International Symposium on Media Work in Asia

16-17 July 2026
Nanyang Technological University
Singapore

The full call for papers can be accessed below. 

As the inaugural event of the Asian Media Industries Research Network, the International Symposium on Media Work in Asia brings together scholars and practitioners to examine the conditions, practices, and challenges of media labour across Asian contexts. The symposium responds to the need for greater attention to Asia within research on media work and creative labour, a field that has often been shaped by Euro-American assumptions and case studies. While an emerging body of scholarship has begun to address creative labour in Asia, this work remains uneven and fragmented across linguistic, national, and disciplinary boundaries, with some regions and media industries still significantly underrepresented.

By foregrounding regional and inter-Asian perspectives, the symposium aims to create a space for collective thinking about media labour in Asia and about how Asian media industries can contribute to broader theoretical debates on labour, precarity, professionalism, cultural production, and the creative economy. The event also marks the launch of the Asian Media Industries Network, jointly based at the Culture, Media and Creative Industries (CMCI) department at King’s College London and the Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI) at Nanyang Technological University.

Mission

The symposium seeks to redress the geographic and epistemic imbalance in scholarship on media work and labour by showcasing research on Asian media contexts that have often been marginal to dominant Euro-American frameworks. It aims to foster inter-Asian dialogue and comparison across diverse media sectors, sites, and histories, while also encouraging reflection on how research grounded in Asia might reshape existing theories of creative labour.

More broadly, the symposium is intended as a platform for building sustained intellectual exchange. We hope it will support new comparative and interdisciplinary approaches to media labour, seed future collaborations and publications, and strengthen connections among scholars working across different parts of Asia and beyond.

Click here to access the full call for papers. 

Keynote Speakers

Prof. Hye-Kyung Lee
King’s College London

Jasmine Ng
Singapore Association of Motion Picture Professionals

Hosts

Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI)
Nanyang Technological University

Culture, Media and Creative Industries (CMCI)
King’s College London

Contact

For enquiries about the symposium, please contact: mediaindustries.asia@gmail.com