Centre for Social Sciences ROPE

ROPE – Workshop on the changing patterns in journalistic roles and performances in Central and Eastern Europe.

As the world is changing, so is journalism. This truism is obviously accurate in Central and Eastern Europe, a region which has affected rapid and profound transformations in political, social and business conditions of journalism.     

The aim of the scientific exchange programme is to bring media scholars together and reflect to the current trends in mass communication, journalism and politics in Central and Eastern European countries by organising an international workshop. Our focus lies on the discovery of the shifts and continuities in journalistic practises 25 years after the collapse of the communist regime. It is safe to say that the overwhelmingly top-down and mass-oriented nature of media seemed to change radically and there is also wide consensus in doubts as to whether journalists still have gatekeeping power in public life. We, however, know surprisingly little about journalists, the key players who fill the structure with life; how do they conceptualise their function is societies and how do they perform. Is there a dominant way of thinking of journalistic roles especially in relation with politics in the post-communist countries? Or distinctively separate ideas exist regarding the ‘right’ journalistic attitude and behaviour in covering politics and public affairs?

Searching for paradigmatic and methodological renewal, the Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences invites theoretical and empirical contributions to a workshop in Budapest on the 5th and 6th of February in 2016.

Contributions are welcome from researchers at all stages of their careers, from any theoretical and methodological approach, comparative and single case studies related to the regional specificities of journalism, including but not limited to:

• configurations of journalistic role conceptions and practises in public discourse,
• changes and continuities in journalistic roles and performances,
• journalism ethics and public interest,
• sociological and anthropological description of news production,
• reflections on new journalism (social media journalism, multimedia journalism, photojournalism) and its effects on role conception and performances.

The overall aim of the workshop is to identify the new theoretical and methodological directions in studying journalistic roles and performances. The event is designed to give new impetus for journalism and media studies in CEE countries and build solid network of scholars for future cooperation. 

Organised by the Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences with the financial aid of the International Visegrad Fund Standard Grant (under the Grant Agreement no. 21510023). 

Scientific Committee:

Agnieszka Stępińska, Faculty of Political Science and Journalism, Adam Mickiewicz University (Poznan, Poland)

Andrej Skolkay, School of Communication and Media (Bratislava, Slovakia)

Filip Láb, Institute of Communication Studies and Journalism, Faculty of Social Science, Charles University (Prague, Czech Republic)

Gabriella Szabó, Centre for Social Sciences, Hungarian Academy of Sciences (Budapest, Hungary)