CFP: Media Access (11/20/06; journal issue)

full name / name of organization: 
Lucas Hilderbrand
contact email: 

Call for Papers:
Spectator special issue on
Media Access: Practices, Policies, and Historiographies
Volume 27, Number 1 (Spring 2007)

"Access" has been one of the primary discourses of electronic media, from broadcasting to videotape to the Internet.
Typically, attention to access has focused on production, operating from the premise that providing production resources
such as cameras, editing equipment, and airtime or bandwidth will democratize the media. But access is not only a
matter of the means of production; it is also a question of the means of reception. This special journal issue focuses on
this second conception of access: how we access, use, historicize, and preserve electronic media.
Video technologies have radically expanded our access to films, television programming, art, and documentation. Yet,
for general audiences as well as scholars, access to our media history—both textual and technological—is often
challenged by the loss of original recordings, technological obsolescence, lack of video releases, copyright restrictions,
and archival policies. At times, fans, citizens, archivists, and scholars have intervened to developed methods to store,
collect, circulate, and teach media works that would otherwise be ephemeral. This special issue seeks to examine such
strategies for media access and historiography, both institutional and amateur, analog and digital, political and personal.
These efforts have become essential for cinema and media scholars to study saved texts, yet such practices have not
been sufficiently reflected upon within the discipline. How have these pro-access practices enabled media
historiography, influenced the content industry, and directed policy? And how should they?

Deadline for Submissions: November 20, 2006

Spectator is a biannual publication and submissions that address the above topics in the following areas are now invited
for submission:
• How has home video changed the ways audiences access and understand film and television history?
• How have VHS and DVD changed film and media pedagogy and historiography?
• How have media regulation and policy responded to the demands of audiences and scholars? How can we learn from
such examples to lobby current or future policies?
• What are the impacts of audiences on access—and of access on audiences?
• How have person-to-person exchange methods, such as eBay, downloading networks, and YouTube, created new
means of media access? And how do we document and research such practices?
• What media projects are being archived and/or preserved? What is at risk of being lost? What role should scholars
play in archival and preservation advocacy?
• What are the connections between fair use and access? How far can we argue fair use defenses for scholarly
reproduction?
• How do territorial distribution practices and rights policies complicate transnational media distribution and
research?
• What is happening in terms of preserving local media production—and what needs to be done?
• How might we conceive of the aesthetics of access?
• What are the impending problems and solutions for archiving and researching digital media works? How will we be
able to access today's digital media ten, twenty, or thirty years from now?

Queries about submissions should be emailed to the issue editor Lucas Hilderbrand at hilderbr_at_usc.edu or
Spectator_at_cinema.usc.edu.

Manuscripts to be considered for publication should be sent to:

University of Southern California
School of Cinema-Television
Critical Studies
Lucas Building, Room 405
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211
Attn: Lucas Hilderbrand

One copy of manuscript should be submitted as well as a copy on disk.
Submissions can also be e-mailed directly. Manuscripts should include the title of the contribution and the name (s) of
authors. As well as the postal address, e-mail address, and phone numbers for author who will work with the editor on
any revisions. All pages should be numbered consecutively. Contributions should not be more than 5,000 words. They
should also include a brief abstract for publicity. Authors should also include a brief biographic entry. Rejected
manuscripts will not be returned.

Articles submitted to the Spectator should not be under consideration by any other journal.

Book Reviews may vary in length from 300 to 1,000 words. Please include title of book, retail price and ISBN at the
beginning of the review.

Forum or Additional Section contributions can include works on new archival or research facilities or methods as well as
other relevant works related to the field.

Electronic Submissions and Formatting. Authors should send copies of their work via e-mail as electronic attachments.
Please keep backup files of all disks. Files should be Microsoft Word in PC or Mac format, depending on the editor's
preference. Endnotes should conform to the Chicago Manual of Style.

Upon acceptance, a format guideline will be forwarded to all contributors as to image and text requirements.

Current Board for Spectator

Founding Editor
Marsha Kinder
Managing Editor
William Whittington
Issue Editor
Lucas Hilderbrand

Subscription Information
Individual issues cost $10.00. Institutional rate for US and Canada is $30.00 USD. All others $40.00 USD. Please contact
the subscription editor for bulk discounts. To order a subscription, please send $15.00* for the current volume year to:

University of Southern California
School of Cinema-Television
Critical Studies
Lucas Building, Room 405
Los Angeles, CA 90089-2211
Attn: Spectator Subscription
Tel: (213) 740-3334
Fax: (213) 740-9471

*If you subscribe now, you will receive one back issue free (based on availability). For additional back issues, contact
subscription manager and include $12.00 per issue.

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Received on Fri Oct 06 2006 - 16:36:50 EDT