CEECOM 2025
June 6th-7th 2025, Šime Vitasovića 1, 23000, Zadar
The Department of Sociology at the Univeristy of Zadar in cooperation with the ECREA Central and East European Network is organizing the 15th Central and Eastern European Communication and Media Conference CEECOM 2025 from June 6-7, 2025 in Zadar, Croatia.
Scope and Topics:
The digital transformation in the last few decades profoundly affected how we understand contemporary society and culture. Technological advances are shaping the reality of the current digital media landscape fueled by economic models that orchestrate the development of content strategies. In return, these content strategies affect journalism practices, audience participation rituals, and how traditional and public service media adapt to the new-found circumstances.
Challenges of these transformations were specifically visible in journalism as it struggles to uphold ethical integrity in an era driven by clickbait. Furthermore, journalism had to adjust to reality where social media is the leading source of distribution and the consumption of the news. In addition, the widespread usage of artificial intelligence, management of user data and overwhelming saturation of misinformation seems to represent fundamental moral challenges for journalism as a profession.
With these shifts also comes the complexity of audience behaviour which calls for studies of how audiences connect with digital media emphasising especially trends in participatory culture and the impact of user-generated materials. The issue of metrics to measure engagement with digital content is an additional dimension to this topic when we consider the role of algorithmic and automated systems in organising audience engagement as well as the implications for the economics when these systems are being concentrated in a small number of major digital platforms.
For that purpose, an in-depth analysis of business models of platform capitalism is in order with the investigation of market consolidation and the power dynamics between platforms and content creators and how it impacts media diversity and freedom of speech. For example, algorithms are used to organize and personalize content which implies serious consequences for biased decision-making.
Another important factor comes in the form of law and policy surrounding media systems. It forces powerful digital platforms to reduce the adverse effects of platform capitalism while simultaneously promoting transparency and accountability regarding the use of algorithms and automation in media creation and delivery. This includes issues such as safeguarding data privacy, countermeasures to combat misinformation and promoting media diversity.
Finally, these paradigm shifts in digital media are pushing traditional media to adopt this new reality to maintain their social significance, profitability and sustainability, as well as their influence on public opinion. This pressure is especially noticeable for the public service media as the technological shifts of platform capitalism are now influencing their traditional balance between commercial competition and political pressures. In this newfound context, public service media must promote democratic principles and encourage inventive methods for engaging audiences while maintaining competence and credibility.
With all these complexities, the ability to understand and analyse media has become a vital skill for navigating complex media environments which also ushers new approaches and methods to encourage and keep pace with media literacy programs.
This conference will address key issues including but not limited to:
- Digital Media Ecosystems
- Journalism in the Digital Age
- Audience Engagement:
- Traditional Media
- Public Media
- Media Literacy
- Ethical Considerations
The conference aims to foster a comprehensive understanding of the challenges and opportunities within digital media and journalism. We welcome interdisciplinary approaches and look forward to discussions that will contribute to scientific analysis of our contemporary media reality.