Table of contents
- Message from the President
- Message from the Executive Director
- Galway 2026
- Message from the Chair of the Local Organising Committee
- CfP deadline – 3 February
- Awards and Travel Grants available
- Resources for participants
- Pre-conferences
- IAMCR News
- Extraordinary General Assembly – 9 February 2026
- Membership renewal for 2026
- Committees/Task Force events
- Upcoming events
- Section and Working Group News
- S/WG elections
- IAMCR Webinar Series
- Publications
- New IAMCR/Palgrave book
- Section and Working Group publications
- Members’ books
Message from the President
In his latest message to the membership, IAMCR President Daya Thussu reflects on the preparations for the 2026 conference in Galway, including the upcoming abstract submission deadline and information on conference awards and travel grants.
He also announces the appointment of Salvatore Scifo as Executive Director and acknowledges the long-standing contribution of Bruce Girard to IAMCR and the establishment of its permanent Secretariat.
Message from the Executive Director
In his first message to the membership, Salvatore Scifo reflects on taking up the role of Executive Director at a key moment for the Association, as it approaches its 70th year of activity.
He outlines priorities for continuity and collaboration during the transition period, acknowledging the contribution of outgoing Executive Director Bruce Girard. He also invites members to connect and share their thoughts as preparations continue for the 2026 conference in Galway.
Galway 2026
Message from the Chair of the Local Organising Committee
In his message to the IAMCR community, Andrew Ó Baoill, Chair of the Galway 2026 Local Organising Comittee reflects on the significance of gathering at this moment and looks ahead to welcoming participants to Galway in June.
For a glimpse of the host city, watch this short video highlighting the city’s vibrant culture, stunning landscapes, and warm hospitality.
CfP deadline - 3 February
The IAMCR 2026 conference will take place from 28 June to 2 July, hosted by the University of Galway, in Ireland. We encourage you to submit your abstracts by the deadline on 3 February 2026 at 23:59 UTC. Read the general CfP and the CfPs of our thematic sections and working groups.
Awards and Travel Grants available
Several awards and grants will be made available for members participating in our 2026 conference. These include up to 18 travel grants of up to US$2,000 each, the Herbert I. Schiller Memorial Award, and three thematic awards: for Urban Communication, Decolonising the Digital and the newly launched Reformulation of Media Production in a Global Context of Automation. Read more>>
Resources for participants
First time at an IAMCR conference? Check out our resources for conference participants page on the IAMCR website. The collection includes guidelines for presenters, tips for session chairs and discussants, and the recording of a webinar organised by the Emerging Scholars Network and the Media Education Research Section with insights into the IAMCR conference submission and review processes.
Pre-conferences
IAMCR Galway 2026 offers opportunities for IAMCR members and partners to organise conferences, seminars, and workshops in the days immediately before or after the main IAMCR conference. Pre-conferences can be organised by individual or institutional IAMCR members alone or in partnership with others. The final deadline to submit a pre-/post-conference application is 6 February.
IAMCR News
Extraordinary General Assembly – 9 February 2026
An online Extraordinary General Assembly will be held on Monday 9 February 2026 at 13:00 UTC (verify the time in your local area), in accordance with Article 5, Sections 5.7 and 5.8 of IAMCR’s Statutes.
The sole item on the agenda will be the approval of three proposed amendments to the IAMCR Statutes, concerning the governance framework of the Association. Additionally we will will provide a brief update on planning and preparations for our upcoming conference in Galway.
All individual members and one representative for each institutional member can attend the meeting and will receive an invitation to register by 28 January. Read more>>
Renew your membership
The membership renewal campaign is already underway. Thank you to all members who have already renewed their membership for 2026. If you have not done so yet, an invitation to renew your membership will be emailed to you this week from info@iamcr.org. You can also request a renewal link here.
If you are a representative of an institutional member, you can log in to your account and select My Membership from the menu to see if your institution's membership has been renewed. While you are logged in, you can also see a list of your institution’s representatives, including the administrator, who is the person who renews the membership.
