WJEC Call for Paper Abstracts

Is it Time to Reboot Journalism Education?

Call for Paper Abstracts

Submission deadline December 31, 2024 (2 p.m. PST)

 “Is it time to reboot journalism education?”

With the support and active participation of journalism education organizations worldwide*, the Congress provides a crucial discussion form on universal issues and interests related to journalism education today. The WJEC supports and encourages the continuing evolution of journalism and journalism education around the globe.

AREAS OF RESEARCH

The WJEC is currently soliciting academic paper abstracts related to the wider issue of journalism education in uncertain times. These will be presented as refereed research papers at the forthcoming San Francisco conference.

Abstracts will be welcomed on a variety of topics related to journalism and mass communication. However, submitters are encouraged to focus their entries on the broader conference theme: “Is it time to reboot journalism education?”

Potential themes can include, but are not limited to:

• Teaching journalism in the era of social media and social networks
• Journalism education for a 21^st century society (e.g. the role of journalism, news and media literacy, news avoidance, civic journalism, solution journalism, constructive journalism, audience bias and negativity, cancel culture)
• Research-led journalism education
• Journalism education and diversity, equality and inclusivity
• Reporting on crisis: what is the role of journalism education in the area of reporting on crises, e.g. climate change, environmental reporting, conflict, health
• Journalism education and press freedom
• Journalism education and establishing trust in an era of fake news, (fact checking, verification, misinformation, post-truth)
• Technological mutations and the future of journalistic practices: what to add, keep or drop
• “One journalism or many journalisms”? Connecting students with multiple communities: from local to international
• Journalism education, safety and trauma – teaching “trauma-aware journalism” for self and others
• Ethical challenges for teaching and undertaking new forms of journalism
• Journalism and resilience: preparing students to work in the profession
• Journalism education tackling issues of mental health in the classroom and the news room
• Trust in journalism: falling levels of trust in journalism present challenges around the role of news in democracies and politics, growing authoritarianism around the world and in holding power to account, how can journalism education address these issues?

ABSTRACT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Deadlines: WJEC invites interested presenters to submit abstracts only (minimum 500 words; maximum 800 words) by December 31, 2024.

Full papers are due on July 1, 2025 to be eligible for inclusion in the online conference proceedings. When submitting an abstract, please follow these steps:

• Go to the conference abstract submission platform (https://cmt3.research.microsoft.com/WJEC2025).
• Click on “Registration” in the Menu bar or click on “Create Account” in the Login Menu. It will take you to “Create New Account,” which is self-explanatory and guided. Finish signing up by confirming your email address.
• Once the account is set up, sign in using your email address and password.
• To submit the abstract, click on “Create a new Paper Submission.”
• Select from the menu the specific stream/subject area (see above) you want to submit to. Note that each paper can only be submitted to one stream. Papers submitted to more than one stream will automatically be disqualified.
• The next step will require you to provide the title of the paper, an abstract (9,000 characters maximum). If your abstract’s character count exceeds the character count, you can also attach it as a doc or PDF file. However, you cannot leave the abstract box empty, write a brief abstract or keywords for your paper if you choose to upload it as an attachment.
• The abstract should give a clear sense of the scope of the research, research objectives and methods of inquiry. If researchers have completed their projects by the submission deadline, paper abstracts must also include research results and conclusions/discussion.
• Next you can any additional authors, as many as you need.
• Finally, click the submit button to upload the abstract.
• You can log in to the site at any time to check the status of your submission or if you need to edit something. You can only do this up to the submission deadline of December 31, 2024. You would not be able to make any changes to your submission after the deadline.

Also note the following:

• Ensure that the document you upload does NOT include ANY information that identifies the author or his/her affiliation. Abstracts submitted with author identifiable information will automatically be removed from the pool of submissions and will not be considered for review or included in the conference program.
• Ensure that you add ALL author names, affiliations, email addresses and any other required information into the online system before uploading your paper abstract. This enables the conference organizers to keep track of individual authors and their abstracts. Ensure the email address you include is the one you want the paper chair to use to communicate with you about your submission and where you will receive a confirmation once you have successfully submitted your abstract.

Review process: A panel of international reviewers will blind-review all submissions. Abstract selections will be finalized by the end of February 2025 and presenters will be informed accordingly.

CONTACT

For more information about the call for papers, please contact: Elanie Steyn, Paper Competition Chair: elanie@ou.edu.

For more information about the 2025 WJEC in San Francisco, please contact: Nico Drok, WJEC Chair: nicodrok@gmail.com.

*The World Journalism Education Council (WJEC) is a coalition of academic associations worldwide that are involved in journalism and mass communication at the university level. They include: African Council on Communication Education (ACCE), Arab-U.S. Association for Communication Educators, Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC), Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (AEJMC), Association for Journalism Education (U.K.), Association of Schools of Journalism and Mass Communication (ASJMC), Brazilian Society of Interdisciplinary Studies on Communication (Intercom Brazil), Conférence des écoles de journalisme (CEJ), Broadcast Education Association (BEA), Canadian Committee for Education in Journalism (CCEJ), Chinese Journalism Education Association, Chinese Communication Association (CCA), European Journalism Training Association (EJTA), Global Network for Professional Education in Journalism and Media (JourNet), Israel Communication Association, Japan Society for Studies in Journalism and Mass Communication (JSSJMC), Journalism Education and Research Association of Australia (JERAA), Journalism Education Association of New Zealand, Journalism Research and Education Section International Association of Media and Communication Research (IAMCR), Journalism Studies Section, European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), Korean Society for Journalism and Communication Studies, Latin American Association of Communication Researchers (ALAIC), Latin American Federation of Social Communication Schools (FELAFACS), Nigerian Association of Journalism and Mass Communication Teachers, Nordic Journalism Training Association, Philippine Association of Communication Educators (PACE), Russian Council for Journalism Education, South African Communication Association, French Speaking Journalism Schools, Theopraste Network, African Journalism Educators Network, Association of Communicators of Kyrgyzstan.