The fifth annual conference on Transnational Journalism History will be held May 28-29, 2020, at Augusta University in Augusta, Georgia.
Papers that study historical transformations in journalism from a transnational perspective are being sought. The deadline to submit papers is Feb. 1.
Conference organizers welcome papers that discuss theoretical or methodological issues as well as empirical case studies from all parts of the world. Specifically, here are possible contributions:
- the transfer of norms, practices, genres, and textual conventions from one country/region to another and their consecutive adaptation in national contexts.
- transnational networks of actors.
- biographical studies of transnational agents such as journalists or publishers.
- the transnational coverage of particular news stories.
- transnational audiences.
- the impact of (emerging) technologies on transnational journalism.
- different media such as television, radio, newspapers or magazines, and the intersection between them.
- theoretical perspectives/interpretations/applications of transnational journalism history.
Submissions
Abstracts of maximum 500 words (for research-in-progress), full papers (for completed projects) and panel proposals (max. 4 papers; 400-word panel description and 150-word abstract of each paper) should be submitted to dvantyl@augusta.edu by Feb. 1, 2020. Submissions will be blind reviewed.
Conference fee is still being finalized but should be around $75 and will include coffee/tea breaks, lunches and conference dinner. Keynote speaker will be announced in the next months.
This conference is sponsored by the journalism and mass communication programs at Augusta University, at Dublin City University in Ireland, Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, and the Centre for Media and Journalism Studies at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands.
Any questions may be addressed to Debbie van Tuyll (dvantuyl@augusta.edu), Marcel Broersma or Frank Harbers via journalismconferences@rug.nl, or Mark O’Brien (mark.obrien@dcu.ie).
Book project
The conference organizers are working toward the publication of a Companion to Transnational Journalism History. Submissions for the conference will also be considered (in adapted form) for publication in the handbook, and discussions during the conference will be geared toward preparing the publication.
About Transnational Journalism History
Transnational journalism history acknowledges that cultural forms are produced and exchanged across borders. It focuses on the interactions between agents, ideas, innovations, norms and social and cultural practices, and their consecutive incorporation and adaptation into national frameworks. By moving back and forth between the national and transnational level, the connective and dialectic nature of these movements is emphasized. It thus treats the nation as only one phenomenon among a range of others, instead of being the primary frame for analysis.
This opens new venues for research because journalism history is institutionally and topically still confined primarily to national boundaries. This holds true for studies restricted to the development of journalism in one country, like most press histories, as well as studies that take nations as units for comparative research. Differences and, to a lesser extent, similarities in professional practices and news coverage are usually discussed as autonomous developments and ascribed to national peculiarities. Transnational journalism history critically interrogates these national paradigms and provides new ways forward.
