Call for Papers : Media Watch January 2014

Call for Papers : Media Watch January 2014

Inevitable Social Media and Technological Determinism in a Wired World 

Arab springs to the jasmine revolution, mars exploration to unmanned drones, instant messaging to live tweets, tumbler to instagram, and robotics to cybernetics the rare nexus of technology and the tools of communication are making far reaching influence and impacts in our daily routines. Started with a cool notion of connecting and networking in a community or a society, social media now paves the wide paths of withering away of the states and nations. Proved to be a power centre of unifying and disseminating information social media became the inevitable presence on our daily rhythms. Content and apps are competing in a world were data always proved to be the undisputable king. The communication circles of social media, technology, content and application software’s are in a dynamic flux and is evolving. The traditional concept of reach, access, noise, feedback, reception are improvised every now and then on the emerging communication circle. The new players in the evolving communication circles are already proven complimentary and contributory to each other but still there exist hegemony for the power structure in determining each variables importance.

Digital revolution and technological upgradations have placed mankind at an amazingly challenging juncture, where they are made to take the way that the technologies are chasing for them. Though the proponents of sociological theory, mainly those who still uphold the human-centric models like ‘Social Construction of Technology’ and ‘Actor-network Theory’, denounce the medium-oriented theory, the recent social media explosion unquestionably shows the capacity of a medium in defining and characterising the cultural of a society from the inherent properties of these technologies. This never means that human will surrender to technology, neither does it mean technology seizes the power from mankind, but mankind is slipping into a dependency level on technology where they are left with no choice, but to accept and incorporate the media-specifies in their daily life.

On one side, when scientists are busy replacing man power with digital human machines and robots, one the other side is the proliferation of social media platforms that more or less makes humans a self-developed android-robot dancing with the tune of technology. In the initial stage of the development of a social media, social constructivists claimed this as a mechanism developed by the society’s need and action. However, as social media platform became cluttered the positions of these proponents are taking a back seat, and there is a strong wave of a social-media culture, where people are in a constant search of personalisation and ubiquitousness for such a platform. Social media platform have reached such a point that they have detached themselves from the static computer and laptop, to mobile devices which enhances their connectivity and reach. Mobile phone marketing and research are based on these social-connectivity mechanisms, and made decision-making a process based on incessant connectivity with the fellow-beings. Paradoxically, when a group of people complain the detachment of man from social life with the inflow of technology, these same technology are determining them to be social in a cyber-world, unravelling from the worldly life. From ‘Facebook’ to ‘Wats app’, people are seeking to connect and converse with the world in an anonymous and self-proclaimed identity. As the characteristics of these social media goes – connected throughout the world – the main aim of the users also is to connect and converse with as many as possible, with least botheration about context and reason for conversing.  The most radical aspect of this medium-centred theory is that is this impact of technology on the characteristics of the user.

This volume of the Journal of Media Watch invites papers on this contemporary issue of social media and technological determinism. The issue is not limited to the below but can cover the board spectrum of human and social communications.

·         Social media and cultural change

·         Technology and community engagement

·         Cultural impact of social media

·         Social media and activism

·         Technological intervention and human society

·         Public and private space in a social media world

·         Personalization of social media – from computer to mobile phones

·         Medium theory – does it substitute the social constructivist theory

·         Technology and Culture – who rules who?

·         Social media, public sphere and technology

·         Diversity, race, sexuality, ethnicity and social media

·         Pedagogy and the social media

·         Market forces and communication technology

·         Social media and organisation communication

Contributors are encouraged to query the editors (sonyjraj@gmail.com, mediajournal@ymail.com, mediawatchjournal@gmail.com) in a short e-mail describing their paper to determine suitability for publication. Journal of media watch will only accept true, original and pure fundamental and empirical research papers which were not published before in any publications. Media Watch will not accept book review, commentary without any proper referencing and citations.

Abstract: The abstracts should define objectives, theoretical framework and methodological approach, as well as possible contributions for the advancement of knowledge in the field. As a length measure, each submission should have an abstract of 150-200 words. All abstract must be accompanied with key words from 5-8. All abstract submissions must be submitted in advance, preferably before August 15, 2013 through e-mail. Early submission is strongly encouraged.

Length: As the journal is primarily print-based, we encourage articles or manuscripts, including references, tables, and charts, should range between 20-30 pages (7000-8000 words).

