CRCC Researchers to Feature Prominently at Major International Conference
This week, the 72nd annual meeting of the International Communication Association (ICA) will be held in Paris in hybrid format from 26-30 May. ICA is the largest global organization that advances the scholarly study of communication, with more than 5,000 members in over 80 countries. As is the case every year, colleagues from CRCC will feature prominently in the conference. Below is a summary of their most relevant activities.
On the 26th of May, Ana Cristina Suzina from our London campus will be involved in a preconference on “Communicative Dynamics of the Pandemic and Identities on the Margins”. Dr Suzina will present a paper titled “Popular and Community Communication in the Face of the Pandemic and Climate Change”. The preconference will also include Professor Vinod Pavarala (University of Hyderabad), who will visit our Midlands campus and is scheduled to give a talk as part of the CRCC Seminar Series shortly after the ICA conference.
On the 27th of May, Sabina Mihelj and Vaclav Stetka will present a paper titled “The COVID-19 Pandemic as A Media Event” as part of a panel on “News Experiences Before, During and After Crises: Theory Development on Fluctuating Temporalities of News Use”. Simone Natale, a Visiting Fellow in Communication and Media Studies, will discuss a study titled “Banal Deception: Theorizing the Relationship Between Deception and Media in the Age of Fake News and Disinformation” in a panel on “Media Cultures of Populism”.
On the 28th of May, CRCC researchers are involved in five different panels. Our Theme Lead for Political Communication, James Stanyer, and Vaclav Stetka are among the authors of a paper led by Laia Castro and titled “How Healthy Political Discussions Invigorate Online Participation: Evidence From 17 European Countries”, which will be part of a panel on “Political Incivility and Participation”. Vaclav Stetka, Sabina Mihelj, and Fanni Toth will present a paper on “Social Media Use, Support for Democracy and Liberal Attitudes in Eastern Europe” within a panel titled “Comparing Media Systems and National Audiences”. Simone Natale is one of the authors of a study titled “From Big Events to Silence: The Shift in the Discursive Construction of Communication Infrastructures”, to be presented in a panel on “Infrastructures for the Historical Mediation of Events”. Our Theme Lead for Language and Social Interaction, Jessica Robles, will be part of a panel on “Racism, Black(ness), Whiteness, and Migration”, where she will present her work on “The Production of Racism Denials as Instances of Possible Racism in Political Arguments“, as well as being one of the authors of a separate paper titled “Interrogating Ethnomethodology and Conversation Analysis (EMCA) for Racial Justice: Preliminary Insights From a Meta-Synthesis of EMCA Articles Addressing Race, Racism, and Ethnicity Published Between 2001-2020”, led by Christopher Koenig.
The programme for the 29th of May features three contributions by CRCC members. James Stanyer and Vaclav Stetka are among the coauthors of a paper led by Alon Zoizner and titled “The Effects of the COVID-19 Outbreak on Selective Exposure: Evidence From 17 Countries”, which will be included in a panel on “Selective and Cross-Cutting Exposure in Times of COVID-19”. Professor Stanyer has also contributed to a paper titled “Do People Ever Learn From Social Media? A Cross-National and Cross-Temporal Analysis of Social Media Use on Political Knowledge”, led by Peter Van Aelst and part of the panel “Social Media Use and Political Knowledge: New Insights”. Finally, Online Civic Culture Centre (O3C) Director Andrew Chadwick, CRCC Director Cristian Vaccari, and Natalie-Anne Hall will present a paper titled “What People Talk About When They Talk About Misinformation on Private Social Media”, featured as part of an interdivisional panel on “Everyday Misinformation and Correction on Private Social Media: Relationality, Affordances, and Emergent Norms”. The panel was organized by Andrew Chadwick and is co-sponsored by the ICA Political Communication, Journalism Studies, Communication and Technology, and Mobile Communication divisions.
On the 30th of May, the last day of the conference, O3C PhD student Andrew Ross will present a paper titled “Meta-Perceptions: How News Coverage of Russian Disinformation Attempts Shapes Citizens’ Confidence in Electoral Integrity and Satisfaction With Democracy”, coauthored with Cristian Vaccari and Andrew Chadwick. This study will be included in a panel titled “Russian Political Communication Influence on Western Democracies”, chaired by Vaclav Stetka.
Our colleagues will also be involved in many other activities related to our international research and leadership. For instance, James Stanyer and Vaclav Stetka will be attending a research meeting of the Network of European Political Communication Scholars. Cristian Vaccari will chair the Editorial Board meeting of The International Journal of Press/Politics, for which he serves as Editor-in-Chief, and will participate, together with Andrew Chadwick, in the Editorial Board meeting of Political Communication, the official journal of the Political Communication Divisions of the ICA and the American Political Science Association.
Detailed information on the logistics of these events, some of which will be simultaneously livestreamed online for those who enrolled to participate in the conference virtually, is available on the ICA conference website. We wish all our colleagues a very productive conference!