Call for Papers – CEECOM 2027: Communication and Freedom

16th Central and Eastern European Communication and Media Conference 

CEECOM 2027: Communication and Freedom

16–17 September 2027

Belgrade, Serbia

Organized by the Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade

in cooperation with the ECREA Central and East-European Network

Call for Papers

Freedom is in decline in many parts of the world. According to Freedom House, 46 percent of the world’s population lived in countries rated “free” two decades ago. Today, that share has more than halved. Many factors have contributed to this trend, including armed conflicts, deepening economic insecurity and inequality, resurgent populism amplified by the design of social media platforms, and waning international support for democracy. Yet, chief among them appears to be rising autocratization, or the incremental dismantling of checks on executive power, carried out by elected leaders through legal or quasi-legal means instead of outright coups. V-Dem’s successive reports describe this trend, which began in the mid-1990s, as a third wave of autocratization. With some local variation, there is a strikingly consistent pattern involving a concentration of power, the hollowing out of democratic institutions, and deepening polarization. Independent media often become the first institutions to be captured, giving governments narrative control over the erosion of rights and liberties.

Freedom in Central and Eastern Europe faces enduring and, in some cases, intensifying pressures. Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine remains the region’s most severe attack on freedom in every sense, from national self-determination to the physical safety of journalists covering the war. Elsewhere the erosion appears more covert, but no less consequential. Freedom of expression and freedom of assembly continue to be under pressure, as governments respond to criticism and dissent with smear campaigns, surveillance, force, and the denial of due process. In Serbia, the anti-corruption student movement has been met with mounting pressure on universities, while academic freedom has been elevated into a prime front of contestation. And across the region, judicial independence has been undermined wherever governments have packed constitutional courts and disciplined defiant judges, so that the dismantling of other rights preserves a veneer of legality.

Reporters Without Borders has noted substantial losses in freedom of the press across the region, driven by economic pressure, political interference, and weak legal protection. Public service media remain a central point of contestation, with governments seeking, at minimum, to undermine their autonomy. In the most affected countries, public broadcasters and private outlets alike have been captured and turned into government mouthpieces, with Serbia and, until recently, Hungary and Poland serving as textbook examples over the past decade. These political pressures are compounded by persistent challenges in securing stable funding, recovering public trust, and retaining audiences as they migrate to digital and social media platforms. In December 2025, the European Commission opened infringement proceedings against Hungary over non-compliance with several provisions of the European Media Freedom Act, including safeguards concerning public service media, ownership transparency, media concentration, and state advertising. Even countries with better press freedom rankings, such as Czechia, Slovakia, and Lithuania, have seen legislative changes and proposals that may compromise the independence of public service media. Beyond institutional pressures on public service media, verbal attacks, delegitimization, intimidation, and harassment of journalists by political actors have also become an important concern in many countries in the region.

In addition to being directly targeted by populist and authoritarian actors, the public sphere and fragmented information environments are key sites of discursive contestation over freedom. Communication remains crucial to contemporary autocratization through captured newsrooms, orchestrated smear campaigns, harassment of journalists, surveillance, propaganda, and disinformation that undermines the shared factual ground on which democratic accountability depends. These processes operate not only through narrative control but also through the allocation of attention, amplifying selected actors and conflicts, rendering others invisible, and occupying the public agenda through distraction, outrage, and permanent crisis. But communication remains just as important for any countermovement that aims at restoring democracy and reclaiming freedom. Central and Eastern Europe, where influential models of media capture have developed, has also served as a catalyst for investigative journalists risking their careers and sometimes their lives, independent outlets enduring lawsuits, smears, and financial exhaustion, protest movements circumventing hostile environments and organizing through digital networks, and audiences learning to navigate polluted information spaces.

Freedom is neither a self-evident nor a politically neutral category. Communication may expand the agency and visibility of some actors while limiting the voice, safety, or participation of others. Measures justified by the defense of freedom – from content moderation and counter-disinformation policies to restrictions imposed in the name of national security – may themselves generate new forms of control. Understanding how freedom is contested between democratic decline and resilience raises questions that media and communication scholarship cannot avoid. How is media capture accomplished and sustained, and how can it be reversed? What happens to journalism, and to journalists, when practicing it becomes precarious or dangerous? What role do platforms and algorithmic systems play in narrowing or expanding the space of free expression? How are AI tools applied in public campaigns and to what ends? How do struggles over narrative control play out in matters affecting personal rights and liberties? Under what conditions can communication become a tool for democratic resilience and the restoration of freedom? CEECOM 2027 invites contributions that address these and related questions. We welcome theoretical, empirical, and methodological work related to, but not limited to, the following themes:

