ABSTRACT. So far, with the significant increase in the proportion of female journalists around the world, the gendered phenomenon in newsrooms has inspired further attention. However, there is a distinct lack of related research in the Chinese context. This paper critically explores various forms of gender discrimination against Chinese female journalists in a patriarchal Chinese context. Analysis of semi-structured in-depth interviews with 16 female journalists in four different cities in China demonstrates that gender discrimination is endemic in the Chinese news environment, presenting in the form of: a) sexual harassment either by male editors or male interviewees; b) cyber-attacks on female journalists in the workplace; and c) lack of career promotion opportunities and decision-making power. These phenomena demonstrate the ways in which Chinese female journalists are sexually objectified and treated unprofessionally, while their professional abilities are undervalued in a sexist working environment. This paper adopts a feminist approach to specifically reveal the gendered work environment of Chinese female journalists in the patriarchal context from multiple aspects, and contributes to the empirical research literature on #MeToo, gender and media studies in East Asia.

ABSTRACT. This presentation compares two Latin American feminist short documentaries that challenge mainstream representations of women by making use of ironic montage to dismantle gender essentialism. In Woman's World (María Luisa Bemberg, Argentina, 1972) and Miss Universe in Peru (Chaski Group, Perú, 1982), the capitalist/patriarchal mandate is contested in the editing room through rhetorical devices that, although similar, also bear remarkable differences, such as the use for storytelling of two different types of irony: dramatic and situational. Moreover, we interrogate the complex production modes of feminist films in Latin America, focusing on how they respond to their makers' heterogeneous social positionalities and agendas. An inclusive framework of analysis is proposed to shed light on the negotiations between diverse and even divergent enunciative positions. The contrasting positionality of the authors of this paper and our feminist collaborative scholarly practice mimic the film processes we study.

ABSTRACT. About: This paper considers the ways in which a significant number of fashion bloggers have reacted towards changes in an increasingly commercialised, sponsorship-driven fashion blogosphere by practising a greater degree of self-censorship and showing a reluctance to openly offer an authentic, critical voice.

Method: This paper analyses the views of over 300 UK fashion bloggers collected by a combination of qualitative online questionnaire and in-depth interview.

Findings: The study findings suggest that as fashion bloggers have become increasingly involved with commercial sponsors, they often experience increased pressure to adopt a more professional approach to their practice and the selected tone of online voice. Many bloggers are therefore silenced by a reluctance to post critical comments about products from a collaborating sponsor. Others are constrained by feeling unable to meet the increasingly professional standard of blog content presentation expected by sponsors, readers and fellow bloggers. Many admit to suppressing critical and potentially controversial remarks in order to avoid offending these diverse audiences.

Originality/ value: This research is of significance as it examines the views and concerns of a substantial number of UK fashion bloggers regarding the impact that sponsorship can have upon the independence, authenticity and credibility of the UK fashion blogger voice. It surveys a changed era during which fashion bloggers have increasingly chosen to work within a ‘silenced’ atmosphere in which blog comments are less openly independent and critical.

ABSTRACT. In media studies, mass media represent genders in accordance with institutional values. Traditional gender roles also play a crucial part in constructing media stereotypes that resonate with cultural values and expectations. For Thailand, where patriarchy has been deeply established, media representation associates women with being a good wife, a loving mother and an inferior being that cannot function without men’s guidance. Such stereotypes are also repeatedly applied to Thai military women, whose media portrayal characterizes their womanhood. In addition Thai military women are underestimated in comparison to their male counterparts.

Through social media, individuals can now present themselves in the format of online content. As such, this study explores self-representation of Thai military women shared on their personal Facebook account. Using a semi-structured, in-depth interview, 30 participants from four military forces: Army, Air Force, Navy and the Nominal Head of the Thai Armed Forces, explain their firsthand experience and personal values as a military woman. Furthermore, the interview allows them to share their process of self-representation on social media which returns empirical insight to the study. All interviews are coded with NVivo and analyzed using the thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke (2006).

ABSTRACT. Media visibility of transgender and gender diverse lives has increased in the recent decade (Cavalante, 2017 Halberstam, 2018), and is often taken as an indicator of progress in terms of transgender citizen rights and acceptance. However, increased trans rights and visibility has been met with increased opposition and UK mainstream news media play a significant role in shaping such discourse. Whilst digital and social media have provided spaces and processes for prolific and diverse trans-produced media representations, legacy media remain dominated by cis-gender perspectives. In UK mainstream press and broadcast media, the topic of trans and gender diverse youth has become an increasingly polarized and complex debate where the voices of trans youth themselves are notably absent. Drawing on a ‘transgender critique of media representation’ (Billard and Zhan 2021) that seeks to move beyond notions of ‘good’ or ‘bad’ representations, this paper reports on the empirical engagement with UK press representations of trans and gender diverse youth, to identify key frames and motivations and produce a more nuanced understanding of how such discourses are constructed. It suggests that UK media representations of trans youth continue to be dominated by sensationalising and dehumanising discourse and are frequently driven by anxieties around cultural ‘stability’ and the struggle over power, such as for example parental and majoritarian authority vis-à-vis institutions’ (school, health services etc) equalities policy.

