Reimagining the Media: What is the future of the media landscape in New Zealand? (working title)

Editorial steering group: Giovanni Tiso (Bat Bean Beam), Russell Brown (Public Address), Rosabel Tan (Pantograph Punch), Sarah Illingworth (Impolitikal), Barnaby Bennett (Freerange Press), Emma Johnson (Freerange Press).

Freerange Press’s next non-fiction publication, Reimagining the Media, will investigate the nature of the media: as it once was, as we imagine it to be and what it might become.

We are calling out for journalists, commentators, theorists and users of the media to participate in this reimagining and to examine how New Zealand understands and defines itself in the media through particular issues, ideas and controversies. We wish to work with collaborators to build an in-depth discussion about the media and the opportunities available to it (and its users).

Through carefully themed chapters and high-quality writing that engages the public, the book will be an exceptional case study of a radically changing industry: the quantity of media content continues to increase exponentially; new media technologies sit in tension with an aging population; the impact of social media and of citizen journalists is on the rise. Within this ever-evolving landscape there is a (perhaps misplaced?) nostalgia for the good old days; there are questions over the standards of the profession, the role of journalists and the media’s function as a public space.

Reimagining the Media will be curated and edited, and include articles, case studies, interviews and visual essays. The collection of diverse perspectives and great writing ensures that the book will be a significant contribution to this subject and a valuable resource.

This book will be launched with a panel discussion and event on the last night of the WORD Christchurch Writers and Readers Festival in August 2016.

Please send your pitches on reimagining the media (by media we mean platforms that bring information into the public sphere) and expressions of interest to emma@projectfreerange.com by 20 December. Pitches should be maximum one page and include a description of the idea and relevant experience. If accepted submissions will be due in mid-February. Freerange can offer a contributor’s fee for those pieces that are accepted. More

For more information on Freerange Press, please visit www.projectfreerange.com