'Communicating' (Metaksherim), the annual graduate student conference in Communication will be held on December 25th, 2016 at the University of Haifa. 24 graduate students were selected to present their work. In addition, the Ifat prize will be awarded to a number of students for top paper submissions. The conference is named after Mark Biano, a beloved graduate student of the department who was murdered in a terrorist attack in Haifa in 2003. 

The keynote speaker at the conference will be Prof. Pablo Boczkowski (Northwestern University). Prof. Boczkowski will talk about "Incidental News: How Young People Consume News on Social Media" at 12:00 in the Rabin Observatory on the campus of the University of Haifa.

Abstract:

Incidental News:  How Young People Consume News on Social Media

In this presentation I will share results of an ongoing, mixed methods study of how people ages 18-29 consume the news on social media. The study shows that the ideal-typical mode in which young people consume news on social media can be characterized with the notion of “incidental news.” Although incidental learning of news has long existed, it had been a secondary mode of information acquisition, not the predominant one. I will draw on the basis of these findings to reflect on current dynamics at the nexus of media, technology and politics that have become central to contemporary societies.