The 10th International Communication Days, hosted and organized by Üsküdar Üniversitesi, welcomes world-renowned academics. Among the keynote speakers of the symposium, which continues with high-quality programs from May 16-18, Prof. Dr. Gillian Doyle from the University of Glasgow, Dr. Paško Bilić, Senior Researcher at the Department of Culture and Communication, Institute for Development and International Relations in Zagreb, Prof. Dr. Dan Schiller, Communication and Information Historian from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Prof. Dr. Victor Pickard from the Annenberg School for Communication shared important insights within the main theme of 'Digital Capitalism and Communication' in their speeches. The symposium features a total of 253 paper presentations across 56 sessions…
Prof. Dr. Dan Schiller: “Digital capitalism still has room for expansion”
Prof. Dr. Victor Pickard: “7% of journalists in the US are not practicing journalism”
Prof. Dr. Gamze Yücesan Özdemir: “In the 2030s, the workforce will be significantly displaced by automation”
Guest speakers, presenting within the scope of the Üsküdar Üniversitesi 10th International Communication Days Symposium, discussed global developments and those in their own countries, and shared their observations about the Turkish communication sector.
In the program broadcast live on ÜÜTV and Üsküdar Üniversitesi's official YouTube channel, Prof. Dr. Gillian Doyle from the University of Glasgow stated that Turkish TV series have a large audience worldwide. Dr. Paško Bilić, Senior Researcher at the Department of Culture and Communication, Institute for Development and International Relations in Zagreb, underlined that traditional goods are resisting the digital transformation globally, while Prof. Dr. Dan Schiller, Communication and Information Historian from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, noted that digital capitalism still has room for expansion today. Prof. Dr. Victor Pickard from the Annenberg School for Communication, in his presentation titled “Media for Everyone,” spoke about the striking results of a study conducted in the USA at the end of 2022. Pickard stated that approximately 7% of journalists in the USA are no longer practicing journalism.
Prof. Dr. Gillian Doyle: “‘Digital capitalism’ is a suitable theme for this symposium…”
In the session moderated by Prof. Dr. Halil Nalçaoğlu from Istanbul Bilgi University, Prof. Dr. Gillian Doyle from the University of Glasgow, in her speech titled ‘Consolidation in the International TV Production Industry: Independence, Scale, and Digital Challenge,’ emphasized the media's important role in promoting democracy and social cohesion, drawing attention to the economic dimension of media at a time when digital services are transforming the sector. Doyle stated, “To understand media communication systems and how these systems are changing, we need to understand the economic, political, and industrial foundations from which they emerge. Therefore, ‘digital capitalism’ is a very timely, appropriate, and suitable theme for this symposium.”
Prof. Dr. Gillian Doyle: “Turkish TV series have a large audience worldwide”
Doyle, emphasizing the international importance of television productions for the digital media economy, stated, “In Turkey, TV series have a large audience worldwide, especially in Latin America and Eastern Europe. However, television production is a sector that has undergone structural changes in terms of ownership in recent years. It's also at a very interesting point because, while it is a multinational industry, it also underlines how the domestic political environment at the national level can make a difference in the sector's operation. If we want the local digital economy to revive and strengthen, the domestic political environment can also make a difference.” Providing examples from the development process, Doyle added, “If we look at the history of the television sector in many countries, especially in the UK; program making was initially an activity carried out by the production departments within broadcasters like the BBC. However, later, an external and independent production sector gradually developed. The term 'independent' is subject to different interpretations under different conditions. If we mention independence in the media context, it should generally be associated with the concept of being independent from state intervention.”
Dr. Paško Bilić: “Despite being a more developed society, we are still dealing with capitalism”
Dr. Paško Bilić, Senior Researcher at the Department of Culture and Communication, Institute for Development and International Relations in Zagreb, in his presentation “Platforms from a Critical Political Economy Perspective,” stated, “I am interested in technology, data, the lifeworld, and labor. I see capitalism as a unity of production and circulation.” Bilić continued, “Despite being a more developed societal form, we are still dealing with capitalism. The enormous profits made by new digital companies do not mean that traditional commodity production has disappeared. It is possible to accept the development and commercialization of network technologies and neo-financial capitalism, which began in the 1970s, as logical.”
