港大中文學院

MEDIA FOR ALL 11th CONFERENCE

Conference Theme: Breaking Barriers: Media Localisation in the Age of Global Platforms

Organizer: School of Chinese, The University of Hong Kong

Dates: May 28-30, 2025

Conference website: https://www.m4all11.org/

Keynote Speakers:

• Wenhong Chen, University of Texas, Austin 
• Terry Flew, University of Sydney 

Important dates:

Abstract submission opens: February 1, 2024

Abstract submission deadline: November 1, 2024

Notification of acceptance: November 15, 2024

Registration opens: November 30, 2024

Early bird registration closes: March 31, 2025

Standard registration closes: May 23, 2025

Submission of Abstract/Paper: https://easychair.org/account2/signin?l=254874522885590431

Email inquiry:

Ms. Mengfei LI (Email: media4all2025@hku.hk)

About MEDIA FOR ALL

MEDIA FOR ALL is a research conference series specialised in media localisation and accessibility. Since 2005, the conference has been a focal point for academics to present cutting-edge research studies and build pathways for knowledge exchange with the many stakeholders in the media industries. Outcomes from previous conferences have informed numerous developments in translation and language technologies, media accessibility and inclusive social development around the globe, impacting how media across linguistic, cultural and societal borders. For the first time, the MEDIA FOR ALL CONFERENCE in 2025 will travel to Southeast Asia and will be held in Hong Kong.

The previous conference in Belgium (University of Antwerp, 2023) addressed the transforming human agency in transnational media exchanges in facing the acceleration of artificial intelligence (AI). The recent surge of Generative AI (GenAI) not only poses unprecedented challenges to the prospect of human intelligence but also enables novel transitions in media localisation and accessibility in terms of workflow, qualification, diversification of practices, systemisation of quality control, and pedagogical innovation. Rather than bounding to extinction, human agency will continue to evolve in spcialised practices such as subtitling, dubbing, audio description, game localisation, and web localisation, breaking barriers and rescaling global media ecosystems in the age of digital platforms.

Call for Papers

The 11th edition of MEDIA FOR ALL aims to explore the collective wisdom that helps break the linguistic and cultural barriers in platform society. Digital ecosystems are propelling new forms of media convergence which transcend national and cultural boundaries in terms of production, distribution and localisation, bringing an increasingly diverse range of genres, languages, storytelling styles and representations to an expanding global audience (Choi et al. 2023; Kang and Lotz 2023). Notably, the recent influx of less dominant cultures and languages (e.g., Chinese, Icelandic, Japanese, Korean, Norwegian and Turkish, to name but a few) on global streaming platforms exemplifies the shift from national and transnational models of media production to a translational one. Essentially, platforms are expanding rapidly to not only sell their own domestic productions but also invest in local ones, collaborating with local producers and creative talents and distributing their works globally.

Audiovisual translation plays an indispensable role in this new mediascape, where new niches, styles and trends from different local contexts are brought to the global mainstream, with the help of transforming cloud-based technologies and AI-enhanced workflows. In parallel to industry-driven transitions, users also seek to create, translate and distribute original and translated content in their own desired ways. User-driven productivities in commercial platforms, such as TikTok and YouTube, and in ground-level, less-regulated media practices, such as fan translation and fan remix (Jenkins 2013), will continue to co-exist in the burgeoning ‘creator culture’ (Cunningham et al. 2021), posing challenges in areas such as copyright and data protection, user management, and value cocreation.

The proliferation of digital platforms has brought about new ethical and logistical questions to both practice and research in media localisation, prompting an examination of the barriers that the translational model has broken, reinforced, or created in the era of global platforms. How can media localisation efficiently respond to the accelerated use of AI and the ecological and ethical complexities associated with big data? How can research, practice and industries continue to collaborate in building diverse and inclusive platform societies in the age of human-AI convergence? What are the challenges and opportunities in media localisation and accessibility in terms of workflows, qualifications, diversification of practices, systemisation of quality control, and pedagogical innovation? How will human agency continue to evolve in practices such as subtitling, dubbing, audio description and game localization? How can we break barriers and rescale global media ecosystems in the age digital platforms?

MEDIA FOR ALL 11 will invite scholarly contribution and channel knowledge exchange between China and the West, educators and practitioners in translation and localisation, content creators and localisers, as well as academia and global creative industries. The conference aims to advance interdisciplinary research in relevant fields, while highlighting Asian and Chinese perspectives. We welcome proposals for individual papers, thematic panels, and roundtable discussions that address the following cutting-edge areas:

I. Collaboration and Participation in Platform Economies

• Users, creators and translators of transmedia productions across platforms, languages and cultures (e.g., films, TV series, games, digital comics).
• The convergence of professional and non-professional AVT practices on streaming platforms.
• The emergence of participatory translation forms such as fansubs, fandubs, remix, and damu (also known as “danmaku subtitling”).
• Users, fans, and alternative globalisation models.

II. AVT and Distribution

• Collaboration and competition between global streaming platforms and local networks.
• The role of English as a pivot language in media localisation and accessibility.
• Translation of and between less dominant languages.
• The translation and reception of non-English content on global streaming platforms.
• Dubbing, voice-over and subtitling in digital platforms.
• Multiformatting and alternative media.

III. Media Literacy and Media Accessibility (MA)

• Access services in digital platforms.
• Asian/Chinese perspectives of accessibility.
• MA pedagogies.
• Screen media for the inclusive construction of public spaces.
• Accessible platformisation: diversity and user-engagement.
• Immersive media and accessibility.

IV. Technologies and Media Localisation

• Audience research.
• Automation and Generative AI for creators and translators.
• Global and regional AI ethics and industrial protocols.
• Platform and data policies for AVT and MA.
• Legislation and standards.