Newsletter March 2023
Dear members of the Standing Group on Political Communication,
Below please find information on the following:
- The deadline to submit papers and panels for the ECPR general conference is coming up (February 28)! The section endorsed by our Standing Group is called “Political Communication in the Digital Age”.
- Applications for the Summer School of our Standing Group on Political Communication are open! (deadline March 24!).
- A job call for three (!) post-doctoral researchers on the ERC-funded project Moral Agency in Election Campaigns (ELECT), deadline March 6th.
- A call for proposals for projects aiming to fight disinformation by the European Media and Information Fund (EMIF), deadline April 28th.
Kind regards,
The Steering Committee of the ECPR’s standing group on Political Communication
Laura Jacobs, Linda Bos, Katjana Gattermann, Jonas Lefevere, Loes Aaldering
ECPR Political Communication Summer School 2023: Call for Applications open!
More information on the summer school, and instructions on how to apply here
The ECPR Summer School on Political Communication is a new initiative taken by the ECPR Standing Group on Political Communication (Conveners: Linda Bos, Katjana Gattermann, Laura Jacobs, Jonas Lefevere and Loes Aaldering). The first edition will take place in Amsterdam at the Amsterdam School of Communication Research (ASCoR) from 3-7 July 2023 and will be organized in close collaboration with ECPR. The main objective is to provide PhD students with a future-oriented conceptual and methodological toolkit for the study of political communication: it thus features 5 days of methods and theory lectures from leading scholars in the field, plus a keynote lecture, roundtable, presentations by PhD students in smaller groups and plenty other opportunities for both formal and informal exchange and interaction.
How to apply?
More information on the contents of the summer school, and all practicalities on how to apply, are now available on the dedicated summer school page on the ECPR website. The deadline for applications is March 24 at midnight (UK time).
ECPR General Conference Section “Political Communication in the Digital Age”: Call for Papers & Panels is now open!
More information on the session, and general conference, here
Deadline for applications: February 28
Once more, there will be a session on political communication endorsed by the standing group. Sophie Minihold (University of Vienna) and Daniel Thiele (University of Vienna) will act as session chairs for this year’s session!
Political communication research has never been more relevant than it is today, as digital media have permeated deeply into all political, social, and personal spheres. Citizens use digital platforms to inform themselves, form opinions, express their views, and organize collective action, as well as for entertainment and socializing. Politicians, parties, but also transnational political actors use these platforms to reach, persuade and influence voters and citizens.
This Section aims to bring together contributions from the field of political communication research in the broadest sense. Broadly speaking, we have a special interest in contributions that enhance our understanding of digital political communication.
We look forward to receiving submissions on traditional aspects of political communication such as election campaigns, party communication, political journalism, mediatization, and media effects, as well as submissions targeting topics such as mis- and disinformation, visual communication, citizen-generated communication and citizen competences, news avoidance, negativity and incivility, gender and power imbalances, or populist and radical-right communication.
Papers on other topics are also welcome, insofar as they relate to the broad field of political communication. We appreciate Papers using content analyses, experimental designs, survey methods, qualitative methods, mixed methods, as well as theoretical contributions. In particular, we welcome contributions that advance the methods of research designs within the field. We particularly encourage submissions that use open science practices to promote transparency in the field of political communication research.
We encourage full Panel submissions, but also propose the following ten Panels:
- Traditional Campaigns and Elite Communication
- The Power of (Political) Visual Communication
- Capturing and Combatting Mis- and Disinformation in the Digital Age
- Citizen Focus: Competences and Citizen-Generated Content Online
- Political Journalism and News Avoidance
- Media Effects on Political Attitudes and Behaviours
- The Role of Emotion: Hate Speech, Incivility, and Negativity
- Social Media, Fragmentation and Social Movements
- Data-Driven Campaigns: Navigating Challenges and Opportunities
- Advancing Research Designs and Methods in Political Communication
Three post-doctoral researchers on ERC Project Moral Agency in Election Campaigns at University College Dublin
Deadline for applications: March 6th, 2023 at 17:00 (Local Irish Time)
Applications are invited for a temporary post of a ERC Fellowship in Politics within School of Politics and International Relations.
Moral Agency in Election Campaigns (ELECT) is a project funded by the European Research Council (2023-2028). It aims to understand the normative attitudes and decision-making practices of key actors that animate the electoral process, how those attitudes and practices are shaped by different institutional and regulatory contexts, and the significance of these interactions for electoral democracy. To this end, electoral candidates, campaign professionals, journalists and citizens will be studied across four countries: Germany, Italy, the UK and the USA.
