We have a habit (becoming a running quip), in the FCJ management group, of proclaiming that we feel we’ve turned a corner with the launch of each new issue. Speaking personally, I think I’m finally coming to terms with the fact that each issue presents a unexpected series of corners and that the act of negotiating them continually makes and remakes the journal. Each time we think we have the circuit well mapped out, documented and with all contingency accounted for, some unexpected challenge emerges.
As we progress through the production of coming issues I will remind myself that in the end, the remarkable distributed effort that goes into publishing, all of it volunteered, inevitably results in a substantial contribution in the theory and analysis of media and technical cultures. Moreover, I will remind myself that, in the determination to make that contribution, and in the drive to realise it, the Journal itself is inevitably and indeterminably shaped and reshaped. Each issue is the expression of a vital continuity.
It is with that thought in mind that I present the latest result of that determination and drive; Issue 22: Trolls and the Negative Space of the Internet. This is our largest issue by a considerable margin. It could well have been more than twice as long as it currently stands- given the number of quality submissions made to the initial call. The issue editors, mercifully tough by necessity, have crafted an issue that gives space to those articles that speak to each other of a nascent field of inquiry. We thank all of those who submitted and acknowledge the impact you’ve had on helping define the field and the issue itself whether or not your article is included in the final list. We also thank the huge numbers of reviewers an issue like this requires and whose time, we understand, is increasingly in demand. Most of all, thanks to the Issue editors, Glen Fuller, Christian McCrea and Jason Wilson, who have overcome more than usual level of distraction and upheaval, and an immense addition to their usual workload, to deliver an outstanding issue. Finally – thanks to the issue’s managing editor Su Ballard, whose tireless dedication to detail and scholarly rigour stood fast when everyone else was tiring.
I’m also pleased to announce that the Journal is now an incorporated association – a necessary and welcome development in the provision of some legal protections to all involved with its production. With Issue 22 we have also changed our default license. Issues prior to 22 remain under a Creative Commons BY-NC-ND license. All subsequent content will be published under a CC-BY 4.0 license. This has been a much delayed shift and I’m relieved that our licensing now better reflects contemporary thought on supporting a vital intellectual commons.
We are working on a number of CFP’s that should see the light in the coming weeks – all of them very exciting – and have a number of other developments in plan for 2014-2015 to announce in due time.
Sincerely,
Mat Wall-Smith
Journal Manager
