As the world faces a state of interwoven and overlapping crises—Covid-19 pandemic, climate change, and ongoing wars with global scope—referred to as “polycrisis” (Morin & Kern, 1999, p. 74), the role of media, and in particular of online social networks (boyd & Ellison, 2007), in affecting people’s resilience to withstand these crises remains understudied (Craig et al., 2015). This is problematic, as people’s extensive engagement with online social networks intertwines resilience to these crises with their practices on these digital platforms (Esteve-del-Valle et al., 2022).

This thematic issue aims to discuss how digital resilience (Tomkova, 2020) can be (re)defined within a state of polycrisis that—thanks to increased global connectivity through digitization—can be characterized as “hypermediated” (Hepp, 2020). It aims to bring together theoretical, conceptual, and empirical contributions examining how digital resilience can help counter digital threats such as mis/disinformation, conspiracy theories, malicious bots, or deep fakes (among others). The editors welcome proposals that focus on both individual countries and comparative studies employing quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-methods approaches.

We welcome proposals that address (yet are not limited to) potential questions/themes such as:

• How can digital resilience be (re)defined within the current hypermediated polycrisis?
• How can digital resilience be conceptually integrated with digital literacy?
• What strategies can be employed to enhance digital resilience in countering misinformation and disinformation on social media platforms?
• How can digital resilience help mitigate current polarizing and radicalizing narratives in online social networks?
• What measures can be taken to build digital resilience against polluted online environmental discussions?
• What role can journalists play in increasing digital resilience against the so-called crisis of trust in media?

We particularly seek contributions that employ interdisciplinary approaches and strive for a balanced representation of gender and non-Western viewpoints.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

The thematic issue aims to facilitate a multi-perspective reflection on the intricate relationship between generative AI and public engagement with complex information. With the introduction of ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI has emerged as a new intermediary for information, reshaping the dynamics of information flow within society. Occupying a unique position, generative AI functions both as a channel or tool and as a communicator, actively generating and disseminating information.

In the realm of public engagement with complex information, the thematic issue aims to understand how and for what reasons people use generative AI. The focus shall be on the potential benefits offered by generative AI to diverse audiences—evident in enhanced information access, personalized content experiences, and efficiency—and the corresponding risks of misinformation, reinforced biases, polarization, and the erosion of traditional structures of knowledge production. As such, generative AI introduces new complexities that complicate the public’s engagement with information and may challenge conventional notions of well-informed democratic discourse.

The thematic issue thus aims to advance our understanding of how generative AI affects the way complex information is generated, disseminated, and received in society. Generative AI might elevate the issue of the digital divide to the next stage. In the era of generative AI, the source credibility of information becomes critical, particularly when dealing with complex information of high social relevance, where misinformation can yield far-reaching consequences. Therefore, implications for information literacy should also be reflected, along with strategies to empower individuals in navigating the rapidly changing digital information landscape. Moreover, the use of generative AI in different countries, cultures, or languages should be elucidated from various levels and perspectives.

Contributions may: cover individual or societal perspectives; apply national or particularly comparative approaches; be theory-based or empirical; and focus on specific generative AI systems or functionalities, or use a wider perspective.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Uncivil online communication, such as personal harassment, hate speech, or hateful misinformation, poses a pressing challenge in Western democracies and beyond. Most users regularly encounter such incidents, with marginalised groups and professional communicators like journalists being particularly affected. The consequences for individuals, digital discourse, and society at large are profound. Identifying these incidents and responding with counterspeech or reporting can help mitigate their impact. In addition to, or in support of, interventions by internet users, AI could have a crucial role in detecting and addressing uncivil online communication.

For example, journalists and fact-checkers can leverage AI tools to identify uncivil online comments, enabling them to manually moderate, verify, and debunk harmful content (Dierickx & Lindén, 2023; Stoll et al., 2019). Likewise, citizens who regularly engage in counterspeech can benefit from AI tools to receive factual support, maintain emotional detachment, and seek assistance when faced with harmful speech in response to their counterspeech efforts (Mun et al., 2024; Obermaier et al., 2023). However, counterspeakers themselves are concerned about the potentially negative effects of AI on people’s perceptions of the authenticity of counterspeech, their own agency, and the functionality of counterspeech (Mun et al., 2024). Similarly, users’ willingness to engage with innovative counterspeech technologies varies along the specific characteristics of the technology, such as its risk of depleting already limited resources even more (Frischlich et al., 2024).

