Section Head Election 2019 - Call for candidates and statements

Ethics of Society and Ethics of Communication Working Group

This year, the Ethics of Society and Ethics of Communication Working Group will run elections for the posts of two Co-chairs and one Vice-Chair.

Any IAMCR member who wishes to serve as an officer must submit name and institutional position as well as a statement of no more than 400 words to the current officers,  with a copy to Gerard Goggin gerard.goggin@sydney.edu.au and Valeria Zamisch membership@iamcr.org,  no later than Friday 14 June 2019. All the statements will be published on the IAMCR website and the elections will be conducted at the Business Meeting in Madrid.

Current chair Teresa Nicolás Gavilán and Vice-Chair Elvira García de Torres will stand for election as Co-Chairs. Yanick Farmer, who has served the WG as Vice-chair for the past four years, will not continue in his post after the Conference. As Chair, Teresa Nicolás Gavilán wishes to express her gratitude to Dr. Farmer for his support as well as to all ETH WG members for their dedication along the past mandate.

Current officers

You will find the election rules at: https://iamcr.org/governance/swg-rules

Teresa Nicolás Gavilán, Chair
Elvira García de Torres, Vice-Chair
Yanick Farmer, Vice-Chair

Candidates and statements

For Co-Chair:  

For Vice-Chair: 

Statements of candidates for Co-Chair

Elvira García de Torres (CEU Cardenal Herrera University, Spain)

As an active member of the Ethics of Society and Ethics of Communication Working Group in the past years, my motivation as candidate is to continue serving IAMCR this time as ETh WG Co-chair.  I have been honored to serve as Vice-chair for the past four years, during which I have assisted Maria Teresa Nicolás in reinforcing the strengths of the WG and prepare the candidacy to IAMCR Section. This was my commitment at Montreal 2015 and to this, along with Vice-chair Yanick Farmer, I have devoted my efforts, following Teresa´s  lead.

We now meet all the requirements: the number of sessions, peer evaluation - group members acting also as reviewers-, additional activities and publications necessary for that purpose. Along this period we have organized two pre-conferences (Cartagena, 2017 and Leicester, 2016) and a post-conference, for Madrid 2019, together with the Journalism section. The Business Meetings are increasingly fruitful; at Oregon 2018 Conference, the members of the group engaged actively in the design of the 2019 WG activities and a program that includes specials panels with the collaboration of the Media Sports section. The group's attraction for researchers of the field is evident in the quality of the program's proposals and the number of sessions, with record participation in Madrid 2019 for which we received more than 130 proposals.

My involvement has been oriented to the organization of Pre and Post Conferences and the publication of the special issue of JCR EPI in 2017. Also, in developing contacts with the Ethics section of the Gabriel García Márquez Foundation for New Ibero-American Journalism (FNPI), promoted by members of the group.  Given the impact of technology, I consider a priority to  increase the awareness within and outside IAMCR of the role the WG can play in the debate of core issues as society, media and corporations embrace the digital transformation. 

Our aim for the next years, with the support of Gisela Gonçalves as Vice-chair, is to give voice and enlarge the IAMCR Ethics of Communication  researchers´ community through conferences and publications, to extend the collaboration to other sections and international organizations in the field of communication ethics and to encourage WG researchers to maintain their dedication and develop conjoint research projects, together with Ben-Hur Deméneck and Nikita Khotari as Young Scholars representatives.

María Teresa Nicolás-Gavilán (Universidad Panamericana, Mexico)

Dear colleagues, I was first elected as Vice-chair of Ethics of Society and Ethics of Communication with Prof. Manuel Parés, former IAMCR President and founder of the Ethics WG, who kindly invited me to work with him as vice-chair the group. I took over from Professor Parés as he stepped down, with the compromise of continuing his work and transform the Working Group into a Section. The time has come to fulfill his dream. For the past four years, as Chair of IAMCR´s ETH WG and supported by Elvira Garcia De Torres and Yanick Farmer as Vice-Chairs and all the members of the WG, I have promoted in the group the activities that constitute a requirement to take this step. 

We now meet all the requirements to become a SECTION: 

  • The number of sessions per conference.
  • Peer evaluation. 
  • Additional activities and publications. 
  • We have organized two pre-conferences (Cartagena, 2017 and Leicester, 2016) and a post-conference, for Madrid 2019, together with the Journalism section.
  • The Business Meetings are increasingly fruitful; at Oregon 2018, the members of the group engaged actively in the design of the 2019 WG activities and program that includes a special panel with the collaboration of the Media Sports section.  And also a panel with International communication  regarding  #MeToo.
  • The group's attraction for researchers of the field is evident in the quality of the program's proposals and the number of sessions, with record participation in Madrid 2019 for which we received more than 130 proposals. 
  • We have promoted collaboration with other organizations such as Fundación Nuevo Periodismo Iberoamericano (FNPI).  