Committee/Task Force events
The Ethics Task Force held a webinar on ethics in media and communication research, bringing together diverse perspectives on ethical challenges and responsibility in scholarly practice. Read more>>
The INTER/ACTIONS: Multimodal Academic Communication Task Force concluded its term with the launch of the report Media and Communication Research Through a Multimodal Lens, which highlights the value of non-written forms of research communication and identifies areas where IAMCR’s support for multimodal scholarship could have a lasting impact. Read the full report
Upcoming events
- 17-18 April 2026 - The "SJTU–IAMCR Emerging Media Conference", jointly organised by the School of Media and Communication at Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) and IAMCR, invites paper submissions for its 2026 edition in Shanghai, China, under the theme Creative Communication and Empowerment. The deadline for submissions is 23 February 2026.
See the call for papers and submission guidelines: https://iamcr.org/events/sjtu-iamcr-26
- 23-25 April 2026 - IAMCR is co-sponsoring the What is Research? conference, a transdisciplinary event that will take place in Portland (USA) at the University of Oregon, and invites reflection on research practices, frameworks, and knowledge production.
- 1-3 June 2026 - The Political Communication Research Section will hold the Africa 2026 Regional Conference Reimagining Media and Political Communication in Africa: Voices, Power and Participation in the Digital Age at North-West University (NWU) in Postchefstroom (South Africa) and online on 1-3 June 2026. The deadline for submissions is 5 February 2026.
Section and Working Group News
S/WG elections
This year several Sections and Working Groups will be holding elections for their leadership teams. They are:
- Crisis, Security and Conflict Communication Working Group
- Global Media Policy Working Group
- Media Production Analysis Working Group
- Media Sector Development Working Group
- Music, Audio, Radio, and Sound Working Group
- Political Economy Section
- Rural Communication Working Group
- Visual Culture Working Group
The call for candidates will be launched in March 2026. To stand for a position or to vote you must be a paid up member of IAMCR and of the section or working group. Log in to your IAMCR account to see or change the sections/working groups you are a member of.
Want to get more involved in the work of a section or working group? Contact the current heads for details about what the available positions entail. See contact details here and visit the FAQs page for Leading a Section or Working Group
IAMCR Webinar Series
Over the past year, a range of webinars and book talks have been held as part of the IAMCR Webinar Series, offering members opportunities to engage with current research, debates, and new publications across the field of media and communication.
Recordings of past webinars and book talks are available on the Webinar page on the IAMCR website.
Two more webinars are scheduled in the coming weeks:
- On Monday 26 January 2026, the “Music Streaming around the World” webinar, hosted by the Music Audio Radio & Sound Working Group, will discuss how global music platforms are reshaping production, distribution and consumption.
- On Thursday 29 January 2026, the book talk “East Asian Media Culture in the Age of Digital Platforms” (co-organised by the Political Economy and Popular Culture sections) will explore the convergence of popular culture and digital platforms in East Asian contexts.
Publications
New IAMCR/Palgrave book
We are pleased to announce the publication of Public Communication in Freefall, the 24th title in the Palgrave/IAMCR book series Global Transformations in Media and Communication Research. Edited by Stephen Coleman, Frank Esser, Julie Firmstone, Katy Parry, and Chris Paterson, the book examines the challenges facing political communication in the 2020s, drawing on and critically updating Jay Blumler’s work to explore what publicness and democracy mean in a changing media and political environment.
IAMCR members are entitled to a special 35% discount on all titles in the series. Email GlobalTransformations@iamcr.org with "global transformations discount" as the subject of your message for details on how to get your discount.
Section and Working Group publications
Volume 12, Number 1 of the Political Economy of Communication journal is now available. The peer-reviewed and open access journal is published under the auspices of the IAMCR Political Economy Section.
The Visual Culture Working Group has released two new e-books published by CIAC – Centro de Investigação em Artes e Comunicação / Research Center for Arts and Communication (Portugal).
Members' books
IAMCR members are invited to announce their recently published books and book chapters to the IAMCR community and website visitors. Click here to see the most recent ones.