Mediapolis Journal| Communication and Journalism in Electoral Contexts

Coordinators: Bruno Araújo (UFMT/CEIS20) and João Figueira (UC/CEIS20)

Interest in the role of communication and journalism in election processes is hardly new. In recent decades, hundreds of reflections, some of them classic and defining in the field of political communication, have been produced on the complex relationships between the media, politics and society. Initially, scholars in communication and other social sciences were concerned with a media context of traditional media hegemony, with an emphasis on the role of television in the second half of the twentieth century.

In fact, for decades, the media have acted as dominant mediators in the production and dissemination of messages at a key moment in liberal democratic times, such as elections, with implications for the quality of public debate. More recently, however, we have witnessed the acceleration of a process of colonisation of the political sphere by communication logics that go beyond the grammar of traditional media. In different regions of the world, we have witnessed deeply digitalised electoral processes, based on communication practices typical of a hyper-fragmented, polarising, networked political sphere, driving new modes of politicisation and depoliticisation. Marked by a growing mistrust of institutions, a growing crisis of representation and the rise of moralising sentiments towards politics, the current era has produced political and electoral scenarios marked by populist communication that exploits divisions and fears, disinformation and often intolerance in the public sphere.

In a context such as this, which affects the various spheres of social life and takes on particular significance at election time, understanding the social and political role of communication in its multiple dimensions is a politically relevant and scientifically indispensable task for the social sciences, and for communication studies in particular.

In view of the current challenges regarding the relationship between communication and elections, the editors of this issue of Mediapolis, Bruno Araújo, of the Federal University of Mato Grosso, and João Figueira, of the University of Coimbra, call for the submission of scientific contributions to the dossier on Communication and Journalism in Electoral Contexts. The issue is interested in studies that discuss or analyse issues such as:

· Political communication of actors, parties and movements in electoral processes, with a special focus on comparative studies;

· Media coverage and processes of media planning in electoral periods;

· Strategic communication and political marketing case studies during elections

· Post-truth, disinformation and polarisation in electoral contexts;

· Data journalism, digitisation and fact-checking in political campaigns;

· Negative campaigning, polarisation and depoliticisation;

· Populist communication in traditional and digital media;

· The place of opinion polls in shaping political attitudes and the challenges posed by growing distrust;

· Internet, memes and the politics of entertainment in electoral processes;

· Polarisation and political violence against media professionals during elections;

· The institutional communication of state bodies during the electoral period;

· Public participation in the electoral debate and new mediators in political campaigns;

· Gender, media and representativeness in contemporary electoral contexts;

· Media literacy, elections, the public sphere and the quality of democracy.

Articles must be submitted by 30 December 2022 to be considered for publication in issue no. 17 of Mediapolis for the second half of 2023.

Articles must comply with the standard referencing style, which can be consulted here.