ICA 2016 Preconference CFP: The politics and economics of Chinese new media industries

​[Selected full papers will be included in a special issue for International Communication Gazette, to be published in early-2018.]


Date and Venue
June 9th 2016, ICA conference hotel
Division Affiliations
Communication Law and Policy Division
Communication and Technology Division
Media Industry Studies Interest Group
The organizing committee
Weiyu Zhang, Associate Professor, National University of Singapore
Zhan Li, Associate Professor, Xiamen University, China
Jing Wu, Professor, Peking University, China
Bingchun Meng, Associate Professor, London School of Economics, UK
Min Jiang, Associate Professor, University of North Carolina, Charlotte, US
Keynote Speaker
Prof. Stephen Reese, School of Journalism, University of Texas at Austin
Spotlight Presentation
Selected best submission will be featured as a spotlight presentation.
Conference Fee (lunch and two tea breaks included)
·         Free for presenters
·         25 USD for general audiences
Sponsors
Xiamen University, China
Peking University, China
Aim and Scope
Just like many other indicators of China’s development, digital media industries in China are constantly generating impressive figures. For example, Alibaba’s initial public offering in 2014 was ranked world’s biggest at $25 Billion; Wechat, the fastest rising social media app developed by Tencent, achieved a user base of 440 million within four years of its release. By February 2015, Chinese Internet users have reached 641 million, more than double the number of users in the U.S. Numbers aside, however, there have not been much academic research on the regulatory context, the political and economic dynamics, as well as the broader implications at both domestic and global levels of such fast-pace development. For instance, there are increasing efforts from the Chinese government and elites to articulate alternative frameworks over the global governance of the Internet and new media industries.
 
This preconference intends to serve as a platform to facilitate dialogues around the political, the economic, the institutional and the policy aspects of media industries in China, in view of the rapid development of digital media. But this is not just about having ‘China experts’ analyzing Chinese companies or Chinese policies. We are keen to move beyond the ‘China exceptionalism” by taking an explicitly global and comparative perspective. For one thing, the ownership structure and the business practices of Chinese digital media companies are intricately related to global capitalism in general. For another, Chinese information technology companies, such as Baidu, Alibaba, ZTE and Huawei, are aggressively expanding their businesses overseas, especially in Africa and South East Asia, with varied degrees of success. Last but not the least, through platforms like the National Office for Internet and Information, and channels like the Sino-US Internet Forum, the Chinese authorities are actively participating in the construction of international and global policy frames concerning the future development of digital media industries.
 
With the global reach of Chinese IT companies and the international ambition of Chinese government, it is imperative to understand how the new developments in Chinese digital media industries, are reconfiguring the politics and the economics of information and communication technologies (ICTs).  Moreover, it is important to understand how traditional media such as mainstream newspapers respond to such changes and incorporate digitalization into their own industry plans. This preconference aims to invite scholars from all over the world to tackle the issue, primarily using China as a context in which innovative research questions and methods can be applied.
 
We are particularly interested in papers that address the following themes:
·         The globalization and internationalization of Chinese media industries, including both Internet and other traditional media
·         The roles of international regulatory bodies and international non-governmental organizations in shaping the landscape of new media in China
·         The roles of Chinese authorities in shaping global policies regarding information and communication technologies (ICTs)
·         The economics of Chinese new ICT companies, including foreign and local venture capitalists, shareholders, business models, sources of profits, consumer strategy, etc.
·         The evolving political parallelism in Chinese media industry
·         Comparisons of Chinese new media industry with other countries’ media industry
Abstract Submissions
Please submit a 500-words abstract in word or pdf format to [email protected].  All submissions will be subject to a double-blind review by at least 2 reviewers. To facilitate the review process, please write a separate cover sheet with the paper title and affiliation/s and omit the affiliations in the actual abstract.
Deadlines
·         Submission of abstracts: Jan 15th 2016
·         Notification of acceptance: March 1st 2016
·         Final paper submission: June 1st 2016