ABSTRACT. Since Time magazine's now iconic 2014 cover story featuring trans actress Laverne Cox proclaimed the contemporary moment "The Transgender Tipping Point," there has been much debate about the recent proliferation of trans representations across all media sectors. Trans scholars, culture producers, artists, and activists have argued that this is not only a misconception, but it occludes the corpus of trans visual culture made by and for trans culture producers reflecting a wider diversity of trans experiences that do not readily reflect dominant cultural paradigms. Defined as a self-image made with a hand-held mobile device and shared via social media platforms, the selfie has facilitated self-imaging becoming a ubiquitous part of globally networked contemporary life. Beyond this, selfies have facilitated a diversity of image-making practices and enabled otherwise representationally marginalized constituencies to insert self-representations into visual culture. A close look at the prolific selfie practice of Black British, gender-non-conforming, trans-femme performance artist Travis Alabanza reveals their use of Instagram to be a critical intervention into contemporary culture. In self-imaging complex, expansive, and intersectional identity, Alabanza's oeuvre produces new visual exemplars that defy stereotypes and erasures produced by dominant culture while simultaneously challenging our previously held conceptions of identity and self-portraiture. Alabanza's work decolonizes the relationship between the subject and the portrait, encouraging viewers to consider the complex dialectical relationship between images, aesthetics, and communication about identity, performativity, gender, racialization, class, and subcultural affiliations.

ABSTRACT. Sex education in the UK, and further afield, has a history fraught with censorship, shame and moral panics, that have led to the silencing of certain topics from the curriculum, such as pleasure and LGBTQ+ education. This research has considered YouTube sex education content created by specialised influencers as a potential antidote to these gaps in sex education provision. Drawing on findings from a three-phase mixed-methods Actor-Network-Theory study that included content analysis of the public comments on 22 YouTube sex education influencer videos, and an online survey conducted with 85 young people aged 13 – 24 years, this paper positions YouTube sex education influencer content as an opportunity for young people to contribute to communities where marginalised and intersectional voices can be heard in the dissemination and discussion of sex education. The findings suggest that YouTube sex education influencers act as role models to some marginalised audience members, and that viewers of their content contribute to these sex education communities through the sharing of their own stories, the seeking and sharing of advice, and the development of parasocial relationships with sex education influencers. This work points to the opportunity of YouTube sex education content to fill gaps in provision and discusses some of the challenges presented by platform governance, algorithms and demonetisation that act as platform-mediated silencing.

ABSTRACT. The main objective of this research is to analyze the communication between Basque diaspora of Western America and the Basque Country. Particularly, we want to know what are the ways they use to know what is happening in their home country and what are the topics that they follow. The ways in which the diaspora communicates and articulates have been studied for many authors (Tsagarousianou, 2004; Oliel-Grauszek, 2004; Adams Parham, 2004; Bernal, 2006; Sakr, 2008; Soguk, 2008; Georgiou, 2013; Budarick, 2014; Ogunyemi, 2015;, Karim, 2018) The Basque diaspora has also been an important subject of academic research, but there are not so many studies about communication and media. Amezaga (2004) showed that the satellite channel of Basque Television has promoted the communication from the Basque Country to the diaspora. The research of Goirizelaia (2019) is about newspapers created by the Basque diaspora. The method of this research has been in-depth interviews with 32 people living in Idaho, Reno and California and data of Basque media (eitb.eus and berria.eus), of 2021. According to the data obtained, the main channels to know what is happening in the Basque Country for members of the diaspora are Facebook and the streaming website of the Basque Television. They essentially follow cultural issues and sports (pelota and football). There are people who are interested in politics and society, but there are many people who are not, because they “don’t understand”. Youngest people follow the music and the newest groups and songs, by Spotify and YouTube.

ABSTRACT. The notion of ‘unpopular dead bodies’ is a thread in “repatriationscapes” (Gumisiriza, 2021) regarding identify and belonging. This paper is about dead bodies found in spaces and places of constructed tensions involving borders, migration and global institutional policy and practice imbued with power. How are global institutional policies and practice prejudiced in framing dead bodies? How does crowdfunding and African diaspora associations as social capital resist global power in repatriationscapes? How does repatriationscapes expose the margins in death ignored in academia? Conceptually, I reflect on “humanitarian action framework” relating to “social death”(Parra et al., 2020, p.88). I draw on multi-dimensional perspectives and resources including my on-going PhD research into death and body repatriation among African diaspora in the UK. Repatriationscapes is a framework for exploring death and the process of repatriation of the deceased. (Gumisiriza, 2019). Repatriationscapes consolidates the ontological meaning of identity and belonging through funerary rituals and traditions in the “rites of passage”(Gennep, 1960) Studies suggest that unpopular bodies are disposed of like “dirt”(Douglas, 1966, p.2) without tradition (Parra et al., 2020 ;Connolly et al., 2017). “No standard procedure is in place to deal with the remains of migrant bodies at present.”…buried “without formal identification…no repatriation” (Connolly et al., 2017). Unpopular bodies broadly characterize “stigmatised death.” Grief is “disfranchised” (Doka, 2002), like “Mediterranean deaths” (ANSA, 2021) and Vietnamese Essex (UK) lorry bodies in 2019 (Humprey and Pham, 2019). “Victims” or “criminals”(Plambech, 2014) framing perpetuates institutional dissociation from the dead while triggering “social stigma” (Doka, 2002) among the survivors.

ABSTRACT. One of the challenges of describing to laypeople quite what ‘transmedia’ is, comes down to the complexity of the concept and the range of different ways in which it manifests. Everyone understands the concept of an escape room so transferring this to an expanded geographical location aids the communication process. It also situates the city as a play space in which community participation, meaning-making and co-creation are interwoven as meaningful story experiences for those taking part. This presentation draws on two key case studies of community-driven transmedia experiences to identify the ways in which immersive experience design can take hold of a city as a play space and translate it into a story experience. The first case study, Cursed City Dark Tide, Portsmouth (2019), and the second, Octopuses & Other Sea Creatures, Portsmouth (2022) will explore the ways in transmedia can defamiliarise the familiar and generate affective story experiences.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the role of social media in peacebuilding in divided societies. A significant claim concerning social media is that they can enhance participation and dialogue and disrupt traditional media monopoly as information providers. This claim is problematized as utopian considering that participation is not always progressive and that traditional media remain the key influencers on the internet and social media. Similarly, in conflict-affected societies, social media can be used to promote and encourage inter-communal dialogue, but they can also be used as instruments of spreading hatred and intolerance and thus, contribute to sustaining divisions rather than subverting them.

