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Call for Papers:

Ecosystems of AI: Synthetic Media, Power, and Disinformation in the Age of Political Simulation
For the journal Media and Communication
https://www.cogitatiopress.com/mediaandcommunication/issue/futureissues#i564

Editors: Daniele Battista (University of Salerno) and Rubén Rivas-de-Roca (University of Santiago de Compostela)

Deadline for submission of abstracts: December 1-15, 2026
Deadline for submission of full papers: April 15-30, 2027

Over the past few years, emerging technologies have profoundly reshaped the landscape of political communication, raising fundamental questions about the authenticity of images, trust in media, and the relationship between truth and manipulation. Using neural networks and machine learning techniques to generate hyper-realistic audiovisual content, deepfakes for instance, have challenged traditional verification parameters and redefined the epistemic role of media in sustaining the public credibility of political discourse (Chesney & Citron, 2019).

The circulation of manipulated materials intersects with the dynamics of post-truth politics, in which emotional persuasion prevails over empirical evidence, and trust shifts from information institutions to digital networks of affiliation and affect (Waisbord, 2018). Within political communication, this emerging dimension embodies a remarkable ambiguity and ambivalence: On the one hand, it amplifies the propagandistic and disinformative potential of digital media; on the other, it prompts new practices of media literacy and ethical regulation (Vaccari & Chadwick, 2020; Wardle & Derakhshan, 2017).

Possible topics include, but are not limited to:

• The strategic use of deepfakes in electoral campaigns, propaganda, and state-sponsored disinformation;
• The role of digital platforms in spreading and mitigating synthetic content, with particular attention to algorithmic mechanisms of amplification and moderation;
• Normative and journalistic responses to audiovisual manipulation and automated fact-checking processes;
• Aesthetic and affective dimensions of synthetic media as objects of visual culture and instruments of digital political performance;
•  Cognitive and perceptual impacts of synthetic images on media trust and political attitudes.

Through an interdisciplinary approach that connects media studies, political communication, information ethics, and computational social sciences, this thematic issue aims to advance a critical understanding of synthetic media as both symptom and driver of contemporary transformations in the relationship between reality, representation, and power.

IMPORTANT DATES:

• Submission of Abstracts: 1-15 December 2026
• Submission of Full Papers: 15-30 April 2027
• Publication of the Issue: July/December 2027

REFERENCES

Chesney, B., & Citron, D. (2019). Deep fakes: A looming challenge for privacy, democracy, and national security. California Law Review, 107, 1753. https://doi.org/10.15779/Z38RV0D15J

Vaccari, C., & Chadwick, A. (2020). Deepfakes and disinformation: Exploring the impact of synthetic political video on deception, uncertainty, and trust in news. Social Media + Society, 6(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/2056305120903408

Waisbord, S. (2018). The elective affinity between post-truth communication and populist politics. Communication Research and Practice, 4(1), 17–34.

Wardle, C., & Derakhshan, H. (2017). Information disorder: Toward an interdisciplinary framework for research and policymaking (Council of Europe report DGI(2017)09). Council of Europe.

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

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).

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