Global Media Policy Working Group - Call for Proposals 2025

The Global Media Policy (GMP) Working Group of the International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites the submission of abstracts for IAMCR 2025, which will be held in Singapore from 13 to 17 July 2025, hosted by the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information at Nanyang Technological University.

The deadline for submission is 7 February 2025, at 23h59 UTC.

See the list of all sections and working groups and their remits
See the CfPs of all sections and working groups

IAMCR conferences address many diverse topics defined by our 37 thematic sections and working groups. We also propose a single central theme to be explored throughout the conference with the aim of generating and exploring multiple perspectives. This is accomplished through plenary and special sessions, as well as in many of the sessions of the sections and working groups. The 2025 central theme is Communicating Environmental Justice: Many Voices, One Planet.

Consult a detailed description of the main theme

The conference theme relates closely to the ongoing interest of the Global Media Policy Working Group in bringing participatory and deliberative mechanisms of policymaking to the fore—and fostering research on transversal concepts, major challenges, and emergent paradigm shifts.

Since its inception 25 years ago, the Working Group has explored the interplay between policies, policy actors, and governance processes between the local and the global. It has offered a space to analyse how these different actors and levels influence each other; how a variety of policy actors - from governments to business to civil society - interact within and across the local, national and global; how new norms and practices of regulation emerge as a result of these interactions; and how borders and boundaries are overcome, and re-established, in the shaping of communication governance.

For the 2025 IAMCR conference, the Global Media Policy Working Group therefore invites papers that address the themes of:

‘Environmental Justice and Global Media Policy’, in particular:

How has environmental justice and sustainability been addressed in global media policy? How should it be addressed and prioritized?
What are the conceptual, theoretical, and normative underpinnings for bringing together environmental justice and rights, on the one hand, and communication and media rights, on the other?
How are the environmental, waste, repair, and sustainability concerns in relation to digital technologies (especially data, social media, mobile, platform, digital transactions, and AI issues) being addressed in global media policy?
What is the interplay among local, national, regional, and global scales of global media policy in tackling environmental justice concerns?
Who and what are the new actors, stakeholders, publics, and those with an interest in environmental global media policy? What kinds of innovations in global media institutions, frameworks, and tools are needed to adequately grasp and integrate environmental concerns?
What are the opportunities and transformative potential for rethinking inclusion and (more-than-human) participation in global media policy via an environmental justice and multi-species turn?

The GMP will prioritise proposals that contribute to innovative ideas, approaches and/or methodologies in addressing inclusivity, participation and deliberation in communication governance. A particular current concern is:

‘Tech Lobbying and Media Policy’, in particular:

What is the role of technology companies’ lobbying of governments (national and local) and international organizations?
What are the effects and opportunities of technology companies’ influence efforts, particularly for Indigenous peoples, women, people with disabilities, Black and racialized people, and LGBTQIA+ people?
How do technology companies’ influence campaigns relate to environmental justice?
What efforts are at play to enroll or counter technology companies’ influence efforts?
What discourses are forwarded by technology companies’ lobbying and influence efforts?
What governmentalities come into play and are fostered by technology companies’ lobbying and influence efforts?
What methods exist for studying technology companies’ influence (through lobbying and other influence mechanisms) on governments and international organizations?
What transparency mechanisms exist to shed light on technology companies’ lobbying and influence efforts (freedom of information, lobbying registries, document libraries, observer status policies)? Where do these mechanisms fall short?

If your paper proposal addresses a different topic in the field of media/communications policy, please consider submitting to one of the other IAMCR sections and working groups that address policy questions.

Guidelines for abstracts

Abstracts must be submitted exclusively through IAMCR’s submission system from 3 December 2024 through 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. Abstracts submitted by email will not be accepted.

Abstract should be between 800 and 1000 words. It is expected that each person will submit only one abstract. However, no author’s name should appear on more than two abstracts, either individually or as part of any group of authors and authors should not submit more than one abstract to any single section or working group.

Proposals are accepted for both single papers and for panels with several papers (in which you propose multiple papers that address a single theme).

Statement on use of AI tools

IAMCR does not encourage or condone the use of generative AI tools to create abstracts submitted for consideration for our conferences. IAMCR values originality, integrity, and transparency in academic work, and believes that human-authored contributions best support rigorous and innovative scholarship in media and communication research. Should an author choose to use a generative AI tool in the preparation of an abstract, we require that they include a clear statement within their submission disclosing the tool's use. This statement must specify: (1) the name of any AI tool used; (2) how the tool was used in preparing the abstract, and; (3) the reason for using the tool. Failure to disclose the use of generative AI in accordance with these guidelines may impact the evaluation and acceptance of the submission.

Languages

Abstracts in English, French or Spanish are welcome. Presentations are also welcome in any of the three languages, but we recommend researchers to prepare their slides in English to facilitate comprehension and discussion.

Deadlines and key dates

The deadline to submit abstracts is 7 February 2025, at 23.59 UTC. For other key dates see https://iamcr.org/singapore2025/keydates. Dates are subject to change.

Contacts

For further information about the Global Media Policy Working Group, its themes, submissions, and panels please contact:

Gerard Goggin (Co-Chair) gerard.goggin@westernsydney.edu.au