Deadlines:  Once the Abstract is reviewed and if it is found suitable, you will be asked to submit a completed manuscript by September 15, 2013. Review of the papers will be completed before October 15, 2013.

Style: References should also follow APA style (6th Edition).
Visit: http://www.mediawatchglobal.com/information-for-author/

Guidelines for submission are available at:
http://www.mediawatchglobal.com/instructions-for-authors/

Review Process: Authors are informed when manuscripts are received. Each manuscript is pre-viewed prior to distribution to appropriate reviewers. Manuscripts are anonymously reviewed. Once all reviews are returned, a decision is made and the author is notified. Manuscripts should consist of original material, and not currently under consideration by other journals. Author(s) have to submit the copyrights declaration permission to Media Watch before final consideration of the paper.

Cover Page: (for review purposes): Include title of manuscript, date of submission, author’s name, title, mailing address, business and home phone number, and email address. Please provide a brief biographical sketch and acknowledge if the article was presented as a paper or if it reports a funded research project.

Software Format: Submit papers in both Word (.doc) and Pdf.

Information: For further information and inquiries about the proposed issue and journal, in case of need, please do not hesitate to contact the co-editor of the journal, Dr. Sony Jalarajan Raj via e-mail: sonyjraj@gmail.com

Indexing & Citations: Journal of Media Watch is indexed and citied in 15 international database, citation and indexing agencies including Ulrich, Ebscos, J-Gate, Proquest, Google Scholar, ResearchBib, MIAR etc. Journal of Media Watch is subscribed in major university library data base in Asia, Europe and USA. Journal of Media Watch is considered for inclusion by the famous database such as ISI, Thomson Reuters, Dove Jones, and Nature.

Plagiarism Check: All the submitted papers will undergo mandatory online plagiarism check through plagiarism software’s such as Turnitin and Safe Assign. Contributors are encouraged to do plagiarism check before they submit for the publication. Any submitted paper with more than 7 % match will be rejected without any feedback from the editorial board.

Submission & Acceptance: Any paper published in any journals, book chapters, monograms or abstracts presented in any conference or published in any conference proceedings will not be published. We strongly discourage on the submission of any such.

We strongly recommend you share this call for papers among researchers who you think may be interested in submitting papers for the issue of the journal.

If any organizations and institutions are interested to associate with Media Watch journal, please write to the Publisher:deepakranjanjena@yahoo.com

• Visit the journal website: www.mediawatchglobal.com

Dr. Sony Jalarajan Raj
Editor-in-Chief, The Journal of Media Watch
Graduate Coordinator
St. Thomas University, Florida, USA
Email: sonyjraj@gmail.com
Tel: 001-786-204-1031

Abstract of May 2013 Issue of Media Watch

 

Mobile and Internet Communication: Privacy Risks for Youth in Bangladesh

FAHEEM HUSSAIN

Asian University for Women, Bangladesh

MOHAMMAD SAHID ULLAH

University of Chittagong, Bangladesh

This article looks into the privacy perception and vulnerability among Bangladeshi urban youth using mobile and computing devices. Based on a survey it shows a significant number of the youths are unaware about the concept of privacy in the ‘Digital Age’ and also has little or no idea about possible risks relating to shared voice and data communications. Amid the absence of any clear-cut privacy framework at the national level, this article has found that the level of trust on existing mobile telephony to be significantly higher than the Internet. This research concluded that the long term user experience (or absence of it) in mobile phone and Internet do not have any impact on Bangladeshi youths’ perception on possible privacy related vulnerabilities. Concern over data manipulation has also been identified a major influential factor in deciding youth’s online behavioral patterns.

Redefining the Virtual Self: Analysis of Facebook Discourse of College Students in Kolkata

UMA SHANKAR PANDEY

Surendranath College for Women, University of Calcutta, India

One way in which Facebook is unique for creating perceptions of individuals is the degree to which private information is presented by avenues other than revelation by the person himself. Discourses, are not just insulated linguistic ‘objects,’ but are constitutive parts of communicative acts in a particular sociocultural situation. The present study looks at a particular set of socio-economic factors which influence the Facebook discourse of undergraduate and post graduate communication students in Kolkata, India. This research posits the role of interpreting the intentionality of the discourse on the respondents. This recognizes the process in which people decide about how and when they will disclose private information on a group site. The 292 respondents to our online questionnaire classify the topicality, functionality and colloquality of their Facebook discourse among closed ended options. The objective is to relate these intentionality to factors such as broadband use, medium of education, perceived usefulness and goal directedness.

