Post-Truth and Affective Publics’ Challenges to Social Ties

Endorsed by the following ICA divisions: Journalism Studies, Political Communication.

Theme

The recent global resurgence of populism, most notably in countries with strong democratic traditions, has brought the issue of politics’ relationship to truth to the forefront of academic debates, firmly entrenching the notion that we have now entered an era of post-truth. As they effectively harness the affordances of unregulated social platforms and the potential of personal data commodification to advance their political agendas, populist leaders across the globe also exploit both the systemic flaws of media systems and the conditions that predispose part of the citizenry to believe in alternative narratives regardless of their factual accuracy. This preconference examines how the interplay between such dynamics severely challenges social ties and enables populism around the world.

The acceleration of innovation in communication technology and the increasing commodification of personal data have combined with the already hyper-segmented offer of legacy media to throw news media ecologies across the globe in a state of flux. Through selective exposure, users are provided with infinite opportunities to reinforce their pre- existing attitudes and engage with the political process affectively, a phenomenon further compounded by new challenges to journalistic authority that accelerate already existing trends and shake traditional informational hierarchies to their cores. The resulting audience polarization in turn jeopardizes the possibility of a common citizenship, as users are effectively barred from cultivating shared patterns of representation of the social world.

This preconference invites unpublished, innovative papers focusing on, but not limited to, the following topics:

1. Disinformation flows, connectivity and network structures
   • Polarization and partisan news ecosystems
   • Hybridization of “old” and “new” media logics
   • “Echo chamber” effects, processes of self-selection
   • Algorithms and “filter bubbles” in question
2. Affective publics and populism
   • People’s relation to information, modes of engagement
   • Actors’ strategies
   • Data-driven propaganda strategies (e.g. Cambridge Analytica)
   • Platforms, segregated online communities, and counter publics
3. Re-envisioning journalism practices
   • New hierarchies and roles, erosion of journalists’ gatekeeping function, challenges tojournalists’ cultural authority
   • Reshaping / maintaining the boundaries of journalistic authority
   • Innovation initiatives, redefinition of professional norms, practices, and routines
   • The role of local and global journalism in repairing social ties 

Objectives

The preconference will bring together established researchers and PhD students. More specifically, it will include presentations from 12 participants along with 3 panel discussions, a keynote address and a research escalator session (12 PhD students/candidates).

The research escalator session will provide the selected PhD students/candidates with the opportunity to present and discuss their work with a matched senior scholar.

• Speakers’ finalized papers will be submitted to an academic journal as a special issue proposal.
• The “Most Promising Scientific Research” by a PhD student, which will be selected by the Scientific Committee, will be published in the French peer- reviewed academic journal Questions de Communication (English section “En VO”), edited by the CREM (Center for Research on Mediations).

The keynote speaker is Prof. Dr. Thorsten Quandt, University of Münster, Germany, Director of Department of Communication (IfK) & Spokesman of the Center for Digitized Public Spheres Research (ZEDOE).

Submission and selection process

Authors should submit an extended abstract of 1000-1500 words to: crem-ica-preconference-2022-metz-contact@univ-lorraine.fr
by January 31, 2022.

The extended abstracts should include the main idea/argument, research questions, a short literature review and/or theoretical perspectives, information on methodology and empirical findings (if relevant). We welcome different approaches, including discussions of literature, concepts and theories, historical perspectives, and empirical analyses.

All submitted abstracts must be anonymous with no reference to author(s). Include name, affiliation and contact details either in the email or in a separate attachment. For research escalator submissions, please specify “Research escalator” under the title of the abstract.

The extended abstracts will go through a double-blind peer review process. Decisions on acceptance will be made by February 15, 2022.

Authors of accepted abstracts are expected to attend the preconference and present in person.

Date: Wednesday, May 25th 2022 

Start Time: 9:30am

End Time: 5:00pm

Location/Venue: Metz, France (1-hour 20 min from Paris by high-speed train)

(all registered participants will be provided with guidelines to come to Metz from Paris)

Registration Fee