Written by: Egil Trasti Rogstad
For the first time since the pandemic, the International Association for Media Communication Research organized a physical conference for its members in the beautiful French city of Lyon from July 9th to 13th. This year’s theme was ‘Inhabiting the planet: challenges for media, communication, and beyond,’ which became particularly relevant during the European heatwave that coincided with the conference.
This was a relatively large conference with over 1200 registered participants, where researchers in the field of media and communication from all corners of the world came to participate. Alongside myself, my esteemed colleagues Torill Mortensen and Frederik Aarup from Nord University also attended.
I primarily participated in the section for media, communication, and sports, which held parallel sessions over three days. Here, I presented one of my articles that I wrote as part of my dissertation, focusing on gendered power dynamics in esports. The presentation was one of a total of five presentations within a shared panel titled ‘Times of transformations: Nordic perspectives.’ I participated in this panel alongside fellow colleagues from Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, whom I have come to know over the past year through a collaborative Nordic research network called ‘Women in a Digitized Sports Culture,’ in which Anne, Sigbjørn, and Stian from the RESPONSE group have also been involved.
In addition, it was very exciting to attend presentations within the sports media field and meet sports researchers from other parts of the world. There were several studies here that focused on geopolitical aspects and sports-washing, which were highly interesting to listen to and are also very relevant in the aftermath of the December 2022 FIFA World Cup held in Qatar.
All in all, this was an enriching experience that inspired me in multiple ways and provided me with new perspectives within my field. I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to participate in this conference for the first time, and I would definitely consider attending next year’s edition, which will be held in Christchurch, New Zealand.