• Freedom of Expression, Communication Inequalities, and Human Rights;
• Communication and Academic Freedom;
• Press Freedom and Democracy;
• Media Ownership, Freedom, and Capture;
• Communication in Social Movements, Protest, and Civic Resistance;
• Journalistic Innovation, Sustainability, and (De-)Capture;
• Narrative Control and Contested Freedoms;
• Political Communication, Attention, Visibility, and Agenda Control;
• Public Service Media, Governance, and (De-)Capture;
• Journalistic Autonomy, Precarity, and Safety;
• Communication, Democratic Backsliding, and Institutional Resilience;
• Digital Rights, Platforms, and Algorithmic Power;
• Organizations, Digital Spaces, and Online Free Speech;
• Media and Algorithmic Literacy, Information Disorders, and Audience Agency.

While CEECOM is primarily a media and communication conference, we welcome contributions from all disciplines, and interdisciplinary approaches are especially encouraged. And although the conference focuses on Central and Eastern Europe, we are equally open to studies that place the region in comparative perspective or examine similar dynamics elsewhere.

Keynote Speaker

Marius Dragomir, University of Santiago de Compostela & Media and Journalism Research Center

Abstract Submission

CEECOM 2027 accepts individual paper presentations, pre-constituted panels, and roundtable proposals. All submissions should be made through the online submission form:

Submission Form

Individual paper submissions must include:

• Paper title (ideally no more than 150 characters including spaces);
• Author details (full name, institutional affiliation, and email address) for all authors, clearly indicating the presenting author;
• An abstract of 300–500 words (excluding references) clearly stating the research question or objective, theoretical framework, methodological approach where applicable, expected or preliminary findings, and the paper’s intended contribution;
• A short biographical statement (up to 100 words) for each author.

Panel proposals should include:

• Panel title;
• Author details for the panel chair and all contributors (same as for individual papers);
• A panel rationale of up to 300 words, explaining the panel’s focus and its relevance to the conference theme;
• Abstracts of 300–500 words for each of the (typically four) papers (same as for individual papers);
• A short biographical statement (up to 100 words) for each contributor.

Roundtable proposals should include:

• Roundtable title;
• Author details for the chair and all speakers (same as for individual papers);
• A roundtable description of up to 500 words explaining the topic, its relevance to the conference theme, and the intended discussion format;
• A short biographical statement (up to 100 words) for each contributor.

*Roundtables do not require individual paper abstracts.

Each participant may present only one paper. No participant may appear in the program more than twice across all roles (presenting author, co-author, and roundtable speaker). Chairing does not count toward this limit.

The language of the conference is English. Presentations at the conference will be in person only.

Conference Fees

PhD students and postdocs can apply for a limited number of conference fee waivers.

Important Dates

• Abstract submission deadline: 1 February 2027 (23:59 CET)
• Notification of acceptance: by 1 April 2027
• Early-bird registration: 1 April – 31 May 2027
• Regular registration: 1 June – 15 July 2027 (23:59 CEST)
• Conference: 16–17 September 2027

Program Committee

• Auksė Balčytienė, Faculty of Political Science and Diplomacy, Vytautas Magnus University, Lithuania
• Camelia Cmeciu, Faculty of Journalism and Communication Studies, University of Bucharest, Romania
• Michał Głowacki, Faculty of Journalism, Information and Book Studies, University of Warsaw, Poland
• Igor Išpanović, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Jelena Kleut, Independent Researcher, Serbia
• Krešimir Krolo, Department of Sociology, University of Zadar, Croatia
• Čedomir Markov (chair), Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Ana Milojević, Faculty of Political Science, University of Belgrade, Serbia
• Norbert Merkovity, Department of Political Science, University of Szeged, Hungary
• Dariya Orlova, Mohyla School of Journalism, National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy, Ukraine
• Lejla Turčilo, Faculty of Political Science, University of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina
• Marína Urbániková, Faculty of Law & Faculty of Social Studies, Masaryk University, Czech Republic
• Igor Vobič, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia
• Dina Vozab, Faculty of Political Science, University of Zagreb, Croatia
• Bissera Zankova, Media 21 Foundation, Bulgaria

Organizing Committee

• Virdžinija Đeković Miketić, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade
• Igor Išpanović, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade
• Miloš Janković, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade
• Čedomir Markov, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade
• Ivana Milićević, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade
• Maja Pupovac, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade
• Simona Žikić, Institute for Philosophy and Social Theory, University of Belgrade & Faculty of Media and Communications, Singidunum University

Contact

For any inquiries, please write to us at ceecom2027@ifdt.bg.ac.rs