Media Sociology Preconference 2016

We invite submissions for a preconference on media sociology to be held at the University of Washington on Friday, August 19, 2015. (This is one day before the start of the annual meeting of the American Sociological Association in Seattle.) To encourage the widest possible range of submissions, we have no pre-specified theme again this year and invite both theoretical and empirical papers on any topic related to media sociology. Submissions from graduate students and junior scholars are particularly welcome. This preconference, now in its fourth consecutive year, is linked to an effort to strengthen media sociology within the ASA: After a long period of negotiation, the media sociology steering committee was able to broker a deal with the Communication and Information Technologies section (CITASA) at the end of 2014. CITASA officially changed its section name to "Communication, Information Technologies and Media Sociology" in 2015 and is officially sponsoring the Media Sociology Preconference in 2016. Free registration to the preconference will be offered to all current CITAMS members. Media sociology has long been a highly diverse field spanning many topics, methodologies, and units of analysis. It encompasses all forms of mass-mediated communication and expression, including news media, entertainment media, as well as new and digital media. Outstanding research exists within the different subfields both within and beyond the discipline of sociology. Our aim is to create dialogue among these disparate yet complementary traditions.