After six years editing The International Journal of Press/Politics, today is formally my last day on the job. This has been one of the most fulfilling experiences in my career and I am very grateful I had the opportunity to serve our community.
Besides overseeing the publication of more than 250 articles and more than 60 book reviews and review essays focusing on internationally oriented scholarly research on media and politics, including five special issues, I also had the pleasure of organizing six journal conferences, two of which in-person in Loughborough, two online during the COVID-19 pandemic, and two in-person in Edinburgh.
In my farewell editorial, I share a few reflections on what I have learned and recognize the many colleagues and “friends of the journal”, as I call them, who have made this journey so rewarding. The key reflections I share are that our journal stands on the broad shoulders of the many outstanding colleagues who founded it, led it, and nurtured it since 1996; that it is a “big tent” that welcomes insights from diverse disciplines and subfields; that it is a lively, constructive, and respectful community held together by strong shared interests and values; that it is an institution that aims to reliably and transparently fulfill its role in the production and diffusion of social scientific knowledge; that it nurtures emerging voices that constantly expand our scholarship; and that it takes its “international” remit seriously and aims to bridge boundaries and broaden our understanding of media and politics across diverse contexts.
I am delighted that the new Editor-in-Chief, Taberez Ahmed Neyazi, will continue fulfilling this mission, together with the outstanding team that will support him. As I wrote in my farewell editorial, “As they open the IJPP treasure trove now entrusted to them, I am confident they will find in our community the same outstanding and unwavering support, insight, and collegiality that lit the way during my own editorial journey.”
Cristian Vaccari 