IAMCR 2020: Reimagining the Digital Future: Building inclusiveness, respect and reciprocity 

At the critical juncture of the second decade of the 21st century, the world is facing tremendous challenges. More than three decades of cultural, economic and communication globalization have created sharp income and wealth inequities, a divisive international community, dysfunctional media, an increasingly fragmented digital culture and an accelerating environmental crisis. We witness growing populism and protectionism and a dissolving consensus on global engagement and international collaboration. We see deepening technological contestation in digital media and artificial intelligence between the world’s two economic powerhouses. We also witness a sharp decline of the quality of national and international information flows as a result of widespread misinformation facilitated by social media.

These developments pose urgent questions and challenges for media and communications scholars. What are the reasons for the division, gaps and fragmentation we now see? What roles have digital media communication played in these developments at both the local and global levels? What values should inform our proposals for addressing them?

This year’s conference aims to respond to those challenges by reexamining the roles and patterns of global communication while including local voices, seeking critical reflections on the relationship between them, and exploring feasible agendas for a shared digital future based on inclusiveness, respect and reciprocity.

Full details at: https://beijing2020.iamcr.org