Profound changes in the media ecosystem, with audiences moving to digital social networks, flooded with false information and polarized and extreme narratives, point to the need to reflect on the future of journalism as a powerful resource for defending democracy and truth. According to the Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2024, in a universe of 47 countries, only 40% of respondents say they trust most news. Faced with this reality, the survival of journalism seems to depend, above all, on regaining lost credibility and trust.

While it will not be entirely possible to combat the dizzying speed with which false information spreads on social media, produced not by journalists but by agents interested in spreading a biased point of view, with harmful effects for Western democracies, it may be feasible to reinforce the rigor and depth of the subjects covered, reaffirming journalism as a provider of public service and an agent for the defense of the common good. The proposal for the Journalism Trends Laboratory session is an invitation to reflect on these and other emerging issues from the immense umbrella of sustainability, in an attempt to identify opportunities and solutions that integrate journalism in the fight against the information chaos that the media landscape has become and restore its role as the most faithful guardian of democratic systems. 

Topics:

• Innovation in journalism: theories and practices;
• Ethical and deontological challenges of journalism;
• Slow Journalism or in-depth journalism;
• Freedom of the press and democracy;
• How to sustain journalism? – Between the market and the State;
• Specialty journalism;
• Investigative journalism;
• Social and emotional impact of journalism;
• Artificial Intelligence at the service of journalism.

The UNESCO Chair in Communication, Media and Information Literacy and Citizenship at the School of Communication and Media Studies (ESCS), part of the Polytechnic University of Lisbon (IPL), is organizing a parallel session as part of the International Conference The (Un)Sustainability of the Media. 

In line with the mission of the UNESCO Chair to promote critical media understanding, citizens’s empowerment, and the creation of an ethical and democratic communication environment, this parallel session invites submissions that explore the intersection between media sustainability, media literacy, and citizenship. Given the central role of digital media and new technologies in contemporary society—and considering that 2025 has been designated the European Year of Education for Digital Citizenship—papers may include, whenever relevant, an intersection with these themes. Proposals that systematize insights for the future are particularly valued.

Topics of Interest (including but not limited to):

• The role of media literacy in combating disinformation and promoting quality journalism;
• Strategies to strengthen public trust in the media;
• The impact of new technologies on media sustainability and civic participation;
• The role of artificial intelligence in the content and methodologies of media literacy programs;
• Media literacy as a tool for social inclusion and for strengthening the civic and media competencies of vulnerable audiences;
• Promotion of lifelong media literacy;
• Ethics and responsibility in the media in the digital age;
• Public policies to promote media literacy and media sustainability;
• Case studies on media literacy and media sustainability initiatives;
• The role of media education in shaping critical and informed citizens;
• Media literacy and audience engagement in the training curricula of communication professionals;
• International and/or cross-border projects (or international cooperation initiatives) on media literacy and citizen engagement with the media;
• Environmental and economic sustainability in the media: internal practices and published content;
• Contributions from other fields of scientific knowledge to media literacy and media sustainability;
• Alignment between strategies for promoting media literacy and media sustainability with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
  

For more information about the UNESCO Chair in Communication, Media and Information Literacy and Citizenship, please visit: https://catedraunesco.escs.ipl.pt/en/ 

The growing adoption of digital platforms by consumers has been reshaping branding strategies and the advertising ecosystem. As traditional media lose relevance in the ways brands communicate with their target audiences, digital platforms have emerged as key players, capturing advertising revenue and acting as privileged intermediaries in the relationship between brands and consumers. This landscape—complex, constantly evolving, and marked by fragmentation, ephemeral content, hyperstimulation ,and intense competition for the attention of consumers, who increasingly seek personalized experiences—poses significant challenges for brands and advertising, with direct implications for the (un)sustainability of the media.