Against this background, this chapter, focusing on Cyprus, home to one of the world’s most intractable conflicts, studies Twitter to understand the current debates surrounding the negotiations between Turkish Cypriot and Greek Cypriot communities. Thus far, negotiations to settle the inter-ethnic conflict, which resulted in the de-facto division of the island in 1974, have failed to resolve the problem. The peace process in Cyprus is a political-elite driven process as elites define and frame the elements of the dispute. However, with the new digital media, citizens can potentially join in the debate and challenge the dominance of elite discourses and framing. The paper examines how various actors in both communities, such as legacy media, elite politicians, government and grass-roots organizations, communicate their messages on Twitter to drive the public debate around the resolution of the problem.

ABSTRACT. To silence means to restrict the capability of an individual or a group to communicate.There are multiple practices to marginalize voices for instance through manipulated language in the media or through absence of certain topics. In context of suicide medicalisation of the phenomenon can be reviewed as silencing practice. Suicide is still a taboo topic, Frazer defined taboos as rooted in danger, no difference the danger is real or imaginary. Suicide, in public in particular, is an extreme form of communication, at the same time it is a disrupting event that might create strong emotional responses by the audience. When we take into account the risk of copy-cat effect (Werther effect), reports about suicide can potentially harm the audience. In this vein media guidelines on coverage of suicide call for restraint and careful coverage and, with very few exceptions, for explanations on individual level without broader socio- economic context.

When media would stick to the guidelines these dimensions would be neglected, as the recommendations promote medical explanation of suicide as outcome of mental health issues. This paper presents an overview of over 70 media guidelines for reporting suicide worldwide and discusses the issue of voiceless actor. The issue of voice is of special importance for suicide survivors, as they lack space to articulate their pain, grieve, feelings of shame and often guilt.

ABSTRACT. Research considering higher education students’ use of social media frequently supposes that online posts and presentations are actual-reality representations – individuals’ stories/narratives have been assumed through what they have made visible to their networks. In reference to ‘student mental health and wellbeing’, this has strong implications as to how it might be interpreted, understood, and acted upon (notably by academic institutions). However, the significance of social media in reference to this specific area of ‘the student experience’ may lie not in what is visible but rather in what is not.

This paper draws on data generated via narrative interviews conducted with undergraduate students, sessions that were designed in such a way as to elicit their ‘student mental health and wellbeing stories’. Participants were invited to reflect on their social media posts, to identify those which to them meant ‘student mental health and wellbeing’, and to tell those behind-the-post stories in the interview context. Drawing on these ‘small stories behind small stories’, this paper reflects on how, when thinking about their mental health and wellbeing, student-participants referred to aspects such as their reasoning behind multiple accounts and post-format use; uses of social media platforms for safety/security purposes; employment of social media as ‘venting’, ‘drafting’ and/or self-reflection spaces, amongst other features. Such elements provide new facets to consider in reference to ‘student mental health and wellbeing’ more broadly. Ultimately, if social media is employed as a research tool, a more granular, in-depth understanding of ‘student mental health and wellbeing’ may be realised.

ABSTRACT. This paper discusses the theme of Silenced Voices by exploring equality, diversity and inclusion (EDI) in media & creative Higher Education. Until now, relatively little attention has been paid to researching strategic activities which address EDI in a subject specific context such as media and creative subjects. As Higher Education Institutions across the world are engaging with, for example, ‘decolonising’ their curriculum, there is a need to critically evaluate strategies which claim to address EDI. This research draws on the experience of a Centre for Equality Diversity and Inclusion in the Arts (CEDIA) as a case study, to examine the potential and impact of this kind of intervention. CEDIA is based in the faculty of Art, Design and Media at Birmingham City University, and brings together academics, students and cultural practitioners. In analysing CEDIA, questions are raised about the value of the centre, including the degree to which it can address issues of social justice and endemic discrimination. The paper interrogates the degree to which a centre such as CEDIA can create a space to empower and amplify diverse voices. Data collected for this research includes interviews, events and digital media content. The research suggests that there is value in EDI policies which are connected to a specific industry sector or subject of study, as this offers an environment for a deeper understanding of inequalities. However, a genuine commitment from HEIs needs to consider a balanced approach between a pragmatic response and ongoing critical debates.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the unique affordance of augmented reality to give voice to marginalised young people, empowering them to tell the stories of their experiences of social exclusion and to establish counter-narratives to strengthen their agency. As part of the multi-stakeholder collaborative ‘Positive Realities’ project, a team of young people based in Coventry participated in a process through which they contributed to the development of a mobile augmented reality experience called ‘Urban Jungle’. Six dance, spoken word, rap or song performances, co-created by immersive content creators, the young people and local talent, were launched through augmented reality in geotagged spaces, allowing young people to perform stories from the margins in Coventry’s central public spaces.

Framing this project as an intervention in the conflicts between conceived and lived spaces, as theorised by LeFebvre, we will explore the way in which immersive co-creation permits the young people to apprehend and reshape their own and others’ understandings of Coventry’s neighbourhoods and communities. We draw on the participants’ own descriptions of the silencing and social pressures experienced in marginalised neighbourhoods, gathered through planning workshops held in spring 2021. We juxtapose these with the feedback of both young creators and audiences at the project showcase at Coventry City of Culture in October 2021. Characterised by one co-design participant as a ‘heart-warming, community-loving, vibes-outta-the-hood’ experience, we theorise augmented reality as a technology that may aid in the creation of liminal spaces where young people can challenge and subvert experiences of marginalisation through creative expression.

