Call for Extended Abstracts:

Journalism Studies Symposium: Connecting to the Human
May 11, 2026
Lisbon, Portugal
http://commlist.org/archive/calls/2025-all/msg01001.html

Deadline for submissions: January 12, 2026

As digital tools, especially machine learning and artificial intelligence, have come to play a greater role in journalism practices, journalists and researchers have begun to reconsider the value of the human in journalism, whether the human touch in reporting, human connection, or a greater acknowledgement of the humanity of journalists and audiences. In this vein, researchers in journalism studies at the Research Centre for Communication and Culture (CECC) at the Universidade Católica Portuguesa, Lisbon, invite submissions of extended abstracts for the symposium, “Journalism Studies: Connecting to the Human” to be held on May 11, 2026, with a keynote address by Karin Wahl-Jorgensen, professor at the Cardiff University School of Journalism.

This symposium aims to bring together researchers, students, and journalists who are thinking about how journalists can connect or re-connect with the people and communities they are meant to serve, what aspects of journalistic work require a human element, and how journalists as human beings are affected by the work they do. The symposium is open to researchers who wish to present on topics relating to these and other issues related to the human/humanity in journalism.

Please submit an anonymized abstract of no more than 750 words (not including references) to (journsymposium /at/ gmail.com) by January 12, 2026. Notifications of acceptance will be sent by mid-February 2026. Submissions may also be considered for inclusion in a poster session. Please note that the symposium will be held in person, and we cannot accommodate remote participation. Submissions from early-career researchers and Ph.D. and M.A. students are especially welcome. In the spirit of the theme of the symposium, we would like to emphasize that all abstracts should be original and human-authored.

Abstracts may address a number of topics within journalism studies, including, but not limited to:

• Humanitarian journalism
• Solutions journalism
• Journalism and human story-telling
• Human-machine connections
• Journalism and communities
• Mental health and well-being of journalists
• The role of empathy in journalism
• Journalism and humanity
• Local journalism
• Civic and participatory media
• Journalism and artificial intelligence and its rejection/backlash
• Misinformation, disinformation, junk news, and its effects
• Contemporary news audiences
• Genres and styles of journalistic writing
• Human judgement in journalism
• AI (slop) and human perceptions