Call for papers for a special issue of Nordicom Review
Preliminary title: Ownership and regulation of news media and digital platforms in Europe
Editors:
- Mark Blach-Ørsten (Roskilde University)
- Tobias Lindberg (Nordicom, University of Gothenburg)
- Helle Sjøvaag (University of Stavanger)
- Josef Trappel (University of Salzburg)
Contact: Tobias Lindberg, tobias.lindberg@nordicom.gu.se
Important dates:
- Deadline for extended abstracts: 2 May 2023
- Invitations to submit full paper sent: 15 May 2023
- Deadline for full submissions: 2 October 2023
- Peer review (including revisions): November 2023–January 2024
- Expected publication: Spring 2024
Background and Aim
This shifting field of media and communications also means that ownership and control of news media grows increasingly complex, not least empirically. Collecting data on media ownership is challenged by varying degrees of transparency across European media systems, hampering comparative work, while the many forms of capture (by, e.g., owners, platforms, and corporations) makes it difficult to assess ownership effects. Moreover, conceptually, there is still no clear agreement on how ownership forms are best operationalised and separated. Not only is news media ownership consolidating and concentrating across Europe, emerging forms of economic control and influence (e.g., nonprofit funding by tech giants, Covid-19 recovery measures, and taxation schemes) remain understudied.
Building on this background, the editors of this special issue invite scholars to submit articles with a focus on the ownership and regulation of news media and digital platforms in Europe.
The articles may include a focus on the following:
- Transparency of news media ownership (local, national, legacy, digital), including questions of public access
- Ownership and journalistic autonomy
- Concentration of media ownership
- Media policy, regulation, and digitalisation
- Imbalances in regulation between national news media and global digital platforms
- Transnationalisation and globalisation of ownership
- Financial transparency and economic control
- Measurement issues regarding ownership and concentration
- Best regulatory practices in controlling media and platform ownership concentration
Procedure
Those with an interest in contributing should write an extended abstract (max. 750 words) where the main theme (or argument) of the intended article is described. The abstract should contain the preliminary title and five keywords. How the article fits with the overall aim of the issue should be mentioned.
Send your extended abstract by 2 May 2023 to Tobias Lindberg: tobias.lindberg@nordicom.gu.se