This thematic issue aims to consolidate cutting-edge research on the use of AI for detecting and countering uncivil online communication, user perceptions of AI use in counterspeech, and the associated risks and opportunities of this AI application. Potential contributions can include, but are not limited to, articles that:

• Develop, test, or employ AI to detect or respond to uncivil communication or counterspeech;
• Study the perspectives of senders, targets, bystanders, moderators, etc., on the employment of AI;
• Present or discuss theoretical frameworks for understanding human–AI relationships in the context of counterspeech;
• Reflect on normative or regulatory frameworks around AI and counterspeech;
• Employ qualitative, quantitative, or computational measures.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

This thematic issue explores the complex interplay between digital inequalities, artificial intelligence (AI), and the Global South. We invite theoretical and empirical submissions that examine how AI technologies are shaping and exacerbating existing inequalities in the Global South, and how these inequalities in turn influence the development and deployment of AI.

Topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

• The impact of AI on access to information, education, and healthcare in the Global South. How are AI-driven systems reinforcing or mitigating existing disparities in access to essential services?
• The role of AI in exacerbating economic inequalities. What are the effects of automation and algorithmic bias on employment and income distribution in the Global South?
• The ethical and societal implications of AI development and deployment in the Global South. How can we ensure that AI technologies are developed and used in a way that is equitable, just, and respects human rights and cultural diversity?
• Policy recommendations for mitigating digital inequalities in the context of AI development. What policies and interventions are necessary to ensure inclusive access to AI technologies and their benefits?
• Case studies of successful (or unsuccessful) initiatives aimed at bridging the digital divide in the Global South using AI. What lessons can be learned from these experiences?
• The role of stakeholders in exacerbating or mitigating digital inequalities and AI in the Global South.

We encourage submissions that utilize diverse methodologies, including quantitative, qualitative, mixed-methods, and theoretical analyses. We welcome perspectives from various disciplines, such as computer science, sociology, economics, political science, development studies, and law.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

The thematic issue, titled “Influence and Visibility in Gendered Public Spheres,” aims to shed new light on a topical and crucial area in media and communication studies.

Feminist media studies and gender scholars demonstrate that public spheres are strongly gendered and mirror unequal power relations, hierarchies, and injustices in politics and society. The thematic issue builds upon these crucial theoretical and empirical insights and focuses on the establishment, change, and stabilization of gendered public spheres in various communication contexts. It thus includes key questions of who is visible and which frames, ideas, and narratives are present as well as how influential are certain actors, frames, and discourses in gendered public spheres. The thematic issue shall offer new theoretical and empirical insights into the relationship between visibility and influence in gendered public spheres.

Hence, the thematic issue can cover the following topics:

• Fragmentation and polarization of public spheres and how gender dynamics come into play;
• The role of social media in shaping (anti-)gender narratives and fostering (anti-)feminist activism;
• Relevance of specific individual and collective actors (e.g., influencers, politicians, activists, and organizations) within public spheres, with a focus on the dynamics of influence and visibility;
• Conflicts and coalitions on the actor and ideational level in gendered public spheres;
• Cross-national comparisons of how gendered public spheres are constructed via global (anti-)gender movements;
• Disinformation and fake-news attacking gender studies and targeting gender equality.

We invite authors to address these topics from theoretical and empirical perspectives. Scholars can be situated in different disciplines to spur an interdisciplinary debate on the subject. Qualitative and quantitative as well as mixed and multi-method approaches are very welcome.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Over the past decade, emergent technologies have opened new avenues for political actors to shape public opinion, discredit rivals, and gain advantage—often by subverting established norms of political communication. Billionaires purchase media platforms to influence discourse, influencers are paid to spread covert political messages, and bots and trolls distort opinion and stoke discord to serve hidden agendas. Meanwhile, journalists, institutions, and the public struggle to respond in a chaotic, attention-driven environment where information is weaponised and trust eroded.

