Letter from the Editor
Hello and welcome to The Political Communication Report, the newsletter for the Political Communication Divisions of the American Political Science Association (APSA) and the International Communication Association (ICA)!
In this spring issue of PCR, please find:
The study of societies that are experiencing significant sociopolitical upheaval and/or are characterized by social conditions that do not meet common minimum requirements of democratic governance has gained significant traction in political communciation research. Seven contributions by some of the most prolific researchers in this area highlight important contemporary advances and debates, and discuss the major challenges, issues, and future directions for political communication research in and on non-democratic and transitional contexts.
Direct links to contributions:
1. Nils B. Weidmann: Communication and Political Violence
2. Matthew A. Baum and Yuri M. Zhukov: Where You Stand Depends On Where You Sit…While Reading the Paper: Reporting Bias in Democracies and Autocracies
3. Florian Toepfl: Investigating the Management of Meaning: Forays into Russia’s Semi-Authoritarian Media Landscape
4. Baogang He: Authoritarian Deliberation: The Development of New Political Communication in China
5. Daniela Stockmann: Responsive Authoritarianism in Chinese Media and other Authoritarian Contexts
6. Margaret E. Roberts: What New Kinds of Data Can Reveal About Autocrats
7. Katrin Voltmer: Media and Democracy in Transitional Societies
(b) Feature: Previewing the 2015 PolComm ICA Pre- and Postconferences
This year’s ICA meeting is just around the corner! It will feature an outstanding collection of political communication research including three preconferences and one postconference co-sponsored by our division. Preconferences provide opportunities to devote a half-day program of presentations to questions worked on at the frontiers of our field. In our feature the organizers of all pre- and postconferences outline the importance of their themes for political communication researchers and preview their programs for Puerto Rico.
(c) Announcements with particular relevance to the field and our divisions.
If you have not already done so, please also join our divisions on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media channels to receive the most up-to-date information on job postings, calls for papers, etc.!
Thanks to all who contributed to this newsletter! Please feel encouraged to send any feedback and suggestions you might have on this issue or possible improvements to PCR.
I hope you’ll enjoy this issue of PCR!
Eike Mark Rinke
Research Associate, University of Mannheim