Edited by Martin Liepach, Jewish Museum Frankfurt; Gabriele Melischek, Austrian Academy of Sciences; Josef Seethaler, Austrian Academy of Sciences

The next issue of "Relation" is devoted to Jewish images as portrayed in the media – using both historical and contemporary contexts (and with special attention to European and Western media). Kenneth Boulding defines image as "the total cognitive, affective, and evaluative structure of the behavior unit, or its internal view of itself and the universe". Obviously, images serve as an important filtering mechanism in the perception of the self and the other, and such perceptions are, in turn, one of the key elements that influence individual and collective behaviour. Media images linger in the mind, creating stereotypes, entering our subconscious and becoming part of our culture.

As recent research on agenda-setting and framing has shown, the media plays an important role not only in defining what people think, but how people think about actors and issues. This has been the case since the establishment of the mass press in the 19th century, which created the conditions that allowed a political popular culture to emerge, while at the same time being a component of it. The mass press set the framework for new forms of public discourse and ultimately led to a mediatisation of politics. A widely held view is that "modern anti-Semitism" coincided with the emergence of modern mass politics and was a direct reaction to Jews receiving equal rights. Until now there have been hardly any comparative studies carried out on the dissemination of Jewish stereotypes in different countries. It is also striking how little we know about the behaviour of the liberal press, particularly as this was a target of an anti-Semitic campaign.

The discussions about anti-Semitism also determined the contents in numerous Jewish newspapers and magazines. However, the type of reactions and conclusions varied greatly and led to the forming and reflection of a multifaceted Jewish identity. The media has always followed the focal points of Jewish history, or even played a crucial role (e.g. Dreyfus Affair, First Zionist Congress in Basel). From this perspective, there has been little research into the history of the Jewish press to date.

Anti-Semitism is a continuing phenomenon. According to the highly acclaimed 2005 U.S. State Department Report on Global Anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism has increased significantly in recent years, particularly in Europe. Not only have physical assaults and verbal attacks directed against Jews increased, but anti-Semitism continues to exist in media coverage, often via cartoons and thinly veiled language. Besides these more blatant and subtle anti-Semitic messages, the line between opposition to Israeli policies and attitudes toward Jews in general is often blurred, giving rise to anti-Jewish sentiment in the media and among the public. Although anti-Semitism – like other forms of collective discriminations – remains a serious threat to the basic values of democracy, we know too little about its expressions in the media or, conversely, the media’s efforts to raise awareness of this problem, to promote tolerance, respect and mutual understanding as well as to contribute to the definition of self-determined Jewish images (as it happens in Steven Spielberg’s last movie "Munich" that has prompted widespread discussions about the power of the media in portraying Jewish images).

Papers analyzing media coverage and public opinion as well as exploring connections between messages and media organizations, social, cultural, and legal conditions are welcomed. We are especially looking for papers that take a comparative perspective across time or space. All papers should follow the general guidelines for submission to "Relation", including page limits. Applicants may submit abstracts of no more than 1.000 words (excluding tables, figures and references) to one of the editors. All abstracts must be received by 15 May 2006. Rolling acceptance will be practiced, but authors will be notified the status of their paper no later that 30 June 2006. For accepted articles the deadline of the submission is 17 September 2006. If you have questions about appropriateness of topic or any other aspect of your submission, please contact one of the editors.
martin.liepach@stadt-frankfurt.de
gabriele.melischek@oeaw.ac.at
josef.seethaler@oeaw.ac.at

General Guidelines:
All abstracts undergo blind review, so the name(s) of the author(s) should appear on a separate title page only. This cover sheet should also give the complete address (including telephone, fax, and email) of the author to whom proofs and correspondence should be sent. Submitted contributions should neither been published elsewhere nor that it is under consideration for publication elsewhere.

Manuscripts (preferably in English, but also in German) should be submitted in electronic form to cmc@oeaw.ac.at. There is no absolute limit on length, but 40 000 characters, including notes and references, is a useful target with an abstract of 100-150 words. Manuscripts should be double-spaced throughout, including notes and references.

Authors are responsible for obtaining copyright permission for reproducing any illustrations, tables, or figures. Tables and figures should be printed on separate pages and not included as part of the text. They should have short, descriptive titles. All footnotes to tables and their source(s) should be placed under the tables. Essential notes should be indicated by superscript numbers in the text and collected on a single page at the end of the text. References cited in the text should read thus: Brown (2001, 63), Brown and Smith (2000, 63-4). Use "et al." when citing a work by more than two authors, e.g. Brown et al. (2004), Brown (2000a; 2000b). All references cited in the text should be listed alphabetically and presented in full after the notes, using the following style:

Articles in journals:
Schulz, Winfried, Reimar Zeh, and Oliver Quiring. 2005. Voters in a changing media environment: A data-based retrospective on consequences of media change in Germany. European Journal of Communication 20 (1): 55-88.

Chapters within Books:
Rosengren, Karl E., Jack M. McLeod, and Jay G. Blumler. 1992. Comparative communication research. From exploration to consolidation. In Comparatively speaking: Communication and culture across space and time, ed. by Jay G. Blumler, Jack M. Mc Leod, and Karl Erik Rosengren, 271-298. Newbury Park, London, New Delhi: Sage.

Books:
Dayan, Daniel, and Elihu Katz. 1994. Media events: The live broadcasting of history. 2d ed. Cambridge, Mass., London: Harvard University Press.

All accepted manuscripts, artwork, and photographs become the property of the publisher. Each author of the article will receive a complete copy of the issue in which the article appears as well as a pdf-file of the article.