Networked Publics and Identity Construction: Towards an Era of Virtual Socialization

BIDYARANI ASEM

Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, Delhi, India

In the era of digital age where the rate of information exchange and sharing have gone extremely high, the line of demarcation between the sender and the receiver in a communication act came to be less existent. With the rise of new media technologies, social networking sites (SNS) such as Google+, Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, LinkedIn, etc. have increasingly become a common platform for networking mong people. The term ‘networked publics’ became a more appropriate term for the broad category of users in these virtual networking platforms. One of the most important characteristic features of social networking is the issue of self constructed identity and representation. This emerging trend has become the key towards virtual socialization amongst the networked publics. Based on strong theoretical backgrounds of self and identity construction, this paper tries to explore the various aspects of socialization in the virtual space through a wide array of literature surveys. Notwithstanding their privacy concerns, the willingness to self expose themselves among the public and to what extent people reveal their “self” in the process of identity construction will be highlighted thoroughly in the paper.

New Media Impacts on Journalism: Revisiting the Dynamics of News Production

PITABAS PRADHAN

Aligarh Muslim University, India

The Arab spring of 2011, the Indian Civil Society campaign for Lokpal 2012, and the ongoing campaign for capital punishment to the Delhi gang rape accused, are among a thousands of events, worldwide, which have demonstrated the power of new media in galvanizing the masses for a cause. The advent of high speed communication channels like broadband, optical fiber, and Web 2.0 services coupled with the ubiquitous multitasking devices like smart phones and other handhelds available in multitudes of forms have tremendously increased the scale of messages output and sharing. The pull of modern technology, push of business, and most importantly the search for new ways to satisfy the self expression needs and ambitions of the new generation have made the domain of new media grow beyond expectation. The technology savvy new generations, have learnt to explore constantly expanding opportunities for communication and self expression presented by the Internet and the Web. The interactive nature of the new media technologies have significantly altered the dynamics of journalism in the cyber space to an extent of blurring the distinction between producers and consumers of messages and transformed them into pro-summers. This paper analyses the impacts of new media technology on professional journalism and the responses of the old media.

Adolescents and the Media: Teenagers Talk about Television and Negative Representations

DOROTHY HOBSON

University of Wolverhampton, West Midlands, United Kingdom

Young people are an elusive and exciting audience and user of all media. They are both the most desirable yet indefinable set of groups and individuals who must be attracted, intrigued and held in thrall if media organizations are to succeed in their quests to keep in step with their ever moving interests, This article presents the views of diverse groups of young people aged between nine and nineteen in Birmingham, United Kingdom in the winter of 2010/11 and reveals in their own words how they feel about the way that they are represented in British media. They are avid watchers of television and even more active users of new media. They reveal their eclectic and heavy viewing habits. While they are diverse in their education, social backgrounds and ethnicity, they are united in expressing their unhappiness and discontent about the way that they are represented on British television both in news coverage, documentaries and in dramas directed at them. More worrying is the fact that they feel and give evidence that this negative view of teenagers, affects the way they are perceived by other members of the public. While they are critical of British television they do single out American television as being more aspirational and optimistic.

Bollywood Nuances Affecting Italian Television

MONIA ACCIARI

Swansea University, United Kingdom

Since the 1990s, Bollywood cinema arrived in Europe and successfully settled away from the Indian subcontinent, proposing a diverse, variegated and multisensorial experience not only for South Asians living abroad, but also for the locals. Interestingly, the plural mediatic nature of these kinds of films have penetrated European countries in different ways; some were enthusiastic for the joyfulness of songs, others began reviving connections between hippy culture and Bollywood atmosphere, while Italy, the country under investigation in this article, initiated a series of television programs profoundly inspired by the new and compelling Bollywood wave. The television programs analyzed in this article have the scope to unearth how Bollywood cinema has penetrated the small screen of Italy. Also, this article answers the following question: what are the dynamics that have characterized the artistic encounter between two very different ways of expression? Firstly, the work of Russian Semiologist Yuri Lotman on semiosphere is taken into account in an attempt to highlight how the world of Bollywood and the one of Italian television, considered as two diverse semiospheres, have influenced each other in the endeavor to see a process of exchange and fusion. On a second level, the fusion of formats, such as sitcoms with Bollywood nuances, could produce an interesting reflection on genre. A brief literature review on genre theory has been offered to frame the possibility for the emergence of a new genre, the fusion genre, at the base of this encounter.

