During June 22-23, 2023, the international scientific conference of the Faculty of Journalism and Communication Sciences (FJSC) of the University of Bucharest, “Communication in times of (poly)crisis and digital disruptive transformations”, organized together with The Institute for International Journalism of the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism, Ohio University (United States of America) and Yuriy Fed’kovych Chernivtsi National University of Ukraine (Ukraine) brought together professors, researchers, journalists and communication specialists from 16 countries on four continents.
During the scientific meeting, the participants presented research papers on the role of journalism and communication under the impact of the digital revolution, in a period marked by multiple crises: the Covid pandemic, the energy crisis, climate change, population aging, migration and the war in Ukraine.
The impact of digital systems on communication, propaganda and hybrid warfare, online polarization and fragmentation, the amplification of fake news on social media, artificial intelligence (AI) and the media, hate speech and online incitement through bots and trolls, the wide spreading of conspiracy theories and the antidote to disinformation, populism and radicalization were the main themes of the debates.
CIVIS and ICUB sessions during the conference
The CIVIS special session, “Populism, electoral campaigns and media: technological challenges”, was of great interest, attended by professors from four member universities of the CIVIS University Alliance: Sapienza Università di Roma, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, University of Glasgow and the University of Bucharest. Moderated by lect. Adriana Ștefănel, PhD, teaching staff at FJSC, and prof. Maria Romana Allegri, PhD, teaching staff at Sapienza Università di Roma, the session focused on discussing political communication from the perspective of sanctioning hate speech, countering Euroscepticism, analyzing the causes of society’s polarization following the pandemic, but also the effects brought by the “digitalization” of politics.
Photo: Romina Surugiu (UB), Maria Romana Allegri (Sapienza Università di Roma) and Adriana Ștefănel (UB)
Another special session, organized under the auspices of ICUB (Research Institute of the University of Bucharest) project “The transition to cognitive capitalism and its impact on gender. The case of information technology workers”, moderated by lect. Nicoleta Apostol, PhD, teaching staff at FJSC, brought together researchers from the fields of sociology, social work and communication sciences. The presented works explored interdisciplinary topics at the intersection of gender, technology and work.Another topic that sparked intense debate was the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in journalism and communication. Numerous papers have addressed the topic of the use of Chat GPT applications in the educational process and in the media, as well as the threat posed by “deepfake”, but also the denial of science and climate change in social media.
Scientific event held in hybrid format
“This event organized by FJSC is becoming more and more attractive for the international scientific community, as evidenced by the interest and participation of a large number of researchers and journalists from four continents. Honoring our partnership with colleagues in the USA and Ukraine, we thank for their cooperation especially professors Jatin Srivastava, Full Professor at Ohio University and director of the Institute for International Journalism, as well as Ukrainian professors Natalia Nechaieva Yuriichuk, Associate Professor at Yuriy Fed’kovych Chernivtsi National University and to Oleksandr Dobrzhanskyi, Dean of the Faculty of History, Political Science and International Relations at Yuriy Fedkovych Chernivtsi National University. The credit for the selection of participants from an impressive number of applications and for the organization of the conference goes to the team coordinated by prof. Romina Surugiu, PhD, vice-dean at FJSC”, emphasized assoc. prof. Antonio Momoc, PhD, dean of FJSC.The conference was held in a hybrid format, in the Senate Hall of the University of Bucharest and online.
More than 50 professors, PhD students, journalists and researchers from 16 countries presented their research results in front of the public. Participants with scientific papers and communications came from Ukraine, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Serbia, Albania, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, as well as from universities and research centers in India, Lagos, Vietnam, China (Hong Kong) or the United States of America. The conference benefited from funding through the FSS project “Consolidating and increasing the competitiveness and attractiveness of the University of Bucharest for national collaborations”.
The detailed program of the 2023 edition of the FJSC conference can be accessed here.