ABSTRACT. As journalists face increasing and more complex challenges, and the space left for independent and critical voices is getting narrower, it is crucial to begin mapping the kind of impact that various restrictions may have on Press Freedom as well as the way(s) that journalists can mitigate these threats that aim to suppress and silence them. The proposed panel revolves around two lines of questioning: the first is, which types of threats related to press freedom is journalism currently facing? By assessing and mapping these threats, this panel aims to shed light on the various ways that numerous governments as well as other key actors around the world push through restrictions that hamper critical journalism. While some of the threats identified may be temporary – though they still constitute a dangerous precedent – others could be extended long after these challenging times of global crisis have ended and become the “new normality’. All threats, therefore, are likely to shape the state of world media and journalistic freedom in the years to come. The second line focuses on the ways that journalists and independent media organisations navigate pressures, negotiate challenges and develop resilience to continue with their work of holding those in power to account within their specific cultural and economic contexts. This question focuses on the future of journalism and aims to bring to light the strategies adopted by critical voices in their efforts to speak the truth.

ABSTRACT. In recent years investigations of the various relationships between digital technologies and memory have abounded, highlighting the transformational potential of networked communications for engaging with the past in the present. In this paper I argue that we have reached an opportune moment to reassess our understanding of mnemonic technologies and the linear technical histories that underpin media memory studies. This involves re-examining the conventional understanding and use of the term technology in relation to memory, and considering the value of exploring the technologies, not just as artifacts but as knowledge-generating skills, crafts or arts (Mackenzie and Wajcman 1999). In this sense we can think beyond mnemonic technologies as artefacts, and rather as systematised forms of knowledge about the use of the past in the present, in the interests of the future. Technological artefacts are produced through and embedded in these processes. Decentring technological artefacts opens up the possibility of rethinking the relationship between the skills and crafts of using the past in the present and the mnemonic knowledge that this generates. For postcolonial politics this offers up the possibility of challenging Western-centric practices and processes of remembering, for exploring the mediation and communication of memory in a way that addresses subaltern experience, and excavates the impact of colonialism on our understanding of memory itself.

ABSTRACT. The supernatural experience features as a consistent trope in contemporary media. Throughout history, film, television, and literary forms have used the stories people tell about their encounters with ghosts or strange objects in the sky to construct compelling media narratives. However, despite their prevalence in our historic and contemporary culture, the sharing of first-hand accounts of supernatural experience has been treated with a degree of “cultural scepticism” (Wooffitt, 1992). Therefore, while they are relatively common (Castro et al, 2014) and may have profound personal, psychological and spiritual impacts (Drinkwater et al, 2013; Waskul & Waskul, 2016), individuals demonstrate hesitancy in voicing their supernatural experience to avoid suggestions of misperception, cognitive defects or wish fulfilment (Childs and Murray, 2010; Ironside, 2017). In this paper, we investigate the podcast, Uncanny, featured on BBC Radio 4 in 2021 and 2022. Uncanny presents fifteen episodes, each exploring the personal testimony of individuals who have had a supernatural experience. Uniquely, the programme encourages listeners to contribute to the co-creation of future episodes by sharing their own experiences and perspectives of the cases reported. The hashtag #uncanny and #uncannylistenalong are used to facilitate the crowdsourcing of information and personal testimony from podcast listeners. Our analysis combines content and discourse analysis to explore the construction of the supernatural through the “naturalised” journalistic mode of communication. To conclude, we reflect on the role of contemporary media in ‘normalising’ supernatural experiences as part of a growing spiritual quest culture.

ABSTRACT. The National Earthquake Museum in Sichuan province consists of a bespoke museum as well as a preserved section of the ruins of the old city of Beichuan, and was created to commemorate the 2008 Sichuan Earthquake which killed more than 68,000 people and left tens of thousands homeless. When the former Prime Minister Wen Jiabao visited the area, he ordered memorials be built “to preserve the collective memory of trauma and commemorate the victims as an essential part of rehabilitation and reconstruction work.” Thus, the ruins of the earthquake-ravaged town were preserved to memorialise this site of trauma. This presentation examines how the museum and the site officially commemorates and mourns the city and the people lost. It contrasts the patriotic displays in the museum and on the site with the experience of the ruin, arguing that the ruin-as-memorial undermines the intended patriotic narrative of reconstruction by adding unintended interpretive and affective layers that function as a counter-memory to the state’s remembering of this event. It examines the affective qualities of the site, analysing how visitors’ experience at the Museum and the site, the exploration of the ruin, and the commemorative acts witnessed and invited to partake in acts as a counter-memory in opposition to the projected official narrative.

ABSTRACT. Martin Luther King Jr.(MLK), the charismatic and eloquent leader of the civil rights movement is today often tokenized as a meek representation of a movement which allegedly ended racism in the United States. While celebrating contributions by members of marginalized communities – and thereby including them in a nation’s public memory – is crucial, trivializing their memory and locating movements fully in the past presents a simplified retelling of history (e.g. Romano & Raiford,2006; Theoharis, 2018). In my case study on the MLK Memorial in Washington, D.C., I analyze how visitors experience the site and how they interact with it: offline and online. Part of a larger project, in this paper, I will present the method of the Instagram ethnography and how it can be used to study disperse populations who– collectively – engage with a hegemonic narrative (as told by the memorial).The online ethnography can assess online and offline experiences and their intersections. I analyze Instagram-posts and interview the creators to learn about their intentions for posting as well as their experiences on site. When constructing the Instagram interview in a manner that corresponds to the platform affordances, this method results in personal, sincere, in-depth answers about the interviewee’s opinions and experiences. Individuals also proved to be engaged and glad to lead a conversation about their own experiences, the cultural artefact, and the ideology behind it. The Instagram interview therefore proves to be a productive addition to online research when studying bottom-up narratives that can potentially challenge grand narrative

ABSTRACT. The figure of the Indigenous person in American history as often been one about misplace perception. From the ‘noble savage’ to the ‘fearsome injun’, the perception of European settlers of the tribes they ousted has been based on necessity of purpose – the tribes were perceived as friendly, hostile, noble or savage depending on the need for such a binary opposition in culture. Part of this misperception, pushing Indigenous people the position of the ‘other’ involved applying attributes to them, often supernatural, creating a mythology far removed from reality.

