Foreword

The media and communication research associations of the Nordic countries in cooperation with Nordicom have held conferences every second year since 1973. The 21th conference in the series was held in Oslo, Norway, 8th–10th August 2013. Host for the conference was the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Oslo and Akershus University College.

The NordMedia conference 2013 in Oslo marked and celebrated the 40 years that have passed since that very first Nordic media conference. These Nordic conferences have without doubt contributed greatly to the development of media and communication research in the Nordic countries.

About 350 scholars from Denmark (59), Finland (48), Iceland (3), Norway (58) and Sweden (70) gathered to discuss current research and findings. In addition, some participants came from further afield, from Austria, Bangladesh, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Indonesia, Portugal, Spain, Switzerland, Tanzania, the USA, etc.

The conference proceedings included plenary sessions with keynote speakers and thematic seminars in different divisions and working groups. Participants also enjoyed a number of social gatherings and cultural events.

The theme of the plenary sessions this year was Defending Democracy. Nordic and Global Diversities in Media and Journalism. This special issue of Nordicom Review and Nordicom-Information contains the speeches held in plenary sessions regarding this theme.

As usual, the main business of the conference took place in the sessions of the different divisions. More than 270 research papers were presented in 12 divisions: Environment, Science and Risk Communication; Journalism Studies; Media and Communication History; Media, Culture and Society; Media, Globalization and Social Change; Media Literacy and Media Education; Media Management, Policy and Economy; Media, Technology and Aesthetics; Film Studies; Organization, Communication and Society; Political Communication; and Theory, Philosophy and Ethics of Communication. All papers are listed in this report.

A number of the conference papers presented at the conference have been revised and edited to become articles submitted for review for publication in English in this issue of Nordicom Review. Together, the articles presented will give the reader some idea of the breadth and depth of Nordic scholarship in the area.

Responsibility for arranging the conferences is divided into two parts. More comprehensive questions, such as the theme, keynote speakers, working groups and fees are the responsibility of a Nordic Planning Committee, whose members are appointed by the national media and communication research associations and Nordicom. A Local Planning Committee at Oslo and Akershus University College was responsible for the arrangements and details of the conference.

Members of the Committee that planned NordMedia 2013 were Thomas Bjørner and Stine Liv Johansen, SMID (Denmark); Juha Koivisto, TOY (Finland); Kjartan Ólafsson (Iceland); Hilde Arntsen & Ragnhild Mølster, NML (Norway); Margareta Melin, FSMK (Sweden); and Ulla Carlsson (Nordicom); and from the Norwegian host: Steen Steensen, Anne-Hege Simonsen, Harald Hornmoen and Anders Gjesvik.

Associate professor Steen Steensen acted as Chairmen of the Organizing Committee-The next NordMedia Conference is to be held in Copenhagen, 13–15 August 2015, and the theme is Media Presence – Mobile Modernities.

Let me conclude by, on behalf of Nordicom, thanking the editors Kristin Skare Orgeret and Harald Hornmoen, professors at the Department of Journalism and Media Studies at Oslo and Akershus University College, and all the contributors, who have made this publication possible.

Göteborg in August 2014