For this new stage, I count on my candidacy with the support of my colleagues Elvira García de Torres, now as Co-chair candidate, and Gisela Gonçalves, as vice-chair candidate. Together we want to continue this work, to give voice to the Ethics of Communication  researchers´ community through conferences and publications,  extend the collaboration to other international organizations that work in the field of communication ethics and encourage WG researchers to continue working with the same dedication and develop conjoint research projects. Ben-Hur Deméneck and Nikita Khotari as Young Scholars representatives. As you all know, neither the WG  nor the officers receive direct financial support by IAMCR. At this crucial stage, I ask for the support of ETH WG researchers to our candidacy. 

Fernando Oliveira Paulino (University of Brasilia, Brazil)

Fernando Oliveira Paulino is standing for the position of co-chair of the Ethics of Society and Ethics of Communication Working Group. He joins the candidacy for co-chair of Mariela Bastian and for vice-chair of Isabel Serrano. He is Professor at the University of Brasilia and Director of International Affairs, and Chair of the Ethics, Right to Communicate, and Freedom of Expression Working Group at the Association of Latin American Communication Researchers (ALAIC). Email: fopaulino@gmail.com

The objective as a co-chair would be…

1)… to stimulate that the Group members work together not only during IAMCR conferences, but that they also develop common actions and scientific production interchanges over the year

2) … to establish more dialogue and productions between Ethics WG and Working Groups on Media Ethics of other communication researchers´ associations, as well as institutes and NGOs.

3) … to prepare panels dedicated to reflections on ethics, based on issues presented by the members.

4) … to organize more dialogue between the Group and other IAMCR Sections and Groups, resulting in publishing books and journal articles together.

5) … to ask the IAMCR Board to include issues around ethics in the plenary sessions during the conferences

6) … to make public consultations regarding the organization of the WG, the elaboration of Projects and application of possible financial resources from IAMCR to the initiatives

7) … to stimulate and strengthen the participation of emerging scholars and graduate students 

8) … to promote that Ethics Group members to evaluate the submitted abstracts

9) … to improve the visibility of the actions of the working group, using IAMCR channels like email, website and newsletter, taking into account the proposals sent, answering suggestions, and sending regular messages with call for papers and events.

10) … to organize or co-organize pre-conferences on Ethics and related issues next Conferences

Mariella Bastian (University of Amsterdam, Netherlands)

Mariella Bastian is standing for the position of co-chair, joining the candidacy of Fernando Oliveira Paulino as co-chair and vice-chair of Isabel Serrano. Mariella is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Information Law (IViR) at the University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Her research interests include media ethics, media accountability, algorithmic news personalization, AI & journalism, and international journalism. Email: m.b.bastian@uva.nl

Interdisciplinarity is at the core of my current work as a journalism researcher at a legal department, and I have experienced the great possibilities collaboration across different disciplines, thematic angles, and beyond national boundaries comes along with.

I’d like to contribute to strengthening the profile of the working group by promoting that not only different professional backgrounds are reflected, but also a range of topics. In the past years, many new issues have come to the table which are of utmost importance to observe from the perspective of (media) ethics. In my research, I have closely worked together with colleagues from Europe, Latin America, and Africa, which shaped my perspective on ethical issues and which makes me convinced that the working group has a high potential to benefit from the knowledge and perspectives of its members from all over the world.

Concretely, our objectives would be: 

1)… to stimulate that the Group members work together not only during IAMCR conferences, but that they also develop common actions and scientific production interchanges over the year

2) … to establish more dialogue and productions between the Ethics WG and Working Groups on Media Ethics of other communication researchers´ associations, as well as institutes and  NGOs.

3) … to prepare panels dedicated to reflections on ethics, based on issues presented by the members.

4) … to organize more dialogue between the Group and other IAMCR Sections and Groups, resulting in publishing books and journal articles together.

