Call for Papers: Exploring Journalism as it Recounts 7/7 London Bombings

Authors have until December 1 to submit abstracts for a special issue for Journalism Theory, Practice and Criticism titled, “From aftermath to anniversary: Exploring the performance of journalism as it recounts the 7/7 London bombings.” The deadline for articles to be submitted is April 30, 2016, and the special issue will be published in 2017 to mark the 10-year anniversary of the reporting of the bombings in London.

This special issue seeks to take a retrospective look at the relationship between journalism and the 7/7 event and include commentaries on how news journalism remembers 7/7 and on the relationships that shape this reporting and its reception by others. Studies have described politicians and journalists as acting in unison to explain the unexpected and unfolding events and related security issues in 2005. In response, this special issue asks how does journalism revisit an event like 7/7 and does its relationship with elite voices continue to shape how the event is remembered and talked about in reporting? Clearly, the passing of time can inform the act of revisiting/ remembering 7/7 in coverage and offer the potential to talk candidly about elite reactions and policies that have followed from it. Geographic distance to the event is another important factor and one that allows writers to approach their remembering from a different – national – perspective. Studying how alternative or mainstream journalists, the voices that structure reporting or different media audiences reengage with the 7/7 event and what these offer in response can help us to understand the place of the event in professional and personal news cultures.

Following this focus, the special issue welcomes papers that address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Reporting the anniversary of 7/7
• Myth in the continued coverage of 7/7
• International journalistic perspectives on 7/7
• The coverage of 7/7 by alternative / online journalism
• Journalists, professionalism and practices in the post 7/7 period
• 7/7 as shaping journalists’ interpretative community
• ‘Elite’ / non elite sources, information flows and voiced reflections on 7/7
• News audiences, bloggers and their understanding of / thoughts on 7/7

Submissions:

Prospective authors should submit an abstract of 350 words that includes their name(s), institutional affiliation(s) and contact details to Julian Matthews (jpm29@leicester.ac.uk). All abstracts will be reviewed. Successful authors will be invited to submit a full manuscript in line with the journal’s ‘Notes for Contributors’ (https://uk.sagepub.com/en-gb/eur/journal/journalism#submission-guidelines). All submitted papers will be subjected to peer review.