Journalism’s future in the digital world and the prospects for local press will come under the spotlight at a special conference next year.

Academic journals Journalism Studies and Journalism Practice are running the event which will focus on a broad range of topics including new media, citizen journalism and blogs.

The event – The Future of Journalism: Call for Papers – will be hosted by Cardiff University’s School of Journalism.

It follows on from the inaugural conference, The Future of Newspapers, which featured former Guardian editor Peter Preston among the guest speakers.

In launching Call for Papers, Cardiff University journalism professor Bob Franklin said: “We invite contributions from the international community of scholars of journalism studies, journalism practitioners, educators and trainers, media executives, trade unionists and media regulators.

“The environments in which journalists work – across the various platforms of print, radio, television and online – are changing rapidly in response to innovations in technology, increasingly competitive and fragmented markets for audiences and advertising revenues, government media policy and changing audience requirements for news and the ways in which it is presented and delivered.

“These changes are impacting on journalists’ employment, their workplaces, products and perceptions of their professional roles and values, as well as their day-to-day journalism practice.

“Many of the papers presented at the 2007 conference are about to be published.

“The conference has generated a great deal of debate and new research findings about this important subject.”

Papers for discussion at next year’s conference are now being invited on of topics including new media technologies, citizen journalism, trends in online journalism and ethics.

The line-up of speakers for next year’s conference has not yet been announced.

For more information e-mail Bob Franklin on [email protected].