Media XXI and JOCIS are partners for the 2022 annual conference of the International Media Management Academic Association (IMMAA). Its annual conferences promote and showcase high quality research on all aspects of media management. As with past conferences, IMMAA welcomes submissions relating to any of the panoply of topics encompassed by the term media management. IMMAA conferences are workshop-like in character and designed to encourage open interaction among junior and senior scholars, academics and industry practitioners.

For the 2022 conference, IMMAA especially encourages submissions related to the conference theme, Management, Trust, and Value for Media and Creative Work. The last decade has witnessed digital and social transformations that have accelerated both audience fragmentation and the consumption of audiovisual content in multiple formats via multiple platforms. An important consequence is that members of a significant fraction of the aggregate media audience have changed the way they consume media. The demand for personalized content has grown and the digital component of the audience, in particular, has become increasingly fragmented. Because digital users frequently employ multiple screens to view the same content, while basing their screen choices on their locations and circumstances at any given moment, content providers have found it increasingly difficult to retain viewers’ attention and maintain high levels of emotional connection and engagement. New media services and changing media consumption habits have also contributed to audience fragmentation and, many would argue, political polarization that makes society-level agreement on choices among policy options difficult to achieve. There is thus a need for new thinking on the roles of policymakers and media decision makers in ensuring that in their efforts to attract and retain audiences media services also contribute to the general well-being of the societies they serve. Do we need to acknowledge tradeoffs in the pursuit of business and societal goals, and what role or roles does trust play in the pursuit of these goals?

The 2022 conference aspires to be a venue for sharing best practices that can help media companies evaluate levels of audience interaction and engagement at each stage in the value chain in this new environment. We would like to hear about cases of engagement with the audience in the phases of production, distribution, or commercialization, and how each relates to the value of a media brand. We also welcome research on the creation of content that leaves a “social footprint” in its audience by increasing audience members’ commitment to social needs, personal integrity and the common good: a matter of heightened importance during a global pandemic.