Conferência - Media in Minority Languages: Key Themes defining a third wave of literature

Craig Willis

European Centre for Minority Issues

Abstract:

Media in regional or minority languages is undoubtedly shaped and influenced by the same trends which affect all media practices and consumption habits, yet it contains an extra dimension linked to language maintenance. A first wave of literature emerged in the late 1980s into the 1990s and was primarily concerned with the core purpose and challenges of (what came to be termed) minority language media, very much embedded in the context of the day – linear broadcasting and printed press. The changes caused by social media, digitalisation and the financial crisis in the late 2000s, formed a new focus for the second wave of literature – with both positive elements such as the ability for online breathing spaces to form, but also negative elements related to increased competition. The most recent media trends, accelerated by the Covid-19 pandemic, have led to a new third wave of minority language media literature – where the focus of this lecture lies. Shaped by an increasingly audiovisual style social media (TikTok, Instagram Reels etc) traditional media outlets are in direct competition for screentime with individual content creators as well as third sector organisations producing media. In addition, regulation of the digital sphere is advancing – with the EU’s Digital Services Act, European Media Freedom Act and AI Act significantly strengthening regulation on (what it terms) very large online platforms (VLOPs). This lecture will unpack these topics and their implications on minority language media, demonstrating how this is forming a third wave of literature and influencing the focus of the ongoing PLURILINGMEDIA COST Action.

Sessão híbrida:

· Participação presencial: Faculdade de Letras da Universidade de Coimbra, sala do Instituto de Estudos Espanhóis (7.º piso)

· Ligação para participação remota: https://ucmeetings.uc.pt/live/crismar

Organização:

CELGA-ILTEC

2.º ciclo em Português como Língua Estrangeira e Língua Segunda (FLUC)

3.º ciclo em Linguística do Português (FLUC)

Departamento de Línguas Estrangeiras, Instituto Politécnico de Bragança

COST Action – Language Plurality in Europe’s Changing Media Sphere (PLURILINGMEDIA)