Call for papers Communication and Society: ‘Invisibilities in and of Journalism’ – Extended time

The call for papers for the journal Comunicação e Sociedade on ‘Invisibilities in and of Journalism’ (Vol.48) is open until  14 April (delayed deadline) 2025.

Thematic editors: Rita Araújo (CECS, University of Minho, Portugal), Pedro Jerónimo (LabCom, University of Beira Interior, Portugal) and Thomas Hanitzsch (Institut für Kommunikationswissenschaft und Medienforschung, Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Germany).

Journalism plays a central role in society due to its intrinsic relationship with democracy, since ‘news shapes the way we see the world, ourselves and each other’ (Wahl-Jorgensen & Hanitzsch, 2009, p. 3). In this sense, it is important to study journalism and journalists, as well as the realities they make visible and, by extension, invisible. While ‘studying journalism without any kind of ethnocentric bias is an epistemological impossibility’ (Hanitzsch, 2019, p. 214), research in journalism studies should reflect diversity and pluralism, avoiding imbalances of gender or geographical location, among others.
In addition, the ideal of objectivity and the normative view of journalism state that journalists should not become news. It is considered unprofessional to talk about oneself or the problems of the profession, as this can jeopardise journalists’ distance and objectivity. In fact, journalists have traditionally spared the media industry the scrutiny that other areas are subjected to (Mesquita, 2003). However, the current crisis in the news media sector has revealed a difficult reality that characterises journalism around the world, with issues such as precariousness, atypical working relationships, violence and abuses against media workers gradually becoming news.
Contributions to this issue should cover the following topics, among others:
Invisibilities in journalistic content, including the under-representation of topics and/or news sources;
Diversity (or lack thereof) in newsrooms and its relationship with news content;
Labour issues in journalism, such as precarious or atypical working relationships;
Vulnerability of journalists, including online and offline abuse;
Threats to media freedom and their impact on journalistic practices;
Professional standards and practices;
Failures in journalistic projects and practices;
Initiatives that challenge journalistic norms (e.g. citizen information initiatives in ‘news deserts’);
Other invisibilities in journalism studies.
Submission period for proposals (full texts): from 6th January 2025 to 31st March 2025
Publication period: continuous edition (July to December 2025)

LANGUAGE
Articles can be submitted in English or Portuguese. Articles selected for publication will be translated into Portuguese or English, respectively, and must be published in full in both languages.

EDITING AND SUBMISSION
Comunicação e Sociedade is an open-access academic journal, operating according to the demanding standards of the peer review system and operating in a double-blind review process. Each work submitted will be distributed to a minimum of two reviewers previously invited to evaluate it according to academic quality, originality and relevance to the objectives and scope of the theme.
Originals should be submitted via the journal’s website. If you are accessing Comunicação e Sociedade for the first time, you must register in order to submit your article (directions for registering here).
The guide for authors can be consulted here.
For more information, please contact: comunicacaoesociedade@ics.uminho.pt