invites submissions for its open sessions at the IAMCR 2018 Conference to be held from 20-24 June, 2018 in Eugene, Oregon, USA. The deadline to submit abstracts is 23:59 GMT on 31 January 2018. Proposals for consideration by IAMCR’s Digital Divide Working Group must be submitted via the Open Conference System at https://iamcr-ocs.org

• General Call for Proposals
• All Section and Working Group Calls for Proposals
• Keydates and deadlines

The overarching conference theme in 2018 is Reimagining Sustainability: Communication and Media Research in a Changing World. The theme is centered around the notion of sustainability, which is defined by the United Nations as harmonizing three core elements, environmental protection, social inclusion, and economic growth, so as to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The theme seeks to explore how sustainability is affected by the environment, as well as by human activities (social, economic and political ones) and current lifestyles. It also attempts to stimulate a discussion about the ways media can contribute to sustainable development in the societies, both by drawing public attention to the problem of sustainability and by promoting the values of social inclusion, openness and transparency in the modern world.