This climate has empowered malevolent actors who stage public spectacles to distract attention while operating behind the scenes to weaken democratic norms and concentrate power without scrutiny. While recent research on disinformation and “fake news” has focused on tracking problematic content and its effects, scholars now increasingly recognise that these are not external threats but systemic tools often wielded by elite actors. Yet, there remains a lack of understanding around how specific actors exploit new media to pursue anti-democratic goals.

This thematic issue brings together global scholars to explore how technological affordances are exploited to undermine political institutions, destabilise liberal democracy, and promote nativism, racism, and authoritarianism. By investigating these strategic communication tactics, we aim to identify the roots of political dysfunction and build resilience against these threats.

We welcome research on the communication practices of malign elites and extreme actors, especially from the Global South and East, and non-Western political systems. We also seek work examining intersections with colonial legacies, wealth inequality, and gendered harm.

Topics of interest include:

• Strategic political communication in the attention economy, such as micro-targeting;
• How “culture war” topics and/or polarisation discourses are used to drive anti-democratic or anti-establishment sentiment;
• The strategic use of disinformation tactics and/or conspiracy theories for political advantage;
• Use of AI and automation by malign political actors;
• Media manipulation strategies, such as the relationship between political actors and hyper-partisan media outlets;
• Efforts to erode public trust in institutions and governance.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Social Inclusion is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

The digital environment was heralded as an era of public speaking. Armed with low-cost tools “anyone” had a public they could connect with, making a networked public sphere possible. Trusting that the marketplace of ideas metaphor would hold and that good ideas would rise to the top, Jimi Hendrix’s famous quote “knowledge speaks but wisdom listens” was finally possible at a global scale. With the rise of this new communication ecology, the flourishing of deliberative democracy was anticipated by many worldwide. Instead, and only a few years later, democracy began to backslide in new and stable democracies alike, affective polarization and populism are on the rise in many parts of the globe, and the compromises needed to confront global challenges seem harder and harder to reach. Deliberative theorists including Susan Bickford (1996), Andrew Dobson (2014), and Mary Scudder (2020) have recently highlighted listening as one potential avenue for enhanced deliberation.

This thematic issue looks at political conversation with a focus on political listening and seeks to advance an empirical approach to listening. Listening here means not just exposure in media or co-presence in conversation, but as Benjamin Barber argues in his book Strong Democracy, it means “‘I will put myself in his place, I will try to understand, I will strain to hear what makes us alike, I will listen for a common rhetoric evocative of a common purpose or a common good’” (Barber, 2003, p. 175). We are interested in manuscripts that allow us to explore what we refer to as asymmetries in political conversation, that is conversations in which expression becomes more important than reception.

Some potential questions include:

• Has the nature of conversation, and listening in particular, changed over time?
• Is polarization, populism, and/or antidemocratic values related to changes in political listening and conversation?
• How does mis/disinformation affect the quality of political listening and conversation?
• How can we promote listening, particularly listening to those who don’t think like us?
• How do we scale up listening to mass publics?
• How does social media content relate to asymmetries in political conversation?
• How do elite conversations affect listening and conversation among the broader public?
• When do elites listen?

If you don’t see a theme that directly addresses your work but you are convinced it speaks to the core issue of conversation asymmetries, do not hesitate to contact us. We will try to listen.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Digitalization has not only changed the ways journalism is produced, disseminated, used, and financed, but it has also challenged the central position of journalism in the public sphere, making it one communicative form competing for attention and authority among others (Carlson et al., 2021). We now live in a complex media ecosystem where human and algorithmic actors, legacy and alternative media, as well as newer and older media observe, compete, influence, and interact with each other (Fürst & Oehmer, 2021; Reese, 2022). This leads to blurred boundaries, raising questions about the societal function, relevance, and value of journalism, how users discern and experience journalism and its actors, and how journalists distinguish themselves, their practices, and their products from non-journalistic modes of content production (Edgerly & Vraga, 2020; Splendore & Iannelli, 2022).