One persistent visualisation of the Indigenous person was of an aptitude for working on skyscrapers at great altitude during the 20th century, when the iconic Manhattan skyline was expanding upwards rather than outwards. Mohawk tribesmen had been working on bridges long before that, and their apparent fearlessness and skill brought them to the city in the thousands. However, as my presentation will articulate, the truth is more complicated, with factors of institutional racism and economic necessity providing equal causation for this fascinating juxtaposition of the modern and the and the historical.

In Michael Wadleigh’s Wolfen (1981), New York is shown as being an increasingly bifurcated city, split between the high-rises of Wall Street and the wasteland of the Bronx. Straddling both is the figure of Indigenous steel worker Eddie Holt (Edward James Olmos), who, in his position as a reformed NAM (Native American Movement) activist turned worker and agent provocateur embodies this strange blend.

NB: This will be a video-based project

ABSTRACT. In the middle of the pandemic, I went to Longshang, a remote hilly village in Yunnan, China to make a film about its paper museum.

Longshang paper Museum is a short architectural film, giving a voice to the voiceless villagers of Longshang who have produced handmade paper for the last four hundred years.

Nearly 65% of Chinese people now live in urban areas. However, Longshang has produced a counter-culture of rural sustainability through the construction of a paper museum.

Using Bordieu’s notion of cultural capital, the film exemplifies how a remote rural community uses its cultural capital in handmade calligraphic paper to advance itself within ‘state capitalism’.

The people of Longshang engage in agriculture and papermaking for their livelihood; and the Museum celebrates them both. Standing at the entrance to the village, the Museum invites the viewer to enjoy its rural surroundings amidst the beautiful Yunnan hills.

It is constructed using local materials – wood, volcanic rock and paper. Its walls are made of paper, recognizing the very artefact it celebrates.

The village has an open-door policy. So, the visitor is not only invited into the museum; but also, to visit villagers’ houses to experience the papermaking in context. The village becomes an extension of the Museum; and the Museum a beacon for the village. Thus, the people of Longhang have utilized their cultural capital to create a museum that has given them a unique cultural voice, ensuring their sustainability in the future.

Longshang paper museum Vimeo link: https://vimeo.com/manage/videos/671725874/3d0f001fed

ABSTRACT. MOBILE COAST - Practice-as-research proposal for Silenced Voices conference

Topic: Non-Mainstream Voices

We are a research partnership comprising of Dr Holger Mohaupt, a practice-based researcher at Liverpool John Moores University and Tracey Fearnehough, researcher and programme director in Film and TV at Edinburgh College of Art, University of Edinburgh.

Our proposal would include presenting a short paper, a film screening and we would give conference participants an opportunity to experience a short immersive 360 documentary film using head-mounted displays in the presentation space.

Our project Mobile Coast was developed in partnership with Historic Environment Scotland and a respite center based in East Lothian, for people living with MS and other neurological conditions. The aim of the research project was to create immersive coastal documentary narratives and a deep, sensual experience of coastal living for users. In our case study, the particular focus was the impact of the film experience on the well-being of people living with multiple sclerosis.

The long-term aim of the project is to create a Scottish immersive coastal film archive for documentary narratives with a focus on intangible cultural heritage and the lived experience of different generations within the coastal community of East Lothian. In our research narrative we planned to do this through the creation of short immersive coastal community films to capture, preserve and share their stories.

ABSTRACT. A military photographer was killed alongside four of her Afghan colleagues during a bomb disposal training exercise. The image and caption describing ‘the moment of her death’ was released two years later by the US military. She is not seen in the photograph, but she is named. The image represents the death of another Afghan soldier who is un-named and unidentified. The image also operates according to an aesthetic interplay between process colours, cyan, magenta and yellow, reminiscent of summer days, and slow-motion cinematic explosions from 1970’s cult cinema. The image does not behave according to its description.

The film and paper Army Photographer Captures her own Death uses a deconstructed practice as a research methodology to investigate the blurred spaces between what this image does and what it says it is doing. It draws on works by Judith Butler and Hito Steyerl to challenge the mediated aestheticisation of military attacks in Afghanistan, carried out in the interests of a so called ‘war on terror’. In such imagery subjectivity is blurred and bodies are either unidentified, unrecognisable or they are absent from the framing of war. Four Afghan soldiers, working with US forces died but we don’t know who they are – a framing that to quote Judith Butler ‘silences the question of who counts as a who.’ (Judith Butler, Frames of War: When is Life Grievable (London: Verso, 2016)

This proposal comprises a film screening and performed paper, which accompanies its visual imagery and sounds.

ABSTRACT. Our personal lives have been profoundly impacted during the pandemic. In a UK context however, the influences upon people’s sex lives have received scant attention. As part of a multi-method UK wide study, we have run four online surveys which have sought to explore the experiences of men who have sex with men during this time, specifically as related to their sex lives (or lack thereof). This group are an interesting case in point due to the sexual cultures that are popular (though not universal) in relation to their use of hook up apps, and as related to their engagement with public sex. Additionally, men in this group of a particular age have also already lived through the HIV pandemic. From this survey data, we provide insights into a range of themes regarding how men who have sex with men have variously experienced the pandemic. Themes covered include the interpretation of, and responses to: government messaging, attempts at public health messaging within hookup apps, cultures of hooking up in the physical environment and in a digitally mediated fashion. Our work points to a complex picture of engaging (or not) in sexual activity of different forms at a time when close personal contact has been variously restricted, and the personal and sexual ethics associated with this.

