ANZCA 2023

Ka mua, ka muri: Bridging communication pasts and futures

The Māori whakataukī (proverb) “Ka mua, ka muri” centres a Māori perspective on time where the past is in front of us and can be observed and interpreted as we walk back into an uncertain future.

Submit Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that subjectivity is increasingly experienced within a global entanglement of digitalisation, post-truth politics, ecological crisis and the ongoing rise of the far right. Within this conjuncture, digital technologies and social media help to both foster and combat mis- and disinformation campaigns, communicate public health measures to disparate publics, and provide constant updates about the state of the world. While restrictions on space and movement isolated some, they provoked others to think laterally about the issues of our time. The pandemic has forced us to ask old questions in a new context, particularly about the role that communication has to play in new wars for truth and knowledge.

Key topic areas include the following:

Using the “Ka mua, ka muri” whakataukī as a prompt, ANZCA 2023 will reflect on how challenges in recent years can inform our thinking about communication in the future. Attendees are encouraged to interpret the theme as they understand it.

Communication in an era of post-truth politics, the impact of mis- and disinformation on political processes such as elections, activism and protest
Shifts in the social and digital media landscape including the new emergence of platforms (e.g. Mastodon, TikTok, Parlor) and the changing dynamics of established ones (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube)
Communication in global power dynamics, international communication, public diplomacy, communication for development
The implications of automation and AI for communication practices
The influence of polarization, echo chambers and filter bubbles on journalism, news media and the public sphere
Gatekeeping and agenda-setting in an era of hybrid media and politics

Intercultural communication in an age of increased connectivity and global diversity
Indigenous perspectives on communication challenges, protest communication and activism
The role of visual media and public media in the context of the proliferation of streaming services and video sharing platforms
The mediation of war, terror, and violence
Mediating the climate crisis and communicating scientific research on climate change
Marketing, public relations and business communication in an increasingly fragmented media landscape

The ongoing dynamics of change in the cultural industries
Restructuring of organisational communication after the normalising of working remotely during the Covid-19 pandemic
Emotion, affect, popular culture and populism in communication
‘The role of community media in social cohesion and connection, particularly for Indigenous peoples, migrants, LGBTBQI+ communities
Creative communication about the arts, community projects and social movements
‘Post-pandemic’ public and interpersonal communication on health and wellbeing practices

Keynote Speakers

Axel Bruns (Queensland University of Technology)
Maria Bargh (Te Herenga Waka | Victoria University of Wellington)

Prof Maria Bargh

Walking carefully towards a flourishing Aotearoa

Many communities hope for peaceful lives where relationships with loved ones, special places and the environment are flourishing and protected. Covid-19 has highlighted many ‘underlying conditions’, economic, political, environmental and social, which present barriers to the realisation of this vision.

This presentation will examine how two concepts of tikanga Māori, Māori law, might provide insights in Aotearoa for thinking about working together through these barriers. The first is whanaungatanga, which highlights the importance of relationships amongst kin and kin-like relationships and includes intergenerational considerations. The second concept is utu – the necessity to ensure balance and reciprocity, including in communications, transactions and interactions amongst people and communities.

Prof Axel Bruns

What Is Lost When Twitter Is Lost? Reflections on the Impending Death of a Platform

Twitter, at least in the shape of the platform that we have come to know over the past 15 years or more, is gone – permanently, or so it seems: even the name Twitter itself is being eroded, if slowly and with difficulty, in favour of a new brand name, ‘X’. This is not the first time a once popular social media platform has declined and disappeared, of course, nor will it be the last: Internet history is littered with the remains of platforms from GeoCities through Friendster to MySpace.

But what stands out about Twitter’s death, if and when it comes, is its rapidity, its avoidability, and its roots in the platform’s past and current owners’ recklessness – in short, Twitter’s death will be not from natural causes but as the result of external forces. Importantly, this also means that those individuals and organisations who had relied on Twitter as a platform for their day-to-day personal, social, and professional activities were caught less prepared for the eventuality than they otherwise might have been.

This keynote explores why this matters, and what consequences it produces. Drawing from the conference theme of Ka Mua, Ka Muri, or ‘walking backwards into the future’, it looks back to what functions Twitter, in its heyday, performed in global public communication processes, and forward to whether and how these functions can and will be performed by other existing or emerging components of an increasingly fragmented global social media landscape.

Submissions

Abstract and panel proposal submissions close 7 July.

Abstracts

Abstracts should be 250 words and authors should submit a 100 word bio.

Panel Proposals

Pre-constituted panels of 3-4 speakers must submit a title, panel abstract (250-500 words),
an abstract for each speaker (250 words) and a bio for each speaker (100 words).

Full Papers

All full papers submitted will undergo a double-blind peer-review process to assess the suitability for one of two ANZCA conference special issues – in either Communication Research and Practice (CRP) or Media International Australia (MIA). ANZCA no longer publishes conference proceedings. However, the organising committee will issue a formal letter of acceptance to the paper author(s) based on the peer-review. Please eliminate any authorial identifying information from the submitted paper, including from the title page, headers and footers, and document file names. This will ensure blind refereeing, and failure to de-identify a paper may lead to its rejection.

The body of the paper should be double-spaced, and left-aligned or justified. Quotations should be in “double quotation marks” and paragraphs of cited text longer than 40 words should be indented. Please number all pages of your manuscript in the top-right header. The suggested word count is a maximum of 6000 words, including references cited. Papers must be referenced in APA style. Authors selected for either CRP or MIA will be contacted following the conference, with anticipated publication in 2023.

Please note that if you intend to submit a full paper, you will still need to submit your 250-word abstract and 100-word author bio by 7 July 2023, but you will be able to upload your full paper until 18 August 2023 (11.59pm NZST).

Eligibility

You do not need to be a member of ANZCA to submit an abstract, panel proposal, or full paper. If your submission is accepted, you will be asked to register for the conference via our website. There are a range of different registration fees available, depending on career stage/employment, which will be announced soon. You may make more than one submission, but you must complete one form per submission.

Please note that this is a hybrid event: most panels will be delivered simultaneously in-person and via Zoom. There will be an online-only option too. Please direct all enquiries to anzca2023conference@vuw.ac.nz

Key Dates

Abstract submissions close 7 July
Full paper submissions close 18 August
Acceptance notifications sent September (Specific dates to be confirmed)
Early bird registration opens 18 September (including PG/ECR Day)
Early bird registration closes 13 October
Registration closes 15 November

ANZCA 2023

November 21-24