Westminster Papers in Communication and Culture (WPCC)

Call for Papers

National television policies in the age of globalization

Considerable discussion in the debate on globalisation within media studies has centred on the question over the impact of the forces of globalisation on the nature and dynamics of national policy-making. On one side of the debate are those who argue that technological change in the form of digitalisation, the expanded jurisdiction of supranational organisations, and the increased reach of global capital are challenging the capacity of national governments to assert control over their domestic electronic media industries This is engendering a pattern of convergent trends in broadcasting policy across countries. On the other side of the debate are those who claim that, despite a similar set of external constraints, national governments still retain key policy instruments to direct the evolution of their media industries in accordance with their policy goals, as demonstrated by the variety in national approaches to the various policy issues that are currently at the top of the political agenda. According to this line of argument, in order to account for contemporary dynamics in media policies, it is still essential to consider in the analysis the distinctive features of one country’s political system, its political culture, and the legacy of pre-existing arrangements in the organisation of the domestic media industry.

We are looking for original, research-based papers that contribute to this debate by broadening the understanding of the interplay between global forces and the states in the making of contemporary national television policies. We welcome both national studies and comparative research across countries as well as research on policy-making at the supranational level (e.g. the European Union). Particularly welcomed are those contributions that attempt to incorporate into the analysis the theoretical approaches to the explanation of policy change and variation developed within the policy-orientated literature.

Possible topics include but are not limited to:

­          Policy approaches to digital cable, satellite, and terrestrial television;

­          Digital switch-over strategies;

­          The regulation of digital pay-TV access (CAS, API, EPGs) and interactive services;

­          Policy approaches to IPTV;

­          Policy approaches to HDTV;

­          Policy approaches to Mobile TV;

­          The reform of public service broadcasters;

­          The reform of media ownership rules;

­          The regulation of programme production and of particular types of television content;

­          The reorganisation of the regulatory regime for the convergent communications sector.

Applicants may submit abstracts of no more than 250 words to Alessandro D’Arma at A.DArma01@westminster.ac.uk. The deadline for submission of abstracts is Friday 29^th September 2006. For accepted articles the deadline of the submission will be Wednesday 31^st January 2007.