IAMCR Ambassador Initiative

photo (cc) https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomashawk/

International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) began establishing a worldwide network of IAMCR Ambassadors in 2015 to promote and represent the Association in various countries and regions.

IAMCR now has two types of ambassadors which are (1) IAMCR faculty ambassadors and (2) IAMCR PhD ambassadors. IAMCR faculty ambassadors are senior/experienced scholars, and IAMCR PhD ambassadors are PhD students or early-stage scholars without a university appointment. 

IAMCR Ambassadors are a passionate community of volunteers who creatively promote the mandate and distinctiveness of IAMCR as an international association of communication and media scholars, and  activate and support IAMCR members in the countries or regions where they are located. 

Ambassadors explore opportunities to expand IAMCR's footprint in their country or region through publicity, events, and other strategies that will build and retain the Association's membership and reputation. These can include working with university departments, local and regional communication and media research bodies and think tanks, and NGOs involved in media advocacy and research.

IAMCR Ambassadors are chosen for their creativity, initiative and independence, as well as their connection with the academic community, their knowledge of IAMCR and the objectives that they stated in their proposed strategic plans. Ambassadors serve for 3-year periods. Ambassadors have a direct communication line to the presidential assistant but can also directly communicate with IAMCR entities (the EB, IC, C/TF/C, S/WG,…). 

The first ambassadors were named in 2015 in Bangladesh, India, Portugal and Southern Africa (covering Botswana, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe). In 2019, four new ambassadors were named in Kenya, United States East Coast and West Coast, and Russia. 

An IAMCR Ambassador's Group on Facebook has been set up as a space where the Ambassadors can post information on their activities for the wider IAMCR membership. 

For more information, contact mazlum [at] iamcr.org (Mazlum Kemal Dağdelen), who is the coordinator of the ambassador initiative and the assistant of Nico Carpentier, IAMCR president. If you are interested in joining the Network, see the article Become an IAMCR ambassador.

IAMCR currently has nine faculty ambassadors from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Portugal, Russia, United States and Zambia, and six PhD ambassadors from Canada, Cyprus, Kenya, India, Nigeria and China. Each ambassador has a page where you can see their profile and read about their plans.
The International Association for Media and Communication Research (IAMCR) invites its members to become IAMCR Ambassadors for their country or region for a period of three years. IAMCR members can apply to become an IAMCR faculty ambassador or to become an IAMCR PhD ambassador.
In this article, Professor Jude William Genilo talks about his experience as an IAMCR ambassador and shares his thoughts on “Dhaka Media Summit 2022 on the Future of Journalism”, a four-day conference he recently organised.
The "Dhaka Media Summit 2022" held from 10 - 13 March included an IAMCR Ambassadors'session on The Future of Journalism and its Implications to Journalism Education with Faculty Ambassadors Leah Jerop Komen (Kenya), Luís António Santos (Portugal), Uma Shankar Pandey (India) and Brian Pindayi (Zambia). The session was moderated by Jude William Genilo, Faculty Ambassador in Bangladesh.
The IAMCR Executive Board (EB) extends a warm welcome to our newly appointed PhD ambassador Nicole K. Stewart, from the School of Communication at Simon Fraser University (SFU), Canada. The IAMCR EB also congratulates Brian Pindayi on continuing his mandate as a faculty ambassador in Zambia.
The IAMCR Executive Board (EB) extends a warm welcome to our five newly appointed PhD ambassadors: Jeremiah M. Nganda (Kenya), Priyanka Sachdeva (India), Gizem Canalp (Cyprus), Xudong Weng (China), and Victor C. Eze (Nigeria). The IAMCR EB also congratulates Uma Shankar Pandey for continuing as a faculty ambassador in India.
In this article, Dr Gladkova talks about her activities and experiences as an IAMCR ambassador, and she shares some thoughts and experiences about the Nairobi 2021 Conference. 
In this article, Dr Leah Jerop Komen, IAMCR Ambassador in Kenya, talks about her experience as an IAMCR ambassador, shares her thoughts and experiences as a member of the IAMCR 2021 Nairobi Local Organising Committee and reflects on the "no travel grant" initiative and the event she organised as a grant recipient.
The IAMCR Executive Board extends a warm welcome to our two newly appointed faculty ambassadors: Surbhi Dahiya from the Department of English Journalism at Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) and Padmakumar K, from Manipal Institute of Communication, Manipal Academy of Higher Education.
In this article, Dr Uma Shankar Pandey, IAMCR Ambassador in India, talks about his experience of being an IAMCR ambassador and shares his thoughts and experiences about the importance of online lectures as a source of open knowledge.
The IAMCR Executive Board extend a very warm welcome to our four newly appointed ambassadors: Gemma Lopez, based in Santa Clara California, Leah Komen at Daystar University Kenya, Rodrigo Cetina Presuel at the Harvard Law School, and Anna Gladkova at Lomonosov Moscow State University.
IAMCR is looking to expanding its Ambassador initiative. This article describes the initiative and incites expressions of interest for potential new ambassadors.