[csaa-forum] CCR Seminar Series 2007: APRIL 5 - Stuart Allan and Cynthia Carter

[Reena Dobson]

Dear all,

 

This is advance notice of the Centre for Cultural Research's next
seminar for 2007. The speakers are Professor Stuart Allan (University of
West England) and Dr Cynthia Carter (Cardiff University) whose seminar
titles and abstracts are included below: 

 

Date: Thursday 5 April

Time: 2:00pm-4:30pm

 

Venue: Building EE, Parramatta Campus, University of Western Sydney 

 

PLEASE RSVP TO Ania Ajiri: a.ajiri at uws.edu.au by 3 April 2007 

 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Servants of the Public?: Rethinking Questions of Journalistic Identity

 

Professor Stuart Allan

 

 

The word 'journalist', most etymologists seem to agree, can be traced
back at least as far as the end of the seventeenth century, when its
definition as 'one whose work is to write or edit public journals or
newspapers' was widely attested. Matters quickly become complicated,
however, when one seeks to determine what sort of social role has been
implicitly prescribed by the use of this term in popular parlance over
the years since. More than a question of semantics, the nature of the
proper identity to be affirmed by the journalist within a democracy has
proven to be fiercely contested - indeed violently so at times - and
there is little indication that it will be resolved anytime soon.

 

This paper begins by considering current conceptions of journalism
within democratic cultures, in general, and the normative identity to be
upheld by the journalist, in particular. It will be shown that there is
a growing consensus that the profession is undergoing an acute identity
crisis, one where individual reporters find themselves struggling to
negotiate a range of contending claims about their personal
responsibilities to the diverse publics they are said to serve.  In
order to place this apparent crisis in a broader historical context, the
paper proceeds to evaluate a series of issues considered central to the
modern formation of journalistic identity at the start of the twentieth
century. What were the factors underpinning this process of formation,
it will be asked, and to what extent did they shape or influence the
setting of parameters around what might be legitimately regarded as an
appropriate role for the journalist to embrace? Here a fascinating
series of interventions authored by reporters and editors, as well as
their critics, will be examined in relation to this question, and also
with an eye to what they can usefully tell us about today's debates.
Lastly, the paper draws to a close by identifying several directions for
future scholarship in this area of enquiry.

 

 

Professor Stuart Allan teaches journalism studies at the University of
the West of England, Bristol. His recent books include Media, Risk and
Science (2002), Online News: Journalism and the Internet (2006) and
Journalism: Critical Issues (2005). 

 

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Children's Online News and Views: Investigating Children's Responses to
the 2005 London Bombings

 

Dr. Cynthia Carter

 

  

On 7 July, several bombs went off on various parts of London's
underground and bus system. Almost immediately, young people on
Children's BBC Newsround's "In the News" message board started
discussing what had happened, expressing sadness and sympathy for
friends and family of the victims, voicing disbelief and sharing initial
speculations about who might be to blame. Many instantly began to make
links between the bombings and Britain's military involvement in Iraq
and its support for the "war on terrorism". Such online interventions
offer exciting insights into the ways in which a publicly funded
children's web news provider is engaging some young people with what is
happening in the world. Given the new realities of global war, conflict
and terrorism, there is now a pressing need to rethink children and
young people's complex relationships to the news. "In the News"
demonstrates that there is much potential in providing dedicated
children's news resources that not only encourage young people to follow
the news, but also to participate in public debates about important
political issues, and in so doing supporting their development as
citizens.

 

 

Dr Cynthia Carter is a senior lecturer in the Cardiff School of
Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University. Her research
interests centre on children and news, feminist media studies, and media
violence. Her recent books include Critical Readings: Violence and the
Media (Open University Press, 2006), and Critical Readings: Media and
Gender (Open University Press, 2004). 

 

 

 

 

 

Professor Kay Anderson

PhD Geography (UBC)

Centre for Cultural Research

University of Western Sydney

Parramatta campus Building EBa

Sydney, NSW, AUSTRALIA

Phone: +61 2 9685 9669 or 9685 9600

k.anderson at uws.edu.au

 

Postal address:

Locked Bag 1797

Penrith South DC NSW 1797

 

http://www.uws.edu.au/ccr

 

 

 

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