ICA Pre-conference: The Legacies of Elihu Katz. Schedule is available and registration is open.

It is our great pleasure to share with you an ICA pre-conference dedicated to the consideration and discussion of Elihu Katz’s ideas.

Thanks to the generous support of our sponsors, registration for this pre-conference is free. To register for the pre-conference, please navigate to the registration page

Questions about the pre-conference should be directed to any one of the pre-conference organizers listed below.

The Legacies of Elihu Katz

25 May, 2023

Toronto, Canada

Organized by: Menahem Blondheim (Hebrew University), David W. Park (Lake Forest College), Jeff Pooley (Muhlenberg College), and Julia Sonnevend (The New School)

Arrival, Coffee

8:30 am - 8:45 am

Opening Remarks from Pre-Conference Sponsors

8:45 am - 8:50 am

Orienting Katz Historically

8:50 am - 9:20 am

Moderator: Jeff Pooley

• Peter Simonson, “Communication, Opportunity Structures, and the Making of Elihu Katz, 1926–1956: The Child is Father of the Man”

Coffee Break

9:20 am - 9:35 am

Katz on Journalism, Democracy, and the Media

9:35 am - 10:50 am

Moderator: Barbie Zelizer

• Klaus Bruhn Jensen & W. Russell Neuman, “Enriching the Concept of Communication Effects: The Legacy of Elihu Katz”

• Leah A. Lievrouw, “Katz, Tarde, and Theorizing Digital Communication”

• Michael McDevitt, “Is the U.S. Press Invested in Democratic Crisis?”

• Kimberly Meltzer, “Legacies of Elihu Katz: Contributions to Theorizing on Journalism and Television”

• Patrícia Dias & Priscila Krolow, “Youth on BeReal: Emergent Uses and Sought Gratifications”

Coffee Break

10:50 am - 11:00 am

The Continuing Relevance of Media Events

11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Moderator: Julia Sonnevend

• Esther Hammelburg, “Being There Live: Witnessing & Belonging at Contemporary Media(tized) Events”

• Johanna Sumiala & Katja Valaskivi, “Hybrid Media Environment: A Key Challenge to Contemporary Media Event Theory?”

• Charlotte Knorr & Christian Pentzold, “The Craft of Data Scandals: Reassessing Contemporary Whistleblowing as Media Events”

• Sachie Hamada, “Media Events in the Internet Age: From ‘Watching on Couch’ to ‘Doing Sports Together’”

• Rainier Winter & Jörg-Uwe Nieland, “Rethinking ‘Media Events’: Sports Mega-Events, Authoritarian States, and the Battle for Meaning”

Lunch

12:30 pm - 1:30 pm

Two-Step Flow

1:30 pm - 3:00 pm

Moderator: Larry Gross

• Devon Powers, “From Fads to Trends: Lessons From Katz”

• Laura Dilley, “The Memetics of QAnon as Dynamical System: A Historical and Forensic Analysis of Katz-Inspired Diffusion of pro-QAnon Sentiment Among Social media Micro-Influencers”

• Svetlana S. Bodrunova, Kamilla Nigmatullina, Nikolay Rodossky, and Dmitry Nepiyushchikh, “The Two-Step Flow Model in a Hybrid Environment: Decentralization of Media in Discussions on User Complaints in the VK.com Social Network”

• Hynek Jerabek, “Elihu Katz’s Journey From the ‘Two-Step Flow Report’ to ‘His Master’s Voice’: 65 Years of Opinion Leaders”

• Elizabeth Dubois, “Strategic Personal Influence: From Political Opinion Leaders to Social Media Influencers”

Coffee Break

3:00 pm - 3:15 pm

The Multidimensional Katz: A Cross-Cutting Conversation

3:15 pm - 4:30 pm

Moderator: Menahem Blondheim

• Sonia Livingstone

• Jeffrey C. Alexander

• Limor Shifman

• Michael Schudson

Closing Words

4:30 pm - 4:45 pm

Pre-recorded video contributions pending

The Pre-Conference is Sponsored by:

The Department of Communication and the Smart Family Institute of Communications at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem; the Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism at the University of Southern California; and the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania