Symposium on Media, Professions and Society

Professional and Peripheral News Workers and the Shifting Importance of Platforms

Inaugural symposium on Media, Professions and Society in Volda, Norway, June 17-20, 2019

Keynote speakers:

Laura Ahva (University of Tampere): Five things we should learn from the messiness of participation: Participatory journalism through the eyes of the participants

Mark Deuze (University of Amsterdam): What does it take to "Make It Work" in the media industries?

Edson Tandoc Jr. (Nanyang Technological University): The gates are now open: How the changing relationship between journalists and their audiences have created spaces for fake news

Inspirational talk thematic issue panel:

Valerie Belair-Gagnon (University of Minnesota) and Avery Holton (University of Utah): The Old Regime and the Rise of the Peripheral Actor: Journalism’s New Horizons

Scientific chair:

Oscar Westlund, Oslo Metropolitan University, Volda University College, and University of Gothenburg

Preliminary programme symposium

Monday 2019-06-17

Arrivals at Volda University College, Volda, Norway
11:00 – 11:15 Registration Volda University College
11:15 – 12:00 Lunch
12:00 – 12:15 Welcome address by Volda University College, rector Johan Roppen and Scientific chair (Oscar Westlund)
12:15 – 13:15 Keynote 1: What does it take to "Make It Work" in the media industries?
Mark Deuze (University of Amsterdam)
13:30 – 15:30 Panel 1
Transmedia Production: Skills, Competences and Challenges, Ana Serrano Tellería
The Press Council`s latest challenge: Commercial content in news media, Svein Brurås
The New Advertisers: How Foundation Funding Impacts Journalism, Patrick Ferrucci & Jakob Nelson (eco-friendly video-Conference)
Chairs: Mark Deuze & Paul Bjerke
15:45 – 19:30 Bus relocation: Volda- Hellesylt- Geirangerfjorden (ferry) – Strynefjellet – Loen
20:00 – Dinner Hotel Alexandra Loen

Tuesday 2019-06-18

Breakfast buffet
09:15 – 10:15 Invited inspirational talk thematic issue: The Old Regime and the Rise of the Peripheral Actor: Journalism’s New Horizons, Valerie-Belair Gagnon
10:15 – 10:45 Coffee break
10:45 – 12:00 Panel 2
Extract. Inject. Repeat. Civic data journalism and its reciprocal influence on journalism practice (Research-in-progress), Raul Ferrer-Conill, Stefan Baack & David Cheruiyot
Friend, foe or frenemy? Journalists’ shifting attitudes towards incursive, innovative, non-traditional actors"?, Sherwin Chua & Andrew Duffy
From peripheral to integral: Negotiated gatekeeping in not-for-profit journalism, Alfred Hermida & Mary Lynn Young
Known strangers: Interrogating ideological intra- and interlopers in journalistic interpretive communities, Robert Gutsche JR (eco-friendly video-Conference)
Camera reporter. Peripheral news works expelled to the periphery. The case of the professional behind the television camera, Lenka Waschková Císařová & Monika Metykova
Chairs: Laura Ahva & Rich Ling
12:30 – 14:00 Lunch
14:00 – 15:00 Keynote 2: The gates are now open: How the changing relationship between journalists and their audiences have created spaces for fake news, Edson Tandoc Jr (Nanyang Technological University):
15:00 – 16:00 Gondola to top
16:30 – 18:00 Thematic group discussions
19:00 – Dinner

Wednesday 2019-06-19

Breakfast buffet
09:15 – 10:15 Keynote 3: Five things we should learn from the messiness of participation: Participatory journalism through the eyes of the participants, Laura Ahva (University of Tampere)
10:15 – 10:45 Coffee break
10:45 – 13:15 Panel 3
Epistemic positions in reporting hybrid media events of terrorist violence, Niina Uusitalo & Katja Valaskivi
Mobile Journalists and Participatory Journalism in Spanish and Portuguese digital native newspapers, Alba Silva-Rodríguez
Working on the Margins: Comparative Perspectives on the Roles and Motivations of Peripheral Actors in Journalism, Dr Aljosha Karim Schapals & Folker Hanusch
The Comment Gap, Clara Juarez Miro
Chairs: Valerie Belair-Gagnon & Oscar Westlund

13:15 – 14:45 Lunch, With the kind support of University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

14:45 – 16:30 Panel 4
Software providers of news automation as peripheral actors in journalism, Stefanie Sirén-Heikel, Carl-Gustav Lindén and Martin Kjellman
Can robots really report? Automated news as a newsroom boundary object, Gunhild Ring Olsen
Molo.news: Expreimenting with a platform for local jounalism, Andreas Hepp and Wiebke Loosen
Open-Source Trading Zones and Boundary Objects: Examining GitHub as a space for advancing and collaborating on ‘news’, Mario Haim & Rodrigo Zamith
Chairs: Edson Tandoc Jr (with remote support from Avery Holton)
16:30 – 19:30 Group discussions (during voluntary hike, divided in 2 levels of ambition)
20:00 – Dinner

Thursday 2017-06-20

Breakfast buffet
09:15 – 10:15 Keynote 4: Rich Ling – Concluding remarks: Peripheral actors and deskilling in a broader context
10:15 – 10:45 Coffee break and checking out
10:45 – 12:00 Closing panel/workshop: evaluation and the future
12:00 – 13:00 Lunch
13:00 – Homewards travel // excursion

Volda – a centre of education for over 150 years

Volda is a municipality in Sunnmøre in the county of Møre og Romsdal. It borders on Ørsta to the north, on Hornindal and Eid to the south and in the west to Vanylven. West of the opening of the Voldsfjord lie the municipalities of Herøy and Ulstein, which you can reach by driving through the undersea Eiksund tunnel. The municipality had roughly 9000 inhabitants, of whom over 6000 live in the municipal centre Volda, while the remainder dwell in surrounding villages and hamlets.

The centre of Volda developed from a tiny hamlet on the shores of the fjord round the farm called Halkjelsvik. Until 1883 Ørsta was part of Volda, then becoming a separate municipality. Towards the end of the 19th century a number of key functions in society were located in Volda, and much of the honour for the growth of Volda belongs to its schools. It is well known as a centre of education and as early as 1861 a teacher training college was founded in this small rural community. Volda was also chosen as the site for one of the frst three district colleges (DH) to be established in Norway. In 1994 the TT college and the DH were merged to form Volda University College.

In addition to the university college, Volda's main public employer is the local hospital. The small town is strongly connected with the high-tech industry and the marine and maritime cluster in the region. Volda is also well known for its cultural and sporting activities, as well as the wonderful fjords and mountains surrounding it.