IAMCR

http://www.iamcr.org/component/option,com_frontpage/Itemid,1/

IAMCR´s aims are

• To provide a forum where researchers and others involved in media and communication can meet and exchange information about their work;
• To encourage the development of research and systematic study, especially in areas of media production, transmission and reception, in the contexts in which these activities take place and in those subjects and areas where such work is not well developed;
• To stimulate interest in media and communication research;
• To disseminate information about research results, methods and needs – not only to researchers but also to those working in the various media and others responsible for communication policies;
• To seek to improve media and communication research, policy and practice and to encourage research, especially from international and interdisciplinary perspectives, and to exchange information on practices and conditions that would improve the quality of media and communication practice, and media and communication research;
• To contribute by means of appropriate research, to the development and improvement of the education and training of journalists and other media professionals.

UNESCO was the main initiator of IAMCR and provided the founding platform. IAMCR maintains its Formal Consultative Relationship with UNESCO.

Associate members of IAMCR include major regional communication research associations: AMIC (for Asia), ACCE (for Africa) and ALAIC (for Latin America). IAMCR has close collaborative relations with many other organisations and is regarded as the international umbrella organisation in the field of media and communication research.

Why do junior and established researchers join IAMCR?

They join because IAMCR offers members access to the field of communication and media research.  This field is marked by a large number of focal points.  This field defies analysis and explanation by any single academic discipline, and, generally, must be addressed from a variety of interdisciplinary perspectives.  Membership in IAMCR offers many online and offline opportunities for building strong, collegial and supportive networks among all those who are making contributions to this field around the world.

What do IAMCR activities encompass?

IAMCR activities are organised into Sections and Working Groups.

• Media Production & Consumption
• Media, Communication, Participation & Community
• Media and Communication Policy & Law
• Education & Journalism
• Cross-Cutting Theme

Research conducted by IAMCR members is strongly interdisciplinary, theoretically informed, and generally employs ‘multi-method’ research strategies.

Activities and services

The issue of the public presence of the field of communication research is prominent on the IAMCR agenda. As more and more non-state actors become intensely involved with world politics, the question of potential and real input by communication research professionals is a challenge for organisations such as IAMCR.

This issue has become a focus for much of our work. Policy decisions taken by the General Assembly commit the Association to furthering debate, analysis, and action on the issue of the contribution of communication research to public life.

IAMCR's members promote and defend the interests of the professional community of media and communication researchers in terms of freedom of academic thought and expression, and career development.

IAMCR hosts conferences, offers prizes for outstanding papers, has a Task Force on Media and Communication Policy, manages publications series, and offers discounts on journals.

Every two years IAMCR holds a General Assembly and Scientific Conference. In the past years conferences have been held in Prague, Paris, Caracas, Barcelona, New Delhi, Bled, Guaruja, Porto Alegre, Seoul, Singapore, Sydney and Cairo. Each of these events attracts between 300 and 600 members from more than 40 countries. A conference is also organised in intervening years.

IAMCR publishes a comprehensive newsletter two times a year with up-to-date information on its different activities, a membership directory, and the website hosts abstracts on conference papers.

Over the past few years, several comparative research projects have been designed and carried out by IAMCR members. IAMCR is committed to the widest dissemination of research and writing in the field of communications.

Paid-up members are entitled to a variety of discounts on academic journals, as well as special registration fees for conferences.

Structure and Organisation

The General Assembly takes place during the biennial IAMCR conferences and it is the main decision making body. Statutes and Standing Orders governing IAMCR’s work are at the website.The informal organisation of IAMCR relies enormously on the good will and energy of all its members.  All the office holders seek to encourage open debate and increasingly active participation in discussions both online and offline.  There are elected officers who see themselves as facilitators of the intellectual engagement and policy related activities that are at the heart of IAMCR.

Membership

IAMCR has individual, institutional and associate members.

Individual membership: This status may be granted to all persons qualified by their activity in the field of media and communication research and related fields of study and practice.

Institutional membership: This status may be conferred on

(a) institutions and associations within any given country which are concerned with media and communication research.

(b) international organisations which have objectives connected with those of IAMCR.