ABSTRACT. Dating apps allow individuals to represent themselves via photos and textual description, such profiles show the characteristics individuals value in the situated cultural context. For male users, the profiles arguably reflect how they understand and represent characteristics of hegemonic masculinity. Hegemonic masculinity in China is defined by wen-wu, which traditionally values cultural attainment and martial arts. In modern China, the performances of wen masculinity emphasise elite education and political power, wu performance can be seen in traits such as being competitive, powerful and physically strong. However, in the British dating context, western masculinity is hegemonic masculinity, Chinese hegemonic masculinity is marginalized. Therefore, Chinese masculinity is often associated with negative stereotypes such as being weak, nerdy and effeminate. The stereotypes may influence female users’ perceptions of them, which in turn may affect mobile dating experience of Chinese heterosexual men in the UK. The research aims to explore how Chinese heterosexual men represent masculinity on dating apps in the UK, how negative stereotypes affect their mobile dating experience and what female users think of dating or encountering Chinese men on dating apps. Research on Chinese men, a minority group on British dating apps, can reflect on Chinese men's self-perception of their identity, how they manage and the extent to which they blend the different versions of hegemonic masculinity. I started collecting data in January and would like to share early findings at the conference.

ABSTRACT. For the last 14 years, author Dennis Cooper’s blog, his most significant output, has featured fortnightly posts titled “DC Sluts,” where Cooper presents collections of images and texts in the form of personal advertisements for male sex workers. These posts extensively discuss mental health, self-harm and sexual violence, and feature explicit images of men. Cooper has never clarified the provenance of the images and texts, or whether he creates them himself. This has led some to argue that he’s engaging in a form of ‘found media’ or ‘flarf’.

This paper asks: (a) What sort of media creation are these posts? Can we determine it without Cooper explaining how he produces them?, and, (b) What are the ethical responsibilities of these posts both to the subject matter (mental health and sexual violence) and the original authors of the texts and images?

This paper relies on a content analysis of all DC Slut’s posts from 2021 (23 posts, 535 profiles) to explore this innovative and popular form of media creation and consider what, if any, are its ethical responsibilities. I engage with existing work on ‘citational fiction’ and ‘flarf’ but extend it beyond the written word to include images. Thus, I bridge a gap between literary and media studies to suggest that these posts link Cooper’s literary oeuvre with new forms of online media creation. I suggest that Cooper’s “DC Sluts” sit in a difficult ethical position that highlights the titillating uncertainty that characterizes many online media creations.

ABSTRACT. This paper examines how screens reconfigure home. It examines home- and screen-space, drawing on phenomenology, screenology, and human geography. The conceptual framework weaved through these methods evidence home’s reconfiguration and silencing through the contemporary screenic landscape. Evidence of these assertions are made apparent through a close, critical analysis of Bo Burnham’s performance film Inside (2020).

Changes within the screenic landscape became notable during the global pandemic of COVID-19. The boundaries of the screen became coterminous with the extensity of the home following various lockdowns, quarantines, and similar non-pharmaceutical interventions. The screen-sphere and the home-sphere became the same, reconfiguring perceptions of home as home was suddenly and violently silenced in its new definition as a place for living, security, conviviality, work, education, and rest. There was a blurring of any clearly defined boundaries between the home’s subject and its material objects, and home was no longer a dwelling place but something an individual interfaces with.

Burnham’s film Inside (2020) explores this conceptualisation of home- and screen-space. While the performance explores the anxieties of being stuck inside for extended periods, Burnham’s relentless compulsion to perform for the screen offers a claustrophobic examination of home within unprecedented crisis as he juxtaposes the spaces of screen and the spaces of home. The performance demonstrates the extinguishing of the possible comfort of the home as Burnham experiences a developing agony made manifest in suicide ideation brought on through the prolonged isolation (silence) inside: an inside always facing out.

ABSTRACT. The purpose of this paper is to examine the notion of eugenics used as a means of social control during the Coronavirus pandemic in the UK. The relevance of eugenics to a conference on Silenced Voices is threefold. First, that the volume of deaths in the UK (which exceeds anywhere else in Europe) is inexcusable. Indeed, scientific or state narratives that attempt to rationalise this cataclysmic loss of life, demand close examination. Second, that the machinations of the modern state are rarely more visible than in times of national crisis, and in recent months one could argue that the actions of the British Establishment have never been more transparent. Third, that while ordinary citizens have attempted to condemn the management of the pandemic by Government, the response from the Establishment has been to reframe this argument as a question of National security - and thus clamp down on subversive public opinion. With regards to the condemnation of dissenting public discourse, the regulation of mass and social media (and reframing of dissent as conspiratorial) established new social norms during the crisis. Adherents to this "new normal", were encouraged to differentiate against an abnormal or deviant “other” therefore establishing a new state racism. Although it is tempting to embrace the astonishing range of conspiracies that have proliferated during the crisis the question of eugenics (cited as genocide in some cases) has been raised several times and this troubling concept deserves particular attention – especially when such concerns are silenced by the state.

ABSTRACT. New Delhi is the world’s most polluted capital city (IQAir 2019). The lives of its over twenty million inhabitants are blighted by extremely high levels of air pollution averaging nearly 10 times the specified WHO limit for fine particulate matter. Every year between 10,000 to 30,000 of the city’s inhabitants lose their lives because of causes linked to air pollution (Bithal 2018). 1.24 million succumb to such causes annually across India (Chatterjee 2019), which is home to 21 of the 30 most polluted cities in the world (IQAir2019). News narratives about air pollution are of vital significance in shaping public understanding and generating the attitudinal, behavioural and policy-related changes needed to mitigate the problem. This presentation will share findings from an analysis of the reporting of air pollution in the two most widely circulated English-language newspapers published in the city. Combining quantitative and qualitative analysis of data from past three years (2019, 2020, 2021), the presentation will outline key news-frames, narratives, rhetorical devices and visual elements dominating mainstream media coverage. The presentation will reveal the silences and inequalities characterising news-storytelling, highlighting key deficiencies in communication of both the uneven responsibilities for air pollution and the experience of its consequences. News narratives frame the problem as an episodic crisis generated by climactic factors and external, irrational, non-urban actors, and elide the responsibility of emissions generated by personal transport, construction, and industry dominated by urban elites. The presentation will analyse the implications of this very limited and problematic storytelling.

