Mundus@ECREA 2010

On the last day of ECREA the tweeters of the conference gathered under one roof to present their research, mostly about Twitter, while also discussing their research, over Twitter.

There is more to Queer Theory as a perspective to the study of media than what is popularly understood. Even with a considerable amount of research to the contrary, the term queer is often misunderstood as an umbrella concept for gay and lesbian when the real meaning of the term lies in the critique of the identity concepts and identity politics associated with the terms gay and lesbian. This was the essence of the discussion during the Queer Theory and Media Studies Panel at the ECREA 2010 conference.

Kaarina Nikunen: Photo with the courtesy of University of Tampere There are a lot of angry people out there that do not agree with the immigration policy in their country. They vent their anger on the internet - anonymously of course - in internet platforms like the Finnish Hommaforum. This group calls itself "an internet-born community of immigration-sceptic activists" but under such cover speaks pure racism. Usually the mainstream media did not engage with them. Until Helsingin Sanomat newspaper asked them for their input for an interview with the immigration minister - with scary results. Kaarina Nikunen, from the University of Tampere, analyzed what happens if agenda-setting gets out off hand.

In his presentation at the 3rd ECREA conference Thomas Hanitzsch from the University of Munich gave a short overview of his recent research in the field of comparative journalism studies. As other scholars focus increasingly on the comparison of media systems worldwide, Thomas Hanitzschs study “Professional milieus in the journalistic field: Evidence from a comparative survey of journalists from 18 countries” was a further contribution in this field.

Almost the same way I felt when team Spain lifted the gorgeous World Cup marking the end of the FIFA soccer tournament in my country in July, so was the closing of the ECREA conference last Friday.

Dà Baì Baì (Mandarin Chinese: 大拜拜), or a massive religious festival (which usually takes place annually) in which believers gather to make offerings to deities, is one of the words used in Taiwanese academia to nickname conferences of large scales.

In a highly mediated and televised society, Jay Leno might not always be right to claim that politics is just “show business for ugly people.”

After a shy greeting, Maria Holubowicz doesn't hesitate to discharge her heaviest artillery over the audience right from the start: "Media are not neutral in their point of view on immigration in France". It's Thursday evening at Phil B and we already have the feeling that this panel on 'Transnational Media: Diasporas & Identities' will not fail us. Coming from the Stendhal University of Grenoble (France) and being a Polish migrant herself, Holubowicz certainly has her say on the theme of her presentation, 'The role of the media in the identity construction: The case of the Polish community of Grenoble, France', and she doesn't hide it.