AWiM 2021 Conference
The Future of Media in Africa: Building Resilience in a COVID19 World
2-3 November 2021, online
In this year’s virtual conference, we invite presentations on the impact of COVID19 on media in Africa, the gaps it revealed for media industries, women in media, and forward-looking solutions to address these.
COVID-19 has no doubt changed media industries. Our research into the impact of COVID-19 on East African women journalists found that a staggering 63% of respondents said their jobs had been affected during the pandemic. 52% of respondents were placed on unpaid leave. The industry also saw many organisational casualties, with some newsrooms shutting down completely. Alongside these impacts were changes in how we work and gather news. Sexual harassment also increased on the digital platforms which respondents were now using to engage with colleagues. According to a 2021 UNESCO report on online violence against women journalists, 73% of survey respondents said they had experienced online violence.
Therefore, the theme for AWiM21 takes a look forward into the future of media in Africa in a COVID-19 world. It invites speakers to reflect on their research and experiences during the pandemic as the starting point to consider the longer-term impacts on the industry. It specifically seeks to identify new practices and solutions that academia, media organisations, practitioners, and policy actors might employ.
We look forward to presentations that engage critically with the notion of building back better in the context of the intersection of media and women’s rights and empowerment. The looming question is what did the pandemic reveal about the true status of women’s rights and gender equality in Africa and about the media.
We are delighted that a selection of papers presented at the conference will be published in special issues of international peer-reviewed journals or as part of an edited book.
Guiding Questions
- What are the emerging theoretical approaches that can help us make sense of the future of media in Africa in a covid19 world?
- How might these emerging theoretical approaches impact the intersection of gender, media, crises and other relevant disciplines?
- What have been the varying experiences of women in media during the pandemic?
- How might we better support women in media going forward?
- What might media organisations learn from the impact of the pandemic?
- How did journalism practice change in African newsrooms during the pandemic?
- How might journalism practice change in Africa following the pandemic?
- How might media build back better, and be better prepared for other world-changing events?
- How did audience engagement change?
- What was the impact of fake news? How did African newsrooms respond to the ‘infodemic’?
- What has been the mental health impact of reporting on the pandemic, and how have newsrooms responded to this?
- What new business models emerged for newsrooms during the pandemic, and how might we build on this going forward?
- What were the financial challenges for newsrooms?
- How might we build back better?
In exploring these areas, the conference welcomes papers, panel proposals and workshops from researchers, practitioners, CSOs and policy professionals in the following topics and related areas:
- Gender and media
- Media and crises
- Health communication
- Resilience and resistance
- Representation, identity, ideology
- Misinformation, disinformation and infodemic
- Fake news, women and new media
- Journalism
- Global media management
- Globalisation
- Global politics
- Global agendas
- Discourse analysis and global implications
- Feminist studies
- Postcolonial studies
- Cultural studies
- Culture and media policy
- Participatory communication
- Risk communication
- Audience
- Digital ethics and safety
- Online violence
- Sextortion
- Community media
- Communication and development
- Political communication
- State/Media relations
- Propaganda
- Communities and networks
- Digital empowerment
- Diversity and inclusion
- Women’s rights and empowerment
- Class and gender relations
- Feminism and political participation
- Gender policies
- International law and human rights
- Migration
- Peace and security
- Visual culture
Conference format
AWiM21 conference will take place entirely online from 2-3 November 2021. There is no registration fee and no honorariums. Plenary sessions, individual panels and the Hodan Nalayeh Changing Narratives Pitch Zone and Awards will be open for registration via the conference website. Each session will run for no more than 2 hours.
Following the conference, papers will be selected for an academic publication.
Abstract submission instructions
Please send a 250-word abstract with your name, e-mail address, a brief bio and affiliation to yemisi@africanwomeninmedia.com by Wednesday, 1 September 2021. Innovative formats, panel proposals and (digital) roundtable discussions are also welcome. Panel or roundtable discussion proposals should include a short rationale and brief bios of participants.
Key Dates
CFP submission deadline – 1 September 2021
Notification of acceptance - 13 September 2021
Registration opens – 30 September 2021
Conference dates – 2-3 November 2021
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