Three experienced researchers (post-PhD) are being recruited to work together with the Principal Investigator for the first three years of the project. In line with the criteria outlined below, team selection will seek to optimise a mix of linguistic competence, methodological skills, substantive knowledge and research experience.
This is a research focused role, where you will conduct a specified programme of research supported by research training and development under the supervision and direction of a Principal Investigator.
The primary purpose of the role is to further develop your research skills and competences, including the processes of publication in peer-reviewed academic publications, the development of funding proposals, the mentorship of graduate students along with the opportunity to develop your skills in research led teaching.
In addition to the Principal Duties and Responsibilities listed below, the successful candidate will also carry out the following duties specific to this project:
- Develop an interdisciplinary state of the art on election campaigns in one country case.
- Contribute to designing cross-national surveys, semi-structured interviews and focus groups.
- Take on fieldwork in one country case, carrying out surveys, semi-structured interviews and focus groups in that case.
- Contribute to the analysis of collected data using qualitative and/or quantitative methods.
- Contribute to developing a theory of moral agency in election campaigns.
- Contribute to the organisation of international conferences at UCD and panels or sections at general conferences.
Application materials
- Cover letter (max 2 pages)
- CV (max 2 pages)
- Writing sample (publication or work in progress, max 12,000 words)
- Names of 2 referees
General benefits
- Competitive salary
- Social insurance contribution (PRSI)
- Pension contribution
Benefits specific to the role
- Generous funding for fieldwork abroad (including up to 6 months long-stay accommodation)
- Generous conference/travel allowance
- Laptop allowance
- Administrative/organisational support from project administrator
Salary Range: €41,300 – €47,000 per annum**
Appointment on the above range will be dependent upon qualifications and experience.
Closing date: 17:00hrs (local Irish time) on 6th March 2023.
Applications must be submitted by the closing date and time specified. Any applications which are still in progress at the closing time of 17:00hrs (Local Irish Time) on the specified closing date will be cancelled automatically by the system. UCD are unable to accept late applications.
UCD do not require assistance from Recruitment Agencies. Any CV’s submitted by Recruitment Agencies will be returned.
Call for Project Proposals to Fight Disinformation – European Media and Information Fund
Deadline April 28th
The European Media and Information Fund (EMIF) opened three calls for proposals for projects aiming to fight disinformation in Europe. EMIF will distribute up to €4,800,000 across three areas of interventions:
- Investigations into Disinformation Dynamics
- Research for a Transparent and Resilient Information Ecosystem
- Media and Information Literacy for Societal Resilience
“Investigations into Disinformation Dynamics” addresses current knowledge gaps on the scale and scope of disinformation in Europe and to improve understanding of the phenomenon and its impact on European audiences. The call is specifically aimed at projects that can enlarge the current evidence base about the dynamics and characteristics of disinformation campaigns affecting European audiences, including foreign information manipulation and interference and the economic motives behind the spreading of disinformation. The maximum grant size per project in this area is €150,000 with a duration of up to nine months.
With a maximum grant size of €400,000 and a maximum duration of 18 months, “Research for a Transparent and Resilient Information Ecosystem” supports projects working on structural and fundamental epistemological issues linked to the digital transformation of the media landscape, including research on the effects of digital media and technologies. Applicants can refer to EDMO’s Scientific Focus to delve into several research areas, taking into account the specificities of the information environment in the targeted geographical areas.
“Media and Information Literacy Enhancing Societal Resilience,” supports initiatives that empower citizens by strengthening their ability to think critically, assess the trustworthiness of information accessed or shared through social media, fully understand the mechanisms that shape online interactions amongst social media users, and take part in the public discourse in a responsible and meaningful way. The projects funded by this call can run up to 18 months with a maximum grant amount of €400,000.
These calls will remain open until 28 April 2023 at 13:00 CET. Applications for funding must be submitted by groups of legal entities (partnerships or consortia) located in the EU, EFTA and UK. Additionally, EMIF will host an online information session on 24 February 2023 to explain the application process and answer questions of prospective applicants. You can register to join the information session here. For more information on the calls and applicants’ eligibility, please visit our website.
About the European Media and Information Fund
The European Media and Information Fund is a funding tool that pursues objectives of public interest and provides grants, awarded on a competitive basis to research, fact-checking and news media organisations, as well as to not for-profit organisations and other public interest-oriented bodies with a solid track record in research into disinformation, fact-checking, investigative journalism and media literacy.
Established in 2022 with an inaugural donation by Google, EMIF is managed by Calouste Gulbenkian Foundation and the European University Institute’s School of Transnational Governance and has already supported 33 projects in 21 European countries.
