Congress News

Ester Pollack: “The soul and the heart of the IAMCR is that it is truly international”

Last Updated (Thursday, 05 June 2008 13:26) Written by Paola Sartoretto Thursday, 05 June 2008 11:48

For most of the participants of the IAMCR Congress, the activities will start on Sunday the 20th, but at JMK the work is already at full power to pull all the ends together for the event. It is now two years since Ester Pollack, senior teacher at JMK, and her collegues sent in the application for hosting the IAMCR World Congress in Stockholm. But the idea of holding 2008 year’s congress here was born long before that.

- Among the very first to initiate the application was professor Jan Ekecrantz and senior teacher Madeleine Kleberg at JMK together with FSMK (Föreningen för Svensk Medie- och Kommunikationsforskning), Ester Pollack tells us.

Though many other Nordic media scholars had been involved in the IAMCR for many years, no Nordic city had ever hosted an IAMCR Congress. Therefore, they thought, the time had come for a Nordic university to play the role as the host. They also saw this as an opportunity to put the Nordic countries on the international research map as well as to inspire young students to do research in media and communication.

The request was successful and in July some of the world’s leading media scholars together with hundreds of researchers will be heading towards the Swedish capital to be a part of the 26th World Congress of the IAMCR.

- I think we were chosen among those who applied to host the congress because we had a clear idea of a theme and the scientific context, says Ester.

Why ‘Media and Global Divides’
’Media and Global Divides’ is a theme that many fields touch upon, both locally and internationally. Past themes have always had a connection to discussions about globalization in one way or another, so it seemed natural to continue and deepen this focus.

The idea behind the IAMCR Congress is to be a truly international forum where researchers from all parts of the world can meet, discuss and exchange ideas. It is important for the organizers to go beyond the European and Anglo-American research communities and include countries and areas which are often misrepresented in events like this. Tolerance and inclusion are some of the sole principles of IAMCR which makes the debates go in very different and unexpected ways sometimes.

Ester tells us: - The soul and the heart of the IAMCR Congress is that it is truly international. Until now participants from 63 countries from all continents have registered.

It goes without saying that taking part in events like the IAMCR Congress is a very valuable experience for a researcher or student, but can society as a whole benefit from the debate? Ester believes it does.

- Many of the researchers coming here are active in the public debate in their countries, and many of them hold high positions in international organizations.