International Journal of Communication Publishes a Special Section on Comparative Media Studies in the Digital Age

How can we move forward in comparative communication studies, traditionally centered on legacy media, against the backdrop of an increasingly digital media environment?

Guest-edited by Jun Liu, Xinchuan Liu, and Klaus Bruhn Jensen, this Special Section on Comparative Media Studies in the Digital Age: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead of eight articles:

•      Promotes reflection on classic comparative perspectives and their redevelopment for the digital age.

•      Presents an overview of research trends and methodological strategies.

•      Reports on recent empirical studies to advance the status and relevance of comparative study in the field.

The articles reflectively revisit the idea of “media systems” — the theoretical underpinning of the seminal Comparing Media Systems — and refocus attention on changes in broader digital infrastructures and eco systems. The contributions emphasize methodological strategies for consolidating comparative communication studies, and situate themselves as part of interdisciplinary dialogues involving other comparative social sciences. Empirically, the articles address digital media use and communicative practices across the globe from a variety of analytical angles so as to examine technology-induced changes in different social and cultural contexts. The authors thus outline an agenda for further comparative communication studies to deliver a better understanding of ongoing digital transformations in societies and cultures around the world.

We invite you to read these articles that published in the International Journal of Communication on November 4, 2020. Please Ctrl+Click on the article titles below for direct hyperlinking.

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Comparative Media Studies in the Digital Age: Taking Stock, Looking Ahead — Introduction
Jun Liu, Xinchuan Liu, Klaus Bruhn Jensen

Comparing Media Systems and the Digital Age
Paolo Mancini 

Comparative Research, System Change, and the Complexity of Media Systems
Daniel C. Hallin 

Comparative Communication Research: Why We Really Need Some More Fuzzy Thinking
John Downey 

Comparative Studies of Internet Use: A Review of SSCI-Indexed Journal Articles, 1969–2019
Hui Zhao, Jun Liu 

Does the Internet Erode Trust in Media? A Comparative Study in 46 Countries
Xinchuan Liu, Jia Lu 

Two Levels of Digitalization and Internet Usage across Europe, China, and the U.S.
Chris Chao Su, Jun Liu, Baohua Zhou

The Everything-ness and the More-ness of the Internet: How Digital Is Different From Other Media
Lee Rainie 

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Larry Gross, Editor
Arlene Luck, Founding Managing Editor 
Kady Bell-Garcia, Managing Editor
Kasia Anderson, Managing Editor, Special Sections
Jun Liu, Xinchuan Liu, and Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Guest Editors

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