We put out a call a while back but haven't received many manuscripts. 
We're now way late, but still eager to see this special issue happen. If 
you have something of yours or a student's that you'd like to see 
published in this collection, please email it immediately (by Friday!!) to 
me and to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/mcas
Thanks so much! 

Mass Communication & Society Special Symposium
>
> DOCUMENTARY FILM:
> FORMS, FUNCTIONS, AND IMPACTS
>
>
> Mathew C. Nisbet & Patricia Aufderheide, Guest Editors
> School of Communication
> American University
>
> **Manuscripts due no later than January 12, 2009**
>
> Recent films such as Fahrenheit 9/11, Supersize Me, An Inconvenient 
> Truth, and Expelled have generated attention to how documentaries 
> can shape debates over social issues and policy questions. 
> Documentaries are no longer conventionally perceived as a passive 
> experience meant solely for informal learning or entertainment. 
> Instead, with ever increasing frequency, these films are considered 
> part of a larger effort to spark debate, mold public opinion, shape 
> policy, and build activist networks.
>
> In addition to these new forms and uses, more traditional public 
> media genres such as Frontline, Bill Moyers, or POV continue to be 
> leading outlets for public affairs journalism and perspective. At 
> the same time, documentaries are becoming an ever-more-valued 
> commercial enterprise at for-profit cable television networks and a 
> wildly popular amateur genre on Youtube.
>
> These quickly changing trends in documentary content, distribution, 
> and reach generate a range of questions for media scholars to 
> examine. In this special issue of Mass Communication & Society, we 
> seek theoretically-driven and empirically-grounded manuscripts that 
> investigate the forms, functions, and impacts of documentary film. 
> We especially seek submissions that explore the subject in one or 
> several of the following ways:
>
> Cultural production questions. What is the economic, social, and 
> cultural context for documentary film? For example, how do changing 
> structural and economic factors shape the content, goals, and reach 
> of a documentary? In what ways do different sub-genres vary by 
> convention, style, forms, and tone?
> Normative and ethical questions. Relative to society, how do 
> different kinds of documentary filmmakers and producers identify 
> their roles—for instance, as journalists, artists, storytellers, 
> historians, satirists, or entertainers? How do publics and 
> stakeholders perceive the authority, intentions, or objectivity of 
> these film producers? Connected to these perceived professional 
> norms and roles, what sort of ethical considerations and 
> professional standards guide the production, content, and strategic 
> use of a film?
> Influence and impact questions.  How does media theory help us 
> understand or measure the social impact of a documentary's release— 
> not only in terms of direct audience effects but also for publics 
> beyond those who actually watch the film? For example, what is the 
> agenda-building and frame-building influence of a film on news 
> coverage and/or policy decisions? For audiences, what influence can 
> a film have on informal learning about a complex policy topic? From 
> an evaluation standpoint, how can research in this area inform the 
> design, distribution, and marketing of a film? What kind of metrics 
> can be defined and observed?
> Civil society and democracy questions. How and when do 
> documentaries function as vehicles to engage people not only as 
> viewers but as members of affected publics and participants in the 
> public sphere? In what ways can a film be used as a tool to sponsor 
> or facilitate public deliberation? As documentaries become a highly 
> valued commercial genre and/or a new form of campaign strategy, 
> does their perceived and/or actual role shift?
> Edited by Matthew C. Nisbet and Patricia Aufderheide, both of 
> American University's School of Communication, the special issue 
> will appear at the end of 2009.
>
> Submitted papers should be no longer than 30 pages including tables 
> and figure. For additional guidelines, go to http://aejmc.net/mcs/ 
> submission.php.
>


Pat Aufderheide, Professor and Director 
Center for Social Media, School of Communication
American University 
3201 New Mexico Av. NW, #330
Washington, DC 20016-8080
www.centerforsocialmedia.org
[log in to unmask]
202-885-2069

"You know, I'm an eternal optimist. That doesn't mean I'm a sap." 
--President Barack Obama