Digital Publishing Symposium 2018

The Digital Publishing Symposium brings together researchers and industry practitioners to discuss the major ideas and themes that define contemporary digital communications.

The day will feature five panels - on taste-making, popular culture, multimedia, creative writing and activism - addressing a series of related questions on the impact of the digital publishing environment on creative work.

Questions asked across the day will include: Who are the gatekeepers in the digital publishing landscape? Have algorithmically based editorial decisions paved the way for more egalitarian publishing spaces? Are the traditional barriers to access evident on digital platforms, or, do these platforms facilitate more diverse participation? Has podcasting, as a ‘grassroots’ digital publishing innovation, provided greater opportunities to discuss and broadcast ideas? How do digital publishing platforms connect fans with producers, and change the way we write about culture? How has the digital publishing environment popularised transmedia narratives? In an increasingly connected media environment, how have the media practices of other countries, industries, and cultures influenced production practices in Australia? And what is the emotional toll of the unprecedented opportunities for connection and constant interaction offered by digital publishing?

Participants include Roj Amedi, Giselle Au-Nhien Nguyen, Jennifer Beckett, Rudi Bremer, Jax Jackie Brown, Kate Cuthbert, Alison Evans, Eloise Faichney, Brodie Lancaster, Radha O’Meara, Magan Magan, LJ Maher, Elizabeth MacFarlane, Sybil Nolan, Daniella Trimboli, Emele Ugavule, Millicent Weber and Yen-Rong Wong.

The symposium will also see the launch of the Publishing Scholars Network, a group of researchers of contemporary publishing culture based in the School of Culture and Communication at The University of Melbourne.

This symposium is supported by an SCC Research Theme Development grant.