The Association of Media and Communication Researchers in Denmark, SMiD celebrated its 50th anniversary during its bi-annual conference held ealier this month. The jubilee gathering brought researchers under the theme “From Print to Prompt: Media and Communication Research and Education in the Era of AI.”
The anniversary conference explored how artificial intelligence is reshaping communication, education, media and journalism research. Across two days of panels and roundtables, participants discussed AI-driven media systems, misinformation, platformization, generative aesthetics, and the future of academic work.
Opening the conference, SMiD Chair Martina Skrubbeltrang Mahnke reflected on the importance of scholarly community and in-person exchange in a rapidly changing technological environment.
– SMiD brings us together in ways that wouldn’t otherwise happen. In-person, across research interests and institutions. In a way, it’s the opposite of AI.
Mahnke emphasized that national and Nordic academic collaboration remain essential at a time when universities face increasing pressure from publication demands, shrinking resources, and AI-driven transformations.
– It is this exchange across universities and subfields that makes SMiD essential and this conference special.
A central part of the anniversary programme was the celebration of 45 years of MedieKultur, SMiD’s flagship open-access journal for media and communication research.
During the conference, SMiD presented also its 2026 awards recognising outstanding contributions to media and communication research.
The SMiD Innovation Prize 2026 was awarded to Stine Liv Johansen for her significant contributions to research on children, youth, and digital media. The association highlighted her work in demonstrating how digital platforms are deeply integrated into young people’s everyday lives, learning, and participation, as well as her role in bringing nuanced perspectives into public debates about media and children.
The SMiD Prize 2026 went to Klaus Bruhn Jensen in recognition of his influential contribution to Danish and international media research over more than four decades. SMiD praised his pioneering work in audience and reception studies, digital media research, and comparative media studies, as well as his impact as a teacher, editor, author, and mentor for generations of media scholars.
Images: SMiD; Martina Skrubbeltrang Mahnke.