Prof. Dr. Paško Bilić: “The influence of digital capitalism is increasing in the characteristics of many platforms"
Stating that the concept of 'platform' has garnered significant interest in academic and political circles, Bilić said, “Platform is accepted as a term that denotes the use of digital technology to enable interaction among multiple markets. While this idea is not new, its analysis clings to the intermediary role of large conglomerates and companies that dominate the economy and have accumulated significant political and social power. In recent years, there have been different uses of the term ‘platform.’ There are many platforms such as Amazon Web Services, Google Club, as well as retail platforms like Amazon and Etsy, service providers like Airbnb and Uber, and audio and video streaming services like Netflix, HBO, and Amazon Prime. Many academics, highlighting the monopolistic characteristics of platforms, view these structures as techno-feudalism that extracts rent from the economy and internet users.”
Prof. Dr. Halil Nalçaoğlu: “Machine learning is actually artificial intelligence”
Prof. Dr. Halil Nalçaoğlu from Istanbul Bilgi University, who also moderated the session, delivered his presentation on ‘Computability and Probability in Contemporary Capitalism: Refik Anadol's Art, Algorithms, and Machine Hallucinations.’ He stated that machine learning is essentially artificial intelligence, allowing computers to learn from experience and improve, and explained, “It enables this without being explicitly programmed. By feeding algorithms with large amounts of data, it allows computers to automatically detect patterns and make predictions or decisions. The more data goes into the algorithm, the better the accurate predictions. Siri, for example, understands human speech; ChatGBT chats and converses with you.”
Important figures also gathered in another session of the 10th International Communication Days Symposium, moderated by Assoc. Prof. Dr. Gül Esra Atalay, Head of the Journalism Department at Üsküdar Üniversitesi.
Prof. Dr. Dan Schiller: “Digital capitalism still has room for expansion today”
Prof. Dr. Dan Schiller, Communication and Information Historian from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, who participated online in the seminar with his topic "Digital Capitalism in the 2020s: Dividing the World," discussed the structure and roots of digital capitalism. Schiller stated that during and after World War II, digital technologies gained importance and rose politically and economically, adding, “The form and location of production processes, the formation of capital investments, high-profit commodities, and employment categories have changed on their own. Profit, cost efficiency, employment, and labor control still continue. It was capitalism then, and it is still capitalism now. Digital capitalism still has room for expansion today. Digital growth generally appears to be triggered. Familiar consumer markets are impacts of digital capitalism.”
Prof. Dr. Gamze Yücesan Özdemir: “In the 2030s, the workforce will be significantly displaced by automation”
Prof. Dr. Gamze Yücesan Özdemir from Ankara University, also present at the session, delivered a speech titled "Illusions, Dreams, and Realities: Working in Digital Capitalism." Discussing the workforce in digital capitalism, Özdemir noted that according to a study, the workforce will be significantly displaced by automation in the 2030s. Özdemir stated, “Especially when we consider artificial intelligence, we see that elderly and unqualified individuals are at risk. According to the International Labour Organization, platform companies are also bringing us a new international division of labor.”
Prof. Dr. Victor Pickard: “Approximately 7% of journalists in the USA are no longer practicing journalism”
Prof. Dr. Victor Pickard from the Annenberg School for Communication, the last speaker of the 10th International Communication Days opening conference, discussed a report published in the USA at the end of 2022 in his presentation titled “Media for Everyone: Imagining a Commercial Future for Information and Communication.” Pickard stated, “Digital Capitalism also created a journalism crisis. Approximately 7% of journalists in the USA are no longer practicing journalism, and about 25% of newspapers have disappeared. This is a dramatic indicator of how capitalism has impacted the journalism sector. The hyper-commercial media system consistently prevents people from accessing local news. Small communities or poor communities, different from the mainstream identity, are not represented in the media. The advertising pie is now shared by digital platforms like Google, Facebook, and even Amazon. This situation, unfortunately, is an irreversible path for printed newspapers. Local journalism is no longer profitable, and consequently, the number of journalists is decreasing, and newspapers are going online. As a result, people receive less information about politics, participate less in civic life, vote less, and corruption and polarization increase.”
