*CFP* "STUDYING INCIDENTAL NEWS: ANTECEDENTS, DYNAMICS AND IMPLICATIONS", ISSUE JOURNALISM: THEORY, PRACTICE, CRITICISM

The term 'Incidental News' refers to the ways in which people encounter information about current events through digital media when they were not actively seeking the news. The past few years have seen a significant increase in incidental news consumption on digital platforms and social media, accompanied by heightened scholarly attention to the phenomenon. The aim of this issue is to contribute to and develop research on this phenomenon, and its implications on areas such as media consumption habits, journalistic practices, and democratic participation. Research in mass communication and political communication has examined issues related to incidental news consumption since the pioneering work of Downs (1957). Since then, and in particular in relation to the rise of social media, there has been growing interest among scholars related to understanding the causes, dynamics, and consequences of consuming news in an incidental fashion online.

The editors invite contributions related to the topic of incidental news, including both rigorous empirical articles (using quantitative, qualitative, computational and/or mixed methods) as well as theoretical articles with conceptualizations and synthesis of relevant literature. Articles should clearly define and delineate their use of the concept incidental news and/or its relation to other concepts used. We are interested in contributions that examine the topic through different methodologies, perspectives (e.g. audiences, texts, media platforms) and contexts.

Possible areas of interest include but are not limited to:

• Causes and Dynamics of incidental news consumption 
• Incidental news consumption across different media channels, platforms and devices 
• Incidental news consumption and journalistic practices 
• Effects of incidental news consumption 
• Conceptual elaboration, historical comparison

Instructions for contributors and tentative timeline

We invite contributors to send a 750 word abstract and an abbreviated author(s) bio describing previous and current research relating to the special issue theme. Please submit proposals to Neta Kligler-Vilenchik at neta.kv@mail.huji.ac.il by November 30, 2018. The abstract should address the relevance of the proposed article to the special issue theme, detail its methodology and the current status of the research. The editors will then notify authors whether they will be invited to contribute a full article by December 30, 2018. Articles should be submitted by April 30, 2019. Note that all invited articles will still go through full and anonymous peer review, and that being invited to submit a full article is no guarantee of final publication in the themed issue.

Co-editors: Neta Kligler-Vilenchik, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel; Alfred Hermida, University of British Columbia, Canada; Sebastián Valenzuela, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile; Mikko Villi, University of Jyväskylä, Finland