From fake news to the deepfake, the digital era’s expanded possibilities for fabrication and falsehood are bedevilling the fourth estate as its parameters expand to include a host of new and often concealed sources, spreading via manipulable social media algorithms. Media scholars have called on us all to reject the pejorative term “fake,” which is used to conduct mistrust and accusations toward institutions that we have traditionally relied upon to shine a light on powerful interests. However, we are at the same time being ushered into a more generalised media-critical thought, as unreliable reportage proliferates in many of the places we turn to for trustworthy information. How do we balance acknowledgement of media fakery with our need for reasonable information that we can trust?
This one-day symposium aims to address some of the more urgent philosophical issues arising in an era marked by proliferating resources for media fakery.
Professor Terry Flew, Queensland University of Technology
Terry Flew is Professor of Communication and Creative Industries in the Creative Industries Faculty at the Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Australia, and a researcher with the Digital Media Research Centre in the School of Communication. He is the author of 11 books (three edited), including Understanding Global Media, Politics, Media and Democracy in Australia, Media Economics and Global Creative Industries. He has authored 59 book chapters, 86 refereed journal articles, and 16 reports and research monographs. He will become President of the International Communications Association (ICA) in May 2019, and is organizer of the 69th ICA Annual Conference in Washington DC in 2019. Professor Flew will be ICA President in 2020-21. He has been an Executive Board member of the International Communications Association since 2013, and was President of the Australian and New Zealand Communication Association (ANZCA) in 2009-10. He currently leads an Australian Research Council Discovery Project on Digital Platform Governance and the Future of Media Policy.
Egistration
Colleagues and students can participate in the symposium in one of two ways:
Register for keynote presentation
Colleagues and students are invited to register to attend Professor Flew’s keynote presentation.
Time: 08:30 – 10:30
Location: New International Conference Centre
Sign up link: https://moodle.nottingham.ac.uk/mod/tutorialbooking/view.php?id=3987744
Fee: free
Register for symposium
Colleagues and students are invited to register to attend the symposium.
Time: 11:00 – 15:30
Location: New International Conference Centre
Sign up link for morning session: https://moodle.nottingham.ac.uk/mod/tutorialbooking/view.php?id=3987748
Sign up link for afternoon session: https://moodle.nottingham.ac.uk/mod/tutorialbooking/view.php?id=3987749
Fee: free (please note that catering is not provided)
Conference Venue
The University of Nottingham Ningbo China (UNNC) was the first Sino-foreign university. It is located in Ningbo, one of China’s major ports and economic centers in Zhejiang province. Ningbo is a rapidly growing city, ranked in the top ten of cities for business in China by Forbes, it is a thriving blend of enterprise, culture, education, tradition and entertainment. It is well connected for national and international travel, for example, with Shanghai, Hangzhou and Hong Kong all less than three hours away (by train/plane).
Organising Committee
Dr Filippo Gilardi, Co-Chair, University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Dr Celia Lam, Co-Chair, University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Dr Wyatt Moss-Wellington, Co-Chair, University of Nottingham Ningbo China
Funding
The symposium is funded by The Institute for Asia and Pacific Studies (IAPS) and the Research and Knowledge Exchange Committee (University of Nottingham Ningbo China).