CFP: Philosophy of Journalism Workshop

Call for Abstracts: 

Philosophy of Journalism Workshop

Friday, November 21, 2025

University of Rochester

We welcome abstracts (max. 1000 words) from scholars in any field, journalists and other media practitioners for the Philosophy of Journalism Workshop to be held at the University of Rochester on Friday, November 21, 2025.

Potential themes and questions of interest include (but are not limited to): What is journalism and what roles should it play? How has mainstream journalism been weaponized in recent years, and how has it been attacked? On what grounds (if any) can we distinguish “combat” journalism and the traditional journalism practice of asking tough questions of powerful people who may prefer to keep information hidden? What is the difference between news and opinion journalism? In what ways (if any) should these practices be kept separate? What are epistemic outcomes of journalistic practices such as balanced reporting, weight-of-evidence reporting, consensus reporting, narrative framing, data-driven journalism etc., and how might these practices be reformed or enhanced?

Confirmed participants include Maurice Chammah, Eleanor Gordon-Smith, Rubén Marciel, Alexander Prescott-Couch, Susanna Siegel, Zeynep Soysal.

Submission Guidelines:

• Abstracts should max. 1000 words and prepared for blind review.

• The length of the presentation should be 20 minutes, and it will be followed by a 10 minute discussion. 

• Abstracts should be submitted via the following form:https://forms.gle/oRL9PjNwd9Aud34JA

Submission Deadline: September 15, 2025

Organizers:

Susanna Siegel (Harvard University) and Zeynep Soysal (University of Rochester).

Contact Information:

For questions, please contact Zeynep Soysal ([email protected]).