An international symposium at the University of Antwerp

15th-16th April 2027

About the symposium

As media organizations incorporate algorithmic systems into the production, curation, recommendation and distribution of content, questions have come to the foreground about how citizens encounter, understand and engage with knowledge. Moreover, understanding these systems’ impact on access to knowledge has been identified on academic and public fora as a pressing societal challenge. This has been the topic of a four-year international (funded by FWO, FNRS and SNSF), interdisciplinary research project on Understanding Algorithmic Gatekeepers to Promote Epistemic Welfare, for which this two-day symposium serves as the capstone event.

Grounded in the concept of epistemic welfare, defined as creating and maintaining the conditions and capabilities that ensure citizens’ epistemic agency in the public sphere (Hyzen et al., 2025), the project has explored how media organizations, regulation and governance, as well as algorithmic design, can contribute to knowledge environments that promote epistemically valuable content and empower citizens. Bringing together academics, media professionals and management, policymakers, regulators and civil society representatives, the symposium begins discussion from one particularly important question: what role can media play in strengthening algorithmic awareness and helping citizens navigate algorithmically mediated knowledge environments?

While valuable research on algorithms, artificial intelligence, platforms and media has largely focused on the risks and harms associated with algorithmic systems, particularly in relation to news, disinformation, political polarization, and democratic participation, this symposium seeks to broaden that conversation. Starting from the notion of epistemic welfare, it advances a constructive agenda: How can media contribute to and enhance epistemic agency and, thus, epistemic welfare in algorithmically mediated environments? What responsibilities do media organizations, technology companies, policymakers, educators, regulators and other public organizations, have in creating the conditions for epistemic agency? How can citizens develop the capabilities necessary to understand and critically engage with algorithmic systems? And what role can media play in fostering algorithmic awareness among the publics they serve?

Addressing these questions requires dialogue across disciplinary and professional boundaries that envisions solutions. Therefore, the symposium welcomes scholars from communication and media studies, Human-Computer Interaction, law and policy studies, philosophy, media management studies, and related fields, alongside media practitioners, regulators, policymakers and civil society organizations. Based on the twenty-four-hour format, the first half day (Thursday afternoon) of the symposium focuses on exchanges between researchers and media stakeholders, while the second half day (Friday morning) is devoted to academic presentations and discussion. An evening event on Thursday will allow for exchange and networking.

Scope of the Symposium

We welcome theoretical, empirical, methodological, design and practice-oriented contributions that explore the relationship between algorithmic systems, media, epistemic welfare, and algorithmic awareness. Contributions may address, but are not limited to, the following themes:

• Algorithmic awareness, transparency, and explainability
• Epistemic agency in algorithmically mediated environments
• Recommender systems and the discovery of epistemically valuable content
• Artificial intelligence in journalism and media production
• Public service media and epistemic welfare
• Media literacy, algorithmic literacy, and public understanding of AI
• Governance, regulation, and accountability of algorithmic systems
• User agency, trust, and knowledge-seeking practices
• Design approaches that support epistemic welfare
• Comparative and cross-cultural perspectives on algorithms and knowledge environments
• Measuring and evaluating epistemic welfare
• Intersections between generative AI and epistemic welfare
• Critical perspectives on the role of media and epistemic welfare

Special Issue

Selected papers presented at the symposium will be invited to submit full manuscripts for consideration in a special issue of the International Journal of Communication, subject to the journal’s standard peer-review procedures and guidelines found here.

Submission Format and Key Dates

• We ask those interested in participating to submit 1) a title page; 2) a 1-page abstract (500–750 words); and 3) yes/no interest to submit a full paper for a special issue in International Journal of Communication.
• The submission form will close on November 15, 2026.
• Notifications of acceptance will be sent by December 1, 2026.
• Those who intended to be considered for the special issue and were accepted for the conference; are required to submit a full paper by January 31, 2027, i.e. this date serves as the submission deadline for the IJoC special section.

Questions? Contact: aaron.hyzen@uantwerpen.be