5) … to ask the IAMCR Board to include issues around ethics in the plenary sessions during the conferences

6) … to make public consultations regarding the organization of the WG, the elaboration of projects and application of possible financial resources from IAMCR to the initiatives

7) … to stimulate and strengthen the participation of emerging scholars and graduate students 

8) … to promote that Ethics Group members to evaluate the submitted abstracts

9) … to improve the visibility of the actions of the working group, using IAMCR channels like email, website and newsletter, taking into account the proposals sent, answering suggestions, and sending regular messages with call for papers and events.

10) … to organize or co-organize pre-conferences on Ethics and related issues

Statements of candidates for Vice-Chair

Gisela Gonçalves (University of Beira Interior, Portugal)

My first IAMCR experience was the Paris Conference in 2007, where I presented a paper at the Ethics Working Group. Since then, I have had the opportunity of participating in many other IAMCR Conferences, which to me have always been an intense, challenging and rewarding experience. I do believe that the Ethics Working Group has developed into an active and stimulating community, providing an international perspective on many important research topics in our field. For this reason, it would be an honor to be elected as Vice­-chair of the ETH WG and to have the opportunity to work with María Teresa Nicolás and Elvira García de Torres as Co-chairs. Along with them, it is my aim and motivation as candidate to give voice and enlarge the IAMCR Ethics of Communication  researchers´ community through conferences and publications, to extend the collaboration to other sections and international organizations that work in the field of communication ethics and to encourage WG researchers to continue working with the same dedication and develop conjoint research projects.

Due to the importance of ethics, I consider very important to promote joint initiatives with other IAMCR sections and working groups, more collaborative projects and joint publications as well as increasing the young scholars participation. I would like also to contribute to the development of the WG online presence. Since my Phd on Public Relations Ethics (2010), I have developed my research career on the topic of ethics in an interdisciplinary perspective and in different contexts.

I hold a Ph.D. in Communication Sciences from the University of Beira Interior (UBI, Covilhã). Since 2003, I am  a professor of strategic communication and researcher at the LabCom.IFP - Center for Research in Communication, Philosophy and Arts, at the Faculty of Arts and Letters (UBI).  I have previous experience as officer as I was chair and vice-chair of the ECREA Strategic and Organizational section for 6 years. This, along with my research career in Ethics, is the reason I feel I would be able to make a valuable contribution to the management of this WG. Currently, I am the Head of the Department of Communication and Arts and Director of the Master in Strategic Communication: Advertising and Public Relations. I have focused my research and publication in the field of public relations theories, communication ethics and political communication.

I sincerely hope you take part in the election process and consider me for your vote.

Isabel Serrano Maíllo (Complutense University of Madrid)

Isabel Serrano Maíllo is standing for a vice-chair position in the Ethics Working Group. She joins the candidacy as co-chairs Fernando Paulino and Mariella Bastian.

She is Professor at the Complutense University of Madrid (UCM) since 2005 and the Principal Investigator of the Research Group "Legal Regulation and Participation of Digital Citizen” since 2013. 

She has participated in various research projects in matters related to the Right to information and Ethics. She participates continuously in FIEDI and she also participates sometime in the IAMCR Ethics Working Group.

She is a member of the local committee that organizes IAMCR MAdrid 2019, what has given her the opportunity to know the organization from within. 

She is the author of several works (articles, papers and books) on fundamental rights, freedom of expression, communication ethics, childhood, etc.

The objective as a vice-chair would be…

1)… help the chair to stimulate that the Group members work together not only during IAMCR conferences, but that they also develop common actions and scientific production interchanges over the year

2) …collaborate with the chair to establish more dialogue and productions between Ethics WG and Working Groups on Media Ethics of other communication researchers´ associations, as well as institutes and NGOs.

3) … collaborate with the chair to prepare panels dedicated to reflections on ethics, based on issues presented by the members.

4) … collaborate with the chair to organize more dialogue between the Group and other IAMCR Sections and Groups, resulting in publishing books and journal articles together.

5) … help the chair to make public consultations regarding the organization of the WG, the elaboration of Projects and application of possible financial resources from IAMCR to the initiatives 

6) … collaborate with the chair to stimulate and strengthen the participation of emerging scholars and graduate students in the Group

7) … to promote that Ethics Group members to evaluate the submitted abstracts

8) … collaborate with the chair to improve the visibility of the actions of the working group, using IAMCR channels like email, website and newsletter, taking into account the proposals sent, answering suggestions, and sending regular messages with call for papers and events.

9) … help the chair to organize or co-organize pre-conferences on Ethics and related issues next IAMCR Conferences.

10) …help the chair in whatever he needs.

I ask you to take into account my candidacy for all purposes.

Best regards

Isabel Serrano Maíllo.