CfP Journalism and Film: Contents, audiences, teaching, new formats and exhibition spaces.

Journalism has attracted filmmakers and screenwriters of film and television since the beginning of the 20th century (Mínguez Santos, 2012). The film entitiled Don't Look Up (Adam McKay, 2021, as well as the series House of Cards (Beau Willimon, 2013-2018), and The Newsroom (Aaron Sorkin, 2012-2014), are recent examples of the magnetism exerted by the fourth estate on the seventh art. 

The prominence and volume of feature films devoted to journalism has reached the point where some researchers consider it a genre or sub-genre in itself (Requeijo, 2013). As asserted by McNair (2011), this format has given rise to masterpieces such as It Happened One Night (Frank Capra 1934), Citizen Kane (Orson Welles, 1940), and Ace in the Hole (Billy Wilder 1951).  In Spain, between 2000 and 2009, 171 films featuring journalists were released (Osorio, 2009).

In films that feature a reporter as the protagonist, he or she is portrayed as a brave person who defends the rights of citizens (San José de la Rosa, Miguel Borrás and Gil Torres, 2020). The depiction of journalism in cinema is relevant because the image of journalists on the big screen largely influences society's perception of the profession (Bezurnatea et al., 2010).

There is a relationship of mutual attraction between cinema and journalism, as evidenced by the fact that the fourth estate has also paid attention to the seventh art since it began (Tosantos, 2004). Film journalism is one of the most established, specialised professions within the cultural realm and film review scenario. In fact, it is a benchmark genre in the sector, which has progressed from being initially subjective to theoretical (Aranzubia and Nieto, 2013). Consolidation of the Internet has added value to film reviews, which have gone from being a type of article not widely read to a very popular kind of multimedia content in blogs, specialised pages, and cultural sections of traditional media (Esqueda and Noguera, 2011). Thus, film reviews often become a type of audio-visual co-creation that uses the discursive tools of the film essay, as in the case of Kogonada and other critics (Mínguez, 2019). 

Likewise, journalists can use the cinematic format to carry out their work, either by taking a traditional documentary approach or that of an audio-visual essay. Michael Moore is one of the most iconic examples, with films such as Roger & Me (1989), Bowling for Columbine (2002), and Fahrenheit 9/11 (2004). This format is also used in productions that involve social, political, or ecological condemnation, such as Darwin's Nightmare (Le cauchemar de Darwin, by Hubert Sauper, 2004), or those that try to reflect the importance of war correspondents, as in Morir para contar [Dying to Tell] (Hernán Zin, 2017). 

Thus, we are faced with two  fields of study: films about journalism; and film journalism. Both are independent and consolidated, yet have not been addressed in depth by researchers over the last decade.  For example, beyond stereotypes of journalists in classic and pre-21st century cinema (Mera, 2008), or ethics in the profession (Gürkan, 2017), there are hardly any studies that have addressed journalistic specialisations or comparative studies among countries.  Regarding film journalism, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, this field has developed in spite of a context with a lower number of viewers, as it must coexist with the new ways of consuming and creating audiovisual content (Quintas-Froufe and González-Neira, 2021). Nevertheless, despite the pervasiveness of series and video-on-demand platforms today (Gutiérrez Lozano and Jáñez González, 2021), film journalism has not received the same attention as other news specialisations from researchers.  For example, in recent years few studies have been published on audiences, journalistic coverage, and new formats in the area of film reporting and reviews.

A third interrelationship between film and journalism is the use of audio-visual products as a complementary methodology in the teaching-learning process (Shelton, 2001; Sandoval-Escobar, 2006; White, 2008). In the field of journalistic education, specifically ethics, a study by Diaz del Campo (2012) concluded that films were the third most heavily used resource by professors. There are specific studies that confirm the use of series as an effective teaching-learning methodology (Nicolás-Gavilán, Galbán-Lozano and Ortega-Barba, 2017). 

For the reasons stated above, this monograph invites researchers from all over the world to participate in studies that address the existing relationship between journalism and film, by taking diverse approaches that include thematic, geographical, theoretical, and methodological aspects.  For example, we welcome comparative studies between countries, with special emphasis on the Global South, systematic reviews, case studies, and new theoretical proposals that address some of the key features of this topic. 

As this is a multidisciplinary field,  not only will contributions from the areas of journalism and film be accepted, but from related spheres as well, such as pedagogy, sociology, psychology, or similar disciplines.

Keywords:

Journalism, cinema, film review, film journalism, communication media.

Main topics:

Film journalism reception and new audiences.

- Informative coverage of film in traditional and/or new media.

- Media business models that specialise in film.

- New film review formats (podcasts, social networks, etc.).

- Prominent film reviewers and their work.

- Ethics and film review.

- Films about journalism as an educational methodology.

- The portrayal of journalism and journalists in diverse film genres.

- Film adaptations of investigative journalism.

- The role of women journalists on the big screen.

- Content, scripts, and aesthetics of series and/or docuseries about journalism.

- pecialised journalistic professions on the big screen (investigative journalism, sports, courtroom coverage, events, science, culture, etc.).

- Case studies of iconic films about journalism, or regarding journalists who have made the transition to cinema (screenwriters, directors, actors or actresses).

- Diachronic studies of films about journalism in the 20th and 21st centuries.

- Cinematic environments and encounters with audiences and journalists: cinemas, festivals, and others.

- Documentaries and audio-visual essays as testimonies of real life.

Deadline to receive manuscripts: 30/09/2023

(manuscripts received before this date will be assigned a reception date of 30/09/2023).

Monograph publication date: 1/07/2024 (DOXA n.º 39)

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