Modinet - Center for

Medier og Demokrati

Njalsgade 80

2300 København S

Media Convergence, Mediated Communication, and the Transformation of the Public Sphere

21. - 22. oktober 2003, Københavns Universitet Amager

The conference covers general theoretical issues of media convergence and the transformation of the public sphere in the network society; it also presents case studies of current media developments and of the implications of globalization for media and democracy. The conference is organized in three main thematic sessions: 

Theme I: Communication, Public Spheres, and Democracy in the Network society, examines basic questions of community and communication, addressing both classical and recent theories of the public sphere and examining the media as conditions of democratic deliberation. This session will give special attention to news and journalism and to the role of the internet for political communication and the public sphere as such.

Theme II: Public Service Media, Media Convergence, and Digitalization explores the future of the European tradition of public service broadcasting in a more competitive, globalized, and digitalized media environment. Within this general theme, the session will cover aspects of media policy, programming strategies, interactive television formats, as well as the role of public service and private media in sustaining . democracy and cultural diversity

Theme III: Globalization, Transnational Communication, and Communities   takes up general aspects of globalization and the mediatization of transnational communication, and also addresses concrete issues relating to the challenges of creating a European/global public sphere, and to the potential effects of media as they increasingly embed global events in everyday life.