The 13th Central and East European Communication and Media Conference was held on the 22nd-23rd of October 2021. Due to COVID-19 pandemic conditions the conference was held online. The main organizer of this two-day event was the Institute of Journalism, Media and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University. The event was co-organized by the Polish Communication Association as well as the Central and East European Network of the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA). The conference took place under the auspices of the Rector of the Jagiellonian University, the Austrian Consul General in Kraków, Consul General of the Federal Republic of Germany in Kraków and Consul General of the Slovak Republic in Kraków. It was opened by the dean of the Faculty of Management and Social Communication of the Jagiellonian University, the representative of the Polish Communication Association's authorities, and the member of the diplomatic corps - diplomatic missions of Central and East European countries based in Kraków. The opening part was followed by presentation of the theme of the conference which was the New Communication Revolution and a presentation of a short movie about history of the CEECOM (a link below). The making of this film would not had been possible without cooperation with distinguished academics closely related to the CEECOM and its previous events and projects: prof. Bogusława Dobek-Ostrowska. prof. Epp Lauk, prof. Zrinjka Perusko, prof. Irena Reifova and prof. Lilia Raycheva.
In the first part of the conference the keynote lectures were given by four esteemed professors in media and communication studies: prof. Alina Bârgăoanu (National University of Political Studies and Public Administration in Bucharest), prof. Michael Brüggemann, (University of Hamburg), prof. Bogusława Dobek-Ostrowska (University of Wrocław) and prof. Zrinjka Peruško (University of Zagreb). The second plenary part of the conference was dedicated to the CEE Network. This special panel titled ‘CEE Network – its origin, development and future’ and chaired by prof. Lenka Vochocova (vice-chair of the CEE Network) gathered scholars who has been engaged with the CEE Network for many years: prof. John Downey (ECREA President) and prof. Irena Reifova (ECREA Vice-President) among others. The special panel of the Polish Communication Association (‘Social communication and media studies in Poland - heritage and future’) featured presentations of prof. Iwona Hofman (President of the PCA) who chaired this panel, prof. Bogusława Dobek-Ostrowska (University of Wrocław), prof. Teresa Sasińska-Klas (Jagiellonian University), prof. Jadwiga Woźniak-Kasperek (University of Warsaw), prof. Stanisław Jędrzejewski (Kozminski University) and dr hab. Katarzyna Kopecka-Piech (Maria Curie-Sklodowska University). The third part of the first day of the conference was intended for discussions related to the scientific journals in the CEE region. The ‘Central European Journal of Communication’ (CEJC)’s panel chaired by prof. Michał Głowacki (Editor-in-chief of the CEJC) was titled ‘Scholarly Journals in Central and Eastern Europe: Collaborative Practices to Support Knowledge Exchange’. The panelists - CEE Journals Editors (Viktorija Car / Medijske Studije, Croatia, Márton Demeter / KOME – An International Journal of Pure Communication Inquiry, Hungary, Anna Gladkova / The World of Media, Russia, Rafał Kuś / Zeszyty Prasoznawcze, Poland, Elena Negrea-Busuioc / The Romanian Journal of Communication and Public Relations, Romania, Sergei Samoilenko / Communication Association of Eurasian Researchers, CAER and Agnieszka Stępińska / Central European Journal of Communication) reflected on the scholarly collaboration in the region. This part was also supplemented by a panel entitled ‘Scientific journals for young scholars in Central and Eastern Europe: experience and challenges’ organized by the ‘Com.press’ journal under the leadership of Dominika Popielec (Kazimierz Wielki University).
The second day of the conference was full of fascinating presentations prepared by the CEECOM participants. The academic reflection on the new communication revolution was deepened within the many different panels. They were divided into four parallel thematic sessions focusing on international relations and global communication, political communication in CEE, cultural issues, and COVID-19 pandemic conditions. The topics included contemporary trends in media and communication, challenges for democracy, media regulation, misinformation and disinformation, communication technologies and condition of today’s journalism. The second day featured also a roundtable discussion with representatives of Polish media. In the panel entitled ‘Broad-, narrow- and egocasting. How does mediamorphosis affect the work of journalists?’ took part: Beata Biel – News Digital Premium Development Unit Director in TVN24 – 24-hour commercial news channel, Adam Czerwiński – Music Director in the largest Polish commercial radio station RMF FM, Patryk Stanik – Communication and Social Media Manager in Tygodnik Powszechny – weekly magazine published in Kraków since 1945, Daniel Rząsa – Editor in Chief in 300Gospodarka – news service dedicated to economics and Kamil Turecki – International Affairs Journalist in the largest Polish web portal Onet.pl. The invited journalist shared their views on the new circumstances of their professional activities. The conference was closed by Malgorzata Winiarska-Brodowska, chair of the ECREA’s Central and East European Network and chair the CEECOM 2021 Organizing Committee, with the announcement of the next CEECOM, the 14th Central and East European Communication and Media Conference, which will take place in 2023 in Brno, Czech Republic.
An extended version of the CEECOM 2021 Conference Report can be found in ‘Media Research Issues’, 2022, vol. 65, No 3 (251).
A movie presenting the history of CEECOM: CEECOM 2021 - YouTube