CBC and the Science Academy: A Participatory Journey

NICOLE BLANCHETT NEHELI

Sheridan College Institute of Technology, Canada

The publicly funded Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) has a unique, participatory relationship with the science academy that showcases scientific discovery on the Geologic Journey II website—a site run by CBC. Although academics work on interesting projects that have great relevance to those outside academic circles, their work is generally published in journals or texts that are not often accessed or, in some cases, understood by the general public. On Geologic Journey II, a site created in conjunction with the development of a documentary project, contemporary research is highlighted in a manner that makes it easily accessible to a much wider audience. Through the lens of media logic, using the theories of convergence culture and the public sphere, in this paper, I explore how the partnership between CBC and the science academy invigorates public discourse, and why building relationships with community partners makes good business sense for a public broadcaster.

Freshman 15: Are Universities Doing Enough?
STEVEN McCORKLE

University of Alabama, USA

KEVIN ARMSTRONG

Mississippi State University, USA

MARK GOODMAN

Mississippi State University, USA

JANICE GIDDENSClarkson Community Center, Atlanta, USA

Freshman 15 has been identified as a major medical issue on college campuses for over a decade. Scholars have indicated that Freshman 15 treatment options need to include physical fitness, nutrition, and counseling. Our analysis of the web sites of 45 major universities indicates that most schools need to improve their communication methods if they are going to successfully provide intervention to their students.

Audience at Play: An Inquiry into the Song Kolaveri Di

SHUBHDA ARORA

Mudra Institute of Communications Ahmedabad, India

The discourse in communication studies has looked at audiences as active seekers of pleasure through communicative play. This perspective has been talked about extensively by William Stephenson (1988) through his play theory of mass communication. Stephenson refutes Freud who considered play to be an unconscious, passive and an escapist defence mechanism. This paper furthers this understanding of play in the present day of digitization and virtual media technologies. The study proposes that the users of the Internet (virtual audiences) get actively co-opted into the creation and recreation of media content through play. Participative play on the Internet can be equated to what Caillois (2001) has described as Paideia (primitive, pure play of carefree gaiety). Paideia in its new Internet avatar may manifest itself in the form of shares and likes, posts and reposts, comments and recommendations on content sharing and social networking sites. This carefree act of pure play can be attributed to the absence of a proper regulatory framework on social interactions in the cyberspace which in turn makes the play elusive and the players’ (audience) behaviour very unpredictable.

Constraints in Screen Translation: The Socio- Cultural Dimensions of Dubbing and Subtitling

LOVJI K. N

Vimala College, University of Calicut, India

Whether domesticating or foreignising in its approach, any form of audiovisual translation ultimately plays a unique role in developing both national identities and national stereotypes. The transmission of cultural values in screen translation has received very little attention in the literature and remains one of the most pressing areas of research in translation studies. (Mona Baker and Braño Hochel 1997:76) The term audiovisual translation refers to both the translation of the distribution format and its contents. Even though the technical responsibilities of audiovisual translators may become limited, their creative and linguistic abilities, as well as their capacity to match words with both images and sounds continue to be tested. The present paper reflects the pace and breadth of the linguistic and cultural challenges that the translators encounter while translating, subtitling and dubbing films.

Media Watch Invites Papers for September 2013 Issue

Media Watch communication journal invites papers for a special theme issue—
Exploring the Dynamics of Media and Communication Education & Research

Globally media education and research is in its dynamic flux after the emergence of new/social media. The traditional models/process of communications is redefined. Classrooms turned to be virtual and multi-mediated. Teaching and learning began to challenge the concepts of space and time. Teaching and learning becomes more stake-holder centered. Industry and market response is getting narrow casted. Catering for the niche world is vital.  Solutions for all problems are now in apps!.  Media education will very soon become apps centered. 