In his seminal book The Hybrid Media System, Chadwick (2017) moved scholars to understand the changing logics of attention and news production, as well as shifting power dynamics within the public sphere, through the lens of a networked media environment (Russell, 2020). This thematic issue takes up this invitation and aims to bring together theoretical, conceptual, and empirical contributions which reflect on the role of journalism in hybrid media systems. Single-country studies and comparative research using quantitative, qualitative, or mixed-methods approaches are all welcome. Given the prevailing “presentism” (Hallin et al., 2023) in research on hybrid media systems, we also particularly welcome historical and long-term analyses.

Lines of inquiry can include, but are not limited to:

• Key features and patterns of hybrid media systems and their implications for the role, function, societal importance, and funding of journalism;
• Changes in the diffusion of power, journalist-source relationships, and news quality;
• Interactions, competition, and attention dynamics between legacy news media and online platforms;
• The role of algorithms, (social) bots, and usage data in cross-platform dynamics and news practices;
• Changing journalistic norms, role conceptions, and practices, as well as changing actor constellations in hybrid media systems;
• International comparisons, historical studies, and long-term analyses of journalism in hybrid media systems;
• Trust in news and audience perceptions of journalism in the hybrid media system;
• Methodological challenges and approaches to studying journalism in the hybrid media system.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

This thematic issue will explore how counter-data and counter-maps are being used by diverse global communities to visually construct new social realities that support their social justice aims (see Jeppesen & Sartoretto, 2023), both contesting data power and engaging the counter-power of map-making practices beyond cartographic representation (Calvo & Candón-Mena, 2023).

Communities may engage in resistant data appropriation, either reappropriating big datasets and/or creating community datasets (Ricaurte, 2019). Counter-data maps produced by diverse marginalized groups can reveal hidden inequalities, enhance communities’ visibility, and support calls for intersectional justice. They may express a community’s demands, contesting top-down categorizations imposed by states and corporations, and engage in counter-mapping as a form of data power embedded in notions of experienced spatiality and relationality.

We invite contributions that interrogate community data mapping practices and consider practices of data visualization and visual communication that contest the narratives of big data produced in hegemonic data mapping by states and corporations.

Potential contributors should address dimensions of counter-mapping that might include:

• Data mapping practices;
• Collaborative mapping;
• Inclusive dashboard design;
• Mapping ecologies and flows;
• Data visualizations;
• Map interactivity;
• Data mapping imaginaries;
• Data justice;
• Territorial justice;
• Data sources for counter-mapping;
• Community objectives and imaginaries in counter-mapping;
• Uses and capacities for digital mapping;
• Map production by diverse communities;
• Community ownership of data and maps, etc.

Contributors may also consider how communities, activists, and grassroots groups are appropriating data and/or data maps to address:

• Data colonialism;
• Racialized data and maps;
• Gendered data and maps;
• Rural mapping (or rural exclusions);
• Regional representations;
• Hegemonic data and mapping processes;
• Data mapping imaginaries;
• Queering data maps;
• Mapping disabilities;
• Accessibility to data mapping technologies;
• Mapping poverty or food deserts;
• Eviction mapping;
• Mapping ecologies;
• Mapping alternative economies;
• Intersectional mapping, etc.

We encourage contributors to de-centre Western epistemological frameworks and integrate interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary theoretical and methodological approaches. We also specifically invite contributions from lower-income countries, the Global South, and communities underrepresented in the scholarly literature.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.

Authors interested in submitting a paper for this issue are asked to consult the journal's instructions for authors and submit their abstracts (maximum of 250 words, with a tentative title) through the abstracts system (here). When submitting their abstracts, authors are also asked to confirm that they are aware that Media and Communication is an open access journal with a publishing fee if the article is accepted for publication after peer-review (corresponding authors affiliated with our institutional members do not incur this fee).

Readers across the globe will be able to access, share, and download this issue entirely for free. Corresponding authors affiliated with any of our institutional members (over 90 institutions worldwide) publish free of charge. Otherwise, an article processing fee will be charged to the authors to cover editorial costs. We defend that authors should not have to personally pay this fee and encourage them to check with their institutions if funds are available to cover open access publication costs. Further information about the journal's open access charges can be found here.