Call for Papers: conference on news production cultures, deadline May 15

　　The Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism at the University of Oxford is seeking abstracts of papers for possible presentation at its conference, ‘Negotiating Culture: integrating legacy and digital cultures in news media,’ October 28-30, 2015 in Oxford. The best papers will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of "Digital Journalism".

　　The increasing importance of the Internet, social media, and mobile media for the distribution of news and information has altered news production practices and is creating conflicts among journalistic values and norms, digital media values and norms, and various commercial and organizational imperatives. News media increasingly find that the organisational cultures that represent some of their greatest strengths are also weaknesses, even after over two decades of dealing with digital media. This conference explores the nature of those encounters and how newsrooms and news organizations are negotiating cultural differences and creating new hybrid cultures involving legacy and digital elements.

　　We are particularly interested in analysis of the central bases of these conflicts as well as their creative potential, i.e., how the conflicts are manifest, when these conflicts are mostly destructive and when more creative, and how organisations and their personnel respond to them. The emphasis of the conference will be on empirically-based papers that advance our understanding of how news media negotiate the cultural challenges that accompany the rise of digital media. We are interested in single organization and comparative analyses, both within-country comparisons and between media in different national contexts, and welcome work from journalism studies, media management, sociology, and other relevant fields.

　　Abstracts of papers are sought on topics such as:

　　· value conflicts and creative tensions within digital newsrooms

　　· newsroom interactions with commercial and technology departments

　　· determining platform priorities for products and services

　　· managing differing cultures in the organisation

　　300-500 word abstracts outlining the topic, methodological and theoretical approach and empirical basis should be submitted by May 15 to Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, RISJ Director of Research, at rasmus.nielsen@politics.ox.ac.uk. Notification of selected abstracts will be made by June 26.

　　The best papers will be considered for inclusion in a special issue of "Digital Journalism" (Taylor & Francis).

　　Keynote Speakers

　　Lucy Küng, Reuters Institute, Oxford, and Jönköping International Business School

　　Robert G. Picard, Reuters Institute, Oxford

　　Conference Organizers

　　Lucy Küng, Reuters Institute, Oxford, and Jönköping International Business School

　　Robert G. Picard, Reuters Institute, Oxford

　　Rasmus Kleis Nielsen, Reuters Institute, Oxford