Cyberspace provides everything from instructional to simulation effects. Media education and research is becoming more of need based.  Media education from the primary to the territory stages had diversified beyond imaginations. Generic subjects and syllabi were replaced by need based techno centered multi-disciplinary managerial entrepreneurship courses. Capstone subjects were replaced by innovative, creative, experimental and emerging disciplines. Cybernetics to cyborg studies, pop culture to celebrity studies, gaming to media entrepreneurship courses are getting prominence. An inevitable cross breed of humanities and social sciences with science and technology already happened in the media education and research. Standardization and centralization of curriculum becomes absolutely impossible. Diversity and creativity enriched in media education and research. The quest for an alternate world to a better possible world was absolutely realized and responded by the media education and research in each nation. Public redefining the concepts of the traditional ‘source and receivers’ gained the locus of attention in the contemporary media education and research. Mediations with these faceless flash and dynamic publics in utmost efficiency and effectiveness had repositioned the study of media process to a higher level. 

This proposed special issue of Media Watch September 2013 on media and communication education and research is an opportunity to explore the critical/logical dimensions of media education and research in our higher education centers. The journal considers articles, essays, and book reviews related to the theme. We encourage submissions from scholars, professionals, researcher, and educators at any level and in any discipline. Your contribution must attempt to enhance and restructure all the dimensions of media and communication education and research to a higher level of enlightenment, to promote further construction and cross breed of educational environment in media and communication studies with other emerging disciplines. It will therefore be appreciated that the papers go beyond the descriptive dimension. Scientific, comparative studies, analytical and dialogic approaches and diverse, pluralistic methodologies are welcome on the following themes: 

·         Social media practices in media & communication education.

·         Role of new media in curriculum development.

·         Stake holder centered teaching & learning approaches.

·         Journalism education and research in a cyber world.

·         Paradigm shifts in media and communication education.

·         Innovative practices by publics in media education and research.

·         De-westernizing media and communication education

·         Internationalizing the scope of media and communication research.

·         Experimentations from the grassroots level teaching and learning.

·         Redefining the value spectrum in media and communication education.

Contributors are encouraged to query the editors in a short e-mail describing their papers to determine suitability for publication. 

Abstract: The abstracts should define objectives, theoretical framework and methodological approach, as well as possible contributions for the advancement of knowledge in the field. As a length measure, each submission should have an abstract of 150-200 words. All abstract submissions must be submitted in advance, preferably before May 20, 2013 through e-mail: mediajournal@ymail.com, sonyjraj@gmail.com, and mediawatchjournal@gmail.com. Early submission is strongly encouraged. 

Length: As the journal is primarily print-based, we encourage articles or manuscripts, including references, tables, and charts, should range between 20-30 pages (6000-8000 words). 

Deadlines:  Once the Abstract is reviewed and if it is found suitable, you will be asked to submit a completed manuscript by June 15, 2013. Review of the papers will be completed before July 10, 2013. 

Style: References should also follow APA style. Visit:
http://www.mediawatchglobal.com/information-for-author/

Guidelines for submission are available at:
http://www.mediawatchglobal.com/instructions-for-authors/ 

Review Process: Authors are informed when manuscripts are received. Each manuscript is pre-viewed prior to distribution to appropriate reviewers. Manuscripts are anonymously reviewed. Once all reviews are returned, a decision is made and the author is notified. Manuscripts should consist of original material, and not currently under consideration by other journals. Author(s) have to submit the copyrights declaration permission to Media Watch before final consideration of the paper. 

Cover Page (for review purposes): Include title of manuscript, date of submission, author’s name, title, mailing address, business and home phone number, and email address. Please provide a brief biographical sketch and acknowledge if the article was presented as a paper or if it reports a funded research project. 

Software Format: Submit papers in both Word (.doc) and Pdf. 

Information: For further information and inquiries about the proposed issue and journal, in case of need, please do not hesitate to contact the co-editor of the journal, Dr. Sony Jalarajan Raj via e-mail: sonyjraj@gmail.com. 

We strongly recommend you share this Call for Papers among researchers who you think may be interested in submitting papers for the issue of the journal.

If any organizations and institutions are interested to associate with Media Watch journal, please write to the Publisher: deepakranjanjena@yahoo.com

For more information about the journal, please visit the journal website: www.mediawatchglobal.com
Blog page: www.mediawatchjournal.blogspot.in

Dr. Sony Jalarajan Raj
Editor, Media Watch
St. Thomas University, Florida, USA
sonyjraj@gmail.com