This parallel session invites submissions of papers that explore the following topics, among others:

• The role of brands and advertising in the (un)sustainability of the media;
• The impact of digitalization on advertising and branding strategies;
• The reconfiguration of consumer journeys and the strategic challenges for brands;
• Media fragmentation and the evolving relationship between brands and consumers;
• Social media and the transformation of consumption dynamics;
• The use and impact of artificial intelligence on branding, advertising, and consumption;
• Consumer experience: challenges and opportunities for brands;
• Communication and branding in the era of disinformation and fake news;
• The attention economy, the culture of immediacy, hyperstimulation, and their constraints and challenges for brands and advertising;
• Ethical challenges in digital advertising;
• The education and training of advertisers and marketers in the age of media (un)sustainability;
• New forms of media monetization and the role of brands in the sustainability of information.

Public Communication Campaigns can today be primarily understood as Communication for Social and Behavioral Change, or as Communication in the Public Interest. In this sense, these campaigns can play a vital role in building more informed, participatory, and resilient societies. In a media ecosystem marked by information overload and the spread of disinformation, Public Communication Campaigns take on a strategic role in changing knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors.

Whether aimed at promoting media literacy, combating disinformation, or managing infodemia, or focused on raising awareness and empowering citizens to critically engage with media and to understand the role of different actors in the content production and dissemination ecosystem—or even fostering collective awareness on issues of public concern—, these campaigns mobilize resources and bring together organizations from various sectors and fields of activity to inform, raise awareness, and influence attitudes and behaviors at both individual and collective levels.

This session welcomes submissions that explore the role of Public Communication Campaigns or Communication in the Public Interest as strategies for engagement and social change. We especially welcome papers that analyze:

• The impact of Public Communication Campaigns in combating infodemia and/or disinformation;
• The role of Public Relations in the design and implementation of Communication in the Public Interest campaigns;
• The relationship between traditional media and digital platforms in Communication for Social and Behavioral Change;
• The role of algorithms and digital ecosystems in Public Communication Campaigns;
• The use of artificial intelligence, automation, and personalization in Communication in the Public Interest;
• Case studies and best practices in national and international Communication of Public Interest campaigns;
• Ethical, social, political, and cultural challenges faced in the design, implementation, and evaluation of Communication in the Public Interest campaigns;
• The role of digital media in enabling quicker mobilization and adaptability when addressing social issues;
• Innovative approaches to Communication in the Public Interest, such as presenting the climate crisis as a public health concern to broader audiences or facilitating dialogues behind the scenes of geopolitical conflicts.

This session proposes a space for critical reflection and knowledge exchange on the potential and limitations of Public Communication Campaigns and Communication in the Public Interest in building more sustainable, informed, and inclusive societies.

The history of communication professions and professionals has always been a history of crises: from state censorship to financial constraints, including constant technological, labor, legal-regulatory or ethical-deontological challenges. At a time when the rapid pace of technological change is creating new occupational categories, some without a defined name, the classification of communications professionals into “journalists”, “public relations professionals” and “advertisers” seems increasingly obsolete. In this context, it is particularly important to investigate, from a temporal perspective, the processes of professionalization and deprofessionalization in the field of ​​communication, acknowledging the continuity of problems such as the recognition and legitimization of autonomous spaces, of domains of sharing and differentiation.

This session welcomes papers on the history of communication professions or professionals that reflect, among other aspects, on professional autonomy, regulation, as well as ethics and deontology. In short, studies in the field of ​​communication that help to discuss the place of old and new communication professionals in the reconfiguration of the public sphere(s) in contemporary times.

Original works that address, among others, the following topics will be welcome:

• Memory and professional trajectories;
• Professionalization and deprofessionalization of communication professions;
• New occupations and reconfiguration of the professional field;
• Relationship between professional recognition, legal framework and institutional control dynamics;
• Effects of precariousness, digitalization and corporate restructuring on professional statutes;
• Ethics, deontology and professional responsibility;
• Communication professions and public sphere(s).