Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa

CALL FOR PAPERS

Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa
CAMRI Africa Media Series: University of Westminster, London, UK

1st Call: Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa Conference: 25 – 26 March 2010

Racism, Ethnicity and the Media in Africa are the topics of a 2-day interdisciplinary conference to be held at the University of Westminster from 25-26 March 2010. Not only are the concepts and practices of racism and ethnicity related and multifaceted – covering issues such as race, sex, colour, status and class – but they are also part of multi-staged pre-colonial, colonial and postcolonial realities. The crisis in global capitalism, rising levels of poverty in Africa, together with political mismanagement, appear to be fuelling unprecedented levels of racial and ethnic conflict on the continent. This debate matters because racism and ethnicity have, to a large extent, undermined African efforts that aim to achieve national unity and development. The Nigerian-Biafran War, 6 July 1967 – 15 January 1970, serves as a prominent example. More recent examples include Rwanda, where, in 1994, RTML radio played a leading role in the massacre of millions of
Rwandans. In December, 2007, Kenyan media reports and songs, during what many regarded as ethnic-divided elections, contributed to the violent clashes that killed 900 and displaced more than a quarter of a million people. The ethnic and racial killings in Darfur, the murder of albinos in Tanzania, the 2008 xenophobic attacks in South Africa and many other unreported conflicts in Africa raise many questions: How are the mass media implicated in the growing ethnic and racial conflicts and violence in Africa? In what ways are the media challenging, undermining or reinforcing issues relating to racism and ethnicity in Africa? How have African media and journalists covered racial and ethnic topics? Both old and new media have opened new spaces for debates that were formerly suppressed, but have they not also encouraged extremism? This interdisciplinary conference calls on academics, media practitioners, policy makers, journalists, Africa specialists, and
development practitioners to debate on the growing linkages between ‘racism, ethnicity and the media in Africa’. Papers may include, but are not necessarily limited to, the following:
-          Theorising representation, racism and ethnicity in Africa
-          Contemporary and historical dimensions of minority media in Africa
-          Racism and the media in Africa
-          Ethnic languages and the media in Africa
-          Global, National, Local identities and the media in Africa
-          Human rights and the media in Africa
-          Identity politics and the media in Africa
-          Suppressed imaginations and mediation of suppressed histories
-          Memory and the media in Africa
-          Hate media in Africa
-          Reporting tribal, racial and factional politics in Africa
-          Capitalism, poverty and marginalisation in the African media
-          The politics of funding and regulating minority media in Africa
-          Old and New Media (e.g. Internet, Mobile phones) in a Polarised Africa
-          Peace journalism/intercultural communication/inclusive media practices in Africa

Please e-mail your 200-word abstract to Helen Cohen at: journalism@westminster.ac.uk. All submissions must include title of conference, topic, an abstract and should list the author’s full name, with contact information and affiliation. The deadline for the submission of abstracts is 15 November 2009 and those whose abstracts are accepted will be notified by 1 December 2009.

Conference Fees:
Unwaged/Students: £50                         Waged/Non-Students: £125
Fees cover registration, conference pack, lunch, coffee/tea and wine reception

Conference Team: Prof. Colin Sparks, Dr Peter Goodwin, Dr. Roza Tsagarousianou, Dr. Winston Mano, Dr  Tarik Sabry, Helen Cohen, Maria Way and Brilliant Mhlanga

Website:http://www.wmin.ac.uk/mad/page-2192

Transforming Audiences 2 Conference

Transforming Audiences 2 was a great success and received very positive feedback.

All informations about the conference, photos and videos from the event will be very soon available at http://www.transformingaudiences.org.uk

The CMCS (Centre for Media and Communication Studies “Massimo Baldini”) based at LUISS University, Rome, Italy, participated to the conference, with the appreciated paper “From Spectators to Participants? Political Engagement and Social Networking in Italy” presented by Emiliana De Blasio.

Some photos are available clicking the folder below.

Transforming Audiences 2

Transforming Audiences 2

The full, final programme, and book of abstracts, is now available online HERE

Transforming Audiences 2

3 – 4 September 2009
University of Westminster – London, UK

in association with the Audience and Reception Studies section of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), the Popular Communication Division of the International Communication Association (ICA) and the Audience Section of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR)

The first Transforming Audiences conference, in September 2007, featured over 100 presentations by audience researchers from around the world. Transforming Audiences 2 signals its development as Europe’s major recurring international conference for audience/user studies.

There has never been a more exciting time for researchers interested in the place of media in people’s lives. The growth of diverse online offerings and easy-to-use creative tools, coupled with the global economic downturn, has made traditional media and conventional broadcasters increasingly uncomfortable. Some critics are concerned about the future of ‘quality’ media for audiences to enjoy, but others celebrate this flourishing of non-elite, grassroots media.

Transforming Audiences 2 – organised by the Audiences Group at the University of Westminster Communications and Media Research Institute, and run in association with ICA, IAMCR, and ECREA – will present a rich set of analyses of the current situation and raise important questions about the future. We have strongly encouraged papers from interesting new scholars as well as more established researchers.

Invited speakers include Liz Bird, Nick Couldry, Natalie Fenton, Christine Hine, Peter Lunt, and Shaun Moores.

Conference organised by David Gauntlett, Caroline Dover, Fatimah Awan, Anastasia Kavada and Annette Hill.

Transforming Audiences 2 will consider the following issues:

DIY media, ‘we media’, ‘user generated content’ and dispersed creativity, Audiences, identities and popular culture, Citizen media and new political communication, Transnational audiences and diasporas, Audiences and users around the world, The economics and business of contemporary media audiences, New methodologies in audience studies, Changing audience/producer relations, Media history and audiences, Philosophical and theoretical paradigms

Overall Schedule and Parallel Sessions Programme

Further informations HERE

Transforming Audiences 2

3 – 4 September 2009, University of Westminster, London, UK

All the informations HERE