International conference on digital transformation, media and social inequalities, at the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the University of Bucharest

Between January 25^th – 26^th 2024, the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the University of Bucharest (FJSC) and the European Sociological Association’s Research Network 18: Sociology of Media and Communications Research – ESA, will host the international scientific conference “Digital Transformation, Media and Social Inequalities ESA RN18 Mid-Term Conference”.

Professor Marian Preda, Rector of the University of Bucharest, will give the opening word at the event, followed by associate professor Constantin Vică, PhD, UB vice-rector for Internationalization and Public Relations, associate professor Antonio-Roberto Momoc, PhD, dean of FJSC, and professor Peter Golding, honorary director of the European Sociological Association’s Research Network 18: Sociology of Media and Communications Research – ESA.

The conference will take place starting 10 AM in the Senate Hall of the Rectorate building of the University of Bucharest (no. 90 Panduri Street, Bucharest). On behalf of UB, among the organizers we can mention associate professor Romina Surugiu, PhD, FJSC pro-dean responsible of activities related to teaching, research, ensuring quality, student activities, and lecturer Nicoleta Elena Apostol, PhD, teaching staff of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Science of the University of Bucharest.

The 5 sections of the conference will be moderated both by guests and organizers – professor Peter Golding, associate professor Romina Surugiu, lecturer Nicoleta Elena Apostol – as well as by other professors and researchers in Communication Sciences, among which Paško Bilić, ESA coordinator, researcher and teaching staff at the Department for Culture and Communication of the Institute for Development and International Relations in Zagreb (Croatia), and associate professor Raluca Petre, PhD, teaching staff at the Department for Communication Sciences of the Letters Faculty pertaining to the “Ovidius” University in Constanța.

The event aims to promote an open academic dialogue on themes related to the results of digital transformation in contemporary media and communication.

Panel for mentoring young researchers

The international conference will host the scientific papers of over 60 professors, researchers in Communication Science in our country and abroad, from Romania (Bucharest, Cluj, Constanța) and Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Great Britain, Turkey. Among the subjects approached are the phenomena of “platformisation” and digital inclusion, journalism practice, (re)negotiating identities in digital context, journalism practice in digital ecosystem and subscribing media-consuming audiences in typologies according to vulnerabilities and strengths.

Another interest point of the event is represented by the special ESA panel for mentoring young researchers in concern to publishing papers in important scientific magazines: challenges, opportunities and traps, which will be presented on the second day of the conference, just before conclusions.

Artificial Intelligence and its impact on how we inform (ourselves)

Recent technological finds and transformations in media and communication make us reflect on their effects and causes when we speak about society, democracy and the business environment.

The “platformisation” process implies, at institutional level: data, market and governing infrastructures (Poell, Nieborg & van Dijck, 2019). This has led to new models of businesses and relations between social actors.

Journalism as an institution has been under the question mark for over a decade (Deuze, 2020), as the news industry is confronted with a decline. Journalism as a profession aims to maintain or regain people’s trust. Taking into consideration its recent evolution, people see artificial intelligence as a threat. The Impact of AI on the media and communication sector is fiercely debated. Is it a threat or a helping tool? At the same time, mixing professions in the field of communication – a combination of journalism practices, Public Relations and Marketing in the digital sphere – comes with new challenges in maintaining a justice-oriented and democratic public sphere, but also in ensuring equal access to information.

These themes are some of the main subjects that the participants of the international conference will present, question and debate.

The full program of the international conference “Digital Transformation, Media and Social Inequalities ESA RN18 Mid-Term Conference”, co-organized by the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences of the University of Bucharest is available here.