Researchers from the Faculty of Political Sciences, Philosophy and Communication Sciences participated in the launch of the collective volume Crossing Borders in Digital Media Communication: Romanian Trends and Practices, as part of the Gaudeamus Book Fair 2023, held at the Regional Business Center between November 1-5. Coordinator of Lect. Dr. Adina Baya and Prof. Dr. Ileana Rotaru, the volume explores the symbolic notion of "border" in the field of Communication Sciences, in the context of the digital era, bringing together research papers signed by teaching staff from the Western University and the Polytechnic University: Lect. Dr. Anamaria Filimon-Benea, Lect. Dr. Simona Bader, Lect. Dr. Corina Sîrb, Lect. Dr. Daniel Ciurel, Assistant. Dr. Ionuț Suciu, Assistant. Dr. Manuela Anghelescu.
"Covering a wide range of thematic interests, the volume studies how mass media in the digital age has the power to break down certain borders, but also to raise others. We are in an era where we have more access to information than ever before, and the media has the power to unite geographically distant communities and social groups, but on the other hand, it also raises certain barriers. In the era of overinformation, it sometimes becomes increasingly difficult to make our way in the informational jungle'', the coordinators explained.
Bringing together studies signed by experts in Communication Sciences, with experience in both research and practice in the media field, the book contains two sections: one focused on the theoretical rethinking of the foundations of communication in the digital age, and another on case studies that reveal a detailed description of some current observable trends in the Romanian media space. How has people's need for communication changed in the digital age and what are the moral challenges of spending a large amount of time in the virtual environment? How has media production changed, from the point of view of the hybridization of media genres and the transgression of agreed norms in the field of media content creation and dissemination? Here are some of the questions addressed in the first chapters included in the volume Crossing Borders in Digital Media Communication: Romanian Trends and Practices, followed by studies that deepen the tangible effects of the digital era on the production of media content, the rise of podcasting as a phenomenon on the media market, as well as the proliferation of racist and xenophobic hate speech in the online environment. The volume was published this year by the Tritonic Publishing House and represents an invitation to reflection on the changes affecting media communication in the digital age.