ABSTRACT. The phenomenon of digital storytelling is burgeoning, and it has emerged as part of broader cultural shifts, including a profound change in models of media and communication; however, there is a notable dearth of studies in the area. Consequently, this study explores the stories features of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, as an inclusive tool for voiceless Nigerian youth to express their views on societal challenges. Methodologically, the study adopts the qualitative research approach, precisely, virtual ethnography to understand how young Nigerians use the story features of social media for issues of social change. Virtual ethnography offers an in-road into the cultural realities, rituals, and interpretative repertoires of online activities. Thus, the researcher has access to the field from his comfort zone, as young Nigerians exemplify their experiences through the lenses of the stories. Communicating research in visual forms is becoming popular because of the affordances of digital technologies such as social media and smartphones. Consequently, the study uses the thematic visual essay approach for data analysis. This technique is unique as a significant way of challenging the archetypal journal article format of a set number of words with a limited number of illustrations. Findings from the study are likely to reveal that the story feature afforded voiceless youth some fulfilment; they are satisfied contributing to the demands for a positive social change in the country. By implication, digital storytelling through the lenses of social media stories could be viewed as a societal scanning tool in the hands of young people.

ABSTRACT. Much is known of the impact of social media on photographic representations and professional practice but their impact on the representational practices of women professional photographers outside the West is not well investigated. Based on findings from a) semi-structured interviews conducted with 20 female-identifying photographers with ties to 17 countries outside the West and b) analysis of 200 Instagram posts by them, we investigated whether, and how, digital social media are utilised by these photographers to circulate images that challenge the established regimes of visibility of their societies. We found that the photographers widely perceived social media as effective platforms to offer alternative images of their countries and communities. But we also found that this potential of social media to change the status quo of how non-Western peoples and places are represented was not present to a great extent in how the interviewees used their own Instagram pages. While acknowledging that these findings are from a qualitative study relying on a relatively small sample size, we will offer our conclusions as to why this mismatch between perceptions and practices regarding social media existed for the photographers. In particular, we will lay out our case that the need to engage in relational labour on digital platforms to be professionally visible took precedence over visual resistance on digital platforms for these professionals because of their invisibility resulting from geo-cultural and gender-based marginalisation within the gig economy of their profession.

ABSTRACT. Storytelling on Facebook is being used to gain voice and visibility for feminists. The affordance of Facebook as a story-based platform- (owing from the allowed characters) and possessing a wide reach/audience in terms of size and accessibility is leveraged to connect to a wide audience and empower self/voice. Nigerian feminists are engaging in feminism on Facebook as a personal process whilst giving interpretation to the concept using their personal experience, projects and activities. Previous research has explored the use of social media and particularly Facebook for collective action, community building etcetera. However, there is still a dearth in literature on the impact of Facebook engagement on identity production. My study explores how feminists in Nigeria are using Facebook as a digital tool to connect personal stories to feminist ideologies and causes. It also explores storytelling not only as activism but as a creative practice for articulating identities. This is achieved by exploring questions such as; ‘What Facebook platform affordances are used to narrate / tell feminist identities and possibilities? What is the relationship between feminist storytelling and identity production? Using data from Facebook page observation and interviews, data is thematically analysed to identify emerging patterns to give meaning into the concept of storytelling as a feminist tool. Preliminary findings from this research identifies creation of new identities; an opportunity for further explication of Nigerian feminists use storytelling on Facebook to comprehend, resist and transform from patriarchy’s constraints, gender inequality issues and various layers of oppression.

ABSTRACT. The aim of this paper is to highlight the plight of traditionally voiceless female characters in many Film and HETV genres, particularly characters that are low in status and have ‘invisible’ experiences and unheard voices. I will present how I am developing my feature film SOMEWHERE OUT THERE, a dark comedy, to deliberately break some genre rules for its audiences to see it through the eyes of dead female murder victims. These female stereotypes are often used as ‘erotic kills’ on the screen and thus are objects from which plots springboard. In my film, these characters, however, are central to the premise. Their problem is that they are invisible to the living world as they roam powerless and ineffective to it. Their corpses haven’t been found and their souls cannot be released to eternal rest. My key goal for them is to find hope in the smallest of details and fight to be heard, seen, and being found leads to their ultimate freedom. My method has developed from undergoing TV script drafts and performing read-throughs to realizing that photography and creatives such as Suzie Larke (a visual artist and photographer) help to inspire new ideas that open up change in tone and story. Ultimately, the argument being made is that the use of visual metaphor, such as the breaking apart of a body, as Suzie Larke does, is a powerful approach to connecting the audience to the emotional states of the victims, thus making them more human.

ABSTRACT. Informal media practices, colloquially termed ‘piracy’, have been and are still largely considered marginal, underground, and almost unequivocally destructive. Often simplistic and generalised approaches to ‘pirate’ practices – e.g., that view ‘piracy’ as an exclusively pricing or copyright law enforcement issue – have led to a rather limited understanding of their complex nature. More importantly, the voices of the alleged ‘pirates’ themselves have been far from sufficiently heard in the debates around ‘piracy’. Yet, works that take a more comprehensive view on the issue (e.g., Karaganis, 2011; Lobato and Thomas, 2015; Goldgel-Carballo and Poblete, 2020) demonstrate how wide-ranging and intricate both ‘pirate’ activities and the reasons explaining their existence are, especially in non-Western, less developed economies.

