Conference Panel 2_Journalism and media studies

In the trio, recognized at the academic level, composed by journalism (as a study program and professional field), media studies (research area in universities and institutes), journalistic practice (as an application, an occupational component, a social consequence of the existence of the "Fourth Power"), unifying elements can be identified: the stake of acknowledging the principles, components, mechanisms, effects; socio-professional actors with similar interests – teachers, researchers, media practitioners, decision makers, exponents of civil society, of the patronage in the media, of the political class and so on; social, juridical, economic conditions for exercising the roles affiliated to the three aforementioned directions. In spite of these unifying elements, one can also point to major differences of conception and perspective on these fields, especially when it comes to topics such as globalization, relationship with political regimes.

In this "landscape" dominated (at least at first glance) by the comfort of the non-similarity of the social actors involved in the communication through/by the media (institutions, editorial policies and academic research policies), the divide et impera principle works perfectly, with consequences such as: the scarce application in the journalistic practice of the recommendations, warnings, and findings of the theoreticians; the perversion of young journalism graduates to established, verified, editorial-effective patterns (considerably away from the "lessons" taught at the university); the compromising partnerships (from the point of view of some researchers, analysts, media critics) with political parties, people "touched" by immorality, publishers and radio-tv stations that prefer profits at all costs; the preference for the media show, in spite of the truth and arguments of rational origin.

We invite contributions that focus on explaining and understanding certain patterns, preferences, and values that define journalism today, as it is practiced or as it should be practiced in CEE Countries. We are particularly interested in topics such as:

• short-term and long-term stakes of journalism, media studies, and journalistic practice in CEE Countries
• indicators that put pressure on the work of CEE journalists today (such as rating, customers and money from advertising, likes and comments, tweets and followers); ways of dealing with that pressure
• the relationship between politics and political regimes - on the one hand, and journalism, media studies, and journalistic practice - on the other
• strategies of dealing with pressing issues media industries in CEE Countries have to face (mimetism in tabloidization, fake news, and others).

              The suggested topics are only meant to stir the discussion on CEE journalism, media studies, and journalistic practice, the conference being open to many other original approaches on these fields. Putting these issues into question, through the expertise of researchers, the experience of journalists, the intellectual curiosity of doctoral students, while invoking the consequences for the consumers of media message in the present society, can improve the work of all the instances involved in the mass communication process.   

Conference Panel 3_Public relations

As a hybrid social science and multifaceted business, public relations has to cope with major challenges in any open, diverse and market-oriented society from the Euro-Atlantic area.

It seems a truism to say that public relations practitioners must be able to perform various communication tasks in order to help their clients establish, maintain and develop advantageous relationships with their stakeholders. Public relations practitioners should be apt to identify the most relevant communication issues their clients face. Next, they have to translate general communication goals into SMART objectives, stakeholders into target audiences and communication themes into specific messages adapted for the audiences selected and for the available media.

As Paul Richards rightly said, PR specialists have to push forward certain positive, impressive and interesting things about their clients in order to create the right impression and to influence others' opinion (without telling lies). Apparently PR practitioners' task is easier in the existing media sphere created by new communication technologies. There are more news outlets that need more ideas, stories, secrets, pictures, statements, comments and quotes. Consequently, there are more opportunities for spin. Yet, speed, reductive simplicity, user solitude, pictoriality, lateralness, data overload, immediacy, segmentation and social amnesia (Neil Postman, Benjamin Barber, Jim McGuigan) are critical dimensions of new technologies that affect the work of PR practitioners.

PR scholars and PR specialists in CEE countries often fail to deliver the added-value promised to their clients, in spite of adopting the best practices from the well-established PR market. Obviously, it is not enough to know the general principles, theories, issues, purposes, roles, tools and activities in the field of strategic public relations. It is also necessary to take into consideration the cognitive, affective, volitional or behavioral impairments caused by the functioning of the planned economy and propaganda during the decades of communist regime. No one can deny that all European countries of the former Communist bloc made considerable progress in adopting the principles of liberal democracy and market economy, but, unfortunately, there is here a gap between the sophisticated PR tools and the underdeveloped or distorted socio-economic realities.

Taking these thoughts as a starting point for a richer discussion on PR in CEE Countries, we invite contributions on the following issues:

• difficulties posed by the adoption of PR models imported from the West in CEE Countries - and possible solutions to overcome these difficulties
• specific ways in which PR specialists in CEE Countries could leverage the opportunities offered by new communication technologies
• the disruptive character of new communication technologies and its implications for the relationship between an organization and its stakeholders
• the criteria that PR specialists should have in mind in order to produce effective communication in CEE Countries
• directions of development for PR practice in CEE Countries.

        Since it is PR scholars' constant duty to test the validity of old theories and to advance new ones, we hope that this conference will help re-conceptualize the main aspects of PR practice in a way that will increase valid knowledge and will offer valuable insights to practitioners.

Conference Panel 4_Advertising

In theory, the creative process in advertising is divided in distinct phases, including research, strategic and media planning, the development of a creative concept, followed by the moment when alternative scripts are generated, all culminating with the draft being sent to a production studio or department, where the final advertising materials come to life.        

Yet, nowadays advertising practice does not always respect the logic of this scenario - for various reasons and with various results.In fact, the advertising industry in CEE Countries is often surprising in its attempts to adapt this model to its context - understood in terms of multiple social, cultural, financial or legal constraints.        

We feel an urgent need for a serious discussion meant to clarify what is won and what is lost in the course of this adaption process, and what can be done to improve the present situation. Possible outcomes of this systematic discussion may consist in rethinking and refreshing the advertising theory that is currently taught in universities, or perhaps in a repositioning of the benchmarking system currently used by practitioners for defining 'quality work' in advertising. Topics of interest for this conference would cover:

• the labour market and the professional organization of creative work in CEE Countries
• the forces that influence the popularity of certain media and advertising formats in  these cultural spaces
• the relationship between the cultural legacy of these countries and the Western-oriented theories of brand communication
• the changes brought to this industry by the new communication formats that are used in online communities

         These suggested topics are open to revision, reinterpretation and enrichment by the participants to the Conference. We are equally interested in particular analyses of specific CEE countries, or more general approaches towards the entire CEE region.