In this paper, I present an overview of the findings from my current research into the informal screen media practices in Ukraine. Drawing from in-depth interviews with a range of informal media practitioners, I explore their motivations for engaging in such questionably legal activities as informal audiovisual translation and unauthorised content distribution, and discuss political, social, cultural, and economic complexities that underlie the role and status of their practices. From coincidental preferences for an informal way of operating to activist motivations to protect and popularise a ‘non-mainstream’ language, the diversity of these motives, I argue, highlights the value of opening up a space for the voices of such marginalised media practitioners as ‘pirates’ and points towards the need for more inclusive approaches to study the informal space of the media industry.

ABSTRACT. I interrogate the policy ideas (Scalise, 2020) underpinning a proposed tax incentive policy for digital games production in Ireland. I question the role of tax incentives as a tool for supporting games production (Kerr, 2017).

As a state aid, the incentive requires approval from the European Commission under Article 107(3)(d) of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), i.e. under the cultural criterion. Anti-trust law in the EU is driven by economic, social, and cultural goals, of varying weight (Dunne, 2020). Through a document analysis and policy research perspective, this paper considers multiple intersecting values of stakeholders including policy makers, lobby groups, and industry (publishers and developers).

Through analysis of the incentive, I examine the proposed cultural aims of Article 107(3)(d) and the implementation of policy measures within an individual member state, namely Ireland. This policy research perspective asks whose voice is heard and not heard (Bacchi, 2009). I explicitly interrogate policy silences (following Bacchi) to interrogate who might not qualify for the tax incentive.

Despite its significance in policy-shaping, ideas and values underpinning the cultural criterion are underexamined. The complex nature of cultural impact sits uneasily with the presumed quantifiable industrial nature of the digital games industry.

Bacchi, Carol. Analysing Policy. Pearson Higher Education AU. 2009.

Dunne, Niamh. "Public interest and EU competition law." The Antitrust Bulletin 65.2 (2020): 256-281.

Kerr, Aphra. Global games: Production, circulation and policy in the networked era. Routledge, 2017.

Scalise, Gemma. The political economy of policy ideas. Springer, 2020.

ABSTRACT. This paper explores the depiction of local food by Scottish Instagram Influencers. Research establishes that influencers have high engagement rates, therefore, is an accessible source of representing social practices on digital platforms. What has not been significantly researched is how eating locally is depicted in social media and who is represented and left out in such discourses. This is of public interest as Good Food Nation is Scotland’s second integrated food policy that targets food inequality aiming for its citizens to take pride and pleasure in food. A facet of accomplishing this is reconnecting people with Scottish produce and Scottish influencers have become crucial in showcasing this movement. Existing food inequality in Scotland prevents people living in food poverty from engaging in the concept of locality as research suggests that expensive restaurants are more likely to provide local food. This suggests that the concept of local is directed at wealthy people as they have the privilege of being able to choose their food practices. If the Scottish government wants the collective identity to include championing local produce, the representations of low-income people and how they engage with local food should not be excluded from this movement. Critical discourse analysis will be used to analyse Instagram profiles of Influencers who will be interviewed to find out how they construct local food and how their depictions of local food can be exclusive to upper classes who can afford such a lifestyle, leaving lower classes ignored from the movement.

ABSTRACT. Branded content, native advertising and influencer marketing offer new promotional opportunities to brands but also involve new forms of direct and indirect control over who and what is afforded speech or is silenced. The influence of advertising both directly on non-advertising content and indirectly on the resources and decisions of publishers and content providers has been the subject of analysis and criticism since the seventeenth century. Yet today the identities of media communicator and advertiser are becoming merged at corporate and content levels in ways that intensify but also re-frame discussions on advertiser influence.

This paper discusses the implications arising from a research study of the governance of emergent practices in brand sponsored content. The paper examines problems in the declaration and identification of brand sponsored content in influencer marketing and digital publishing and in the exercising of brand control over communications through contractual and transactional arrangements. It examines the paradox of upholding and undermining principles of the identification of advertising and the implications of governance lacuna for the protection and promotion of speech rights. It presents findings from a study of contemporary industry practices, regulatory action and governance debates in the UK, and from comparative research across North America, Europe and Australia. The paper builds on a critical framework for governance analysis and published studies of brand sponsored content by the author, and draws on findings from interviews and stakeholder events (2020-22) with influencer marketing practitioners and policy stakeholders.

ABSTRACT. This paper provides a macro level analysis of gatekeeping power across multiple creative industries (film, TV, games, book publishing and music), where gatekeeping power is defined as the capacity for specific actors (individuals or companies) to influence the creation and circulation of cultural products. While in some ways there is a proliferation of options for consumers to sidestep the gatekeeping actions of the likes of TV schedulers, cinema programmers and radio DJs alongside unprecedented opportunities for ‘prosumers’ to curate, distribute and promote their own content via seemingly limitless new platforms, this paper argues that both ‘old’ and ‘new’ media companies still play a dominant role in mediating access to media content and experiences in this ever-evolving media landscape. The model illustrates this argument through the identification of ‘nodes’ where gatekeeping power might be found (distribution/publishing, marketing, IP ownership, funding, hardware manufacture, production, retail, curation, regulation, and archiving) as well as the players that tend to have more control over those nodes (book publishers, record companies, film distributors, TV broadcasters, game publishers and tech companies). In doing so, the model illustrates three central arguments: 1) control over any one node does not in and of itself increase gatekeeping power over the whole system, 2) ‘new’ platforms (e.g. Google, Amazon, Facebook), either already occupy, or are maneuvering towards, a very similar gatekeeping position to their “old media” counterparts, 3) while the exact companies might change across industries, the nodes of gatekeeping power are strikingly similar.