DCRes faculty members presented two academic papers at the 11th European Communication Conference (ECC), held in Brno, Czech Republic, on 8-11 September 2026.
This year’s conference theme, Shifting Grounds: Paths, Connections, and Futures, focused on the evolving intersection of media, communication, and society’s contemporary challenges. According to the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), the theme reflects “a defining moment of choice, encounter, and transformation in an interconnected yet divided world.”
Assoc. Prof. Ma. Aurora Liwag-Lomibao, PhD, presented the paper, “Awa and Victimhood as Affective Political Strategy: The Case of Duterte and the International Criminal Court.” The paper is co-authored with Asst. Prof. Jon Benedik Bunquin, PhD, and Ms. Jeriesa Osorio, MA. Anchored on the Filipino concept of awa (deep commiseration), the study utilized a mixed-methods approach combining computational text analysis and textual analysis to show how victimization in political communication amplifies and weaponizes affect in storytelling and the digital infrastructure of Facebook, especially in the political context of the Philippines.
Prof. Randy Jay Solis, PhD, also presented a paper on “Digital Place-making and Queer Belonging: Examining the Discursive Construction of Safe Spaces on Philippine Subreddits,” a study co-authored with Assoc. Prof. Jonalou Labor, PhD, Asst. Prof. Jon Benedik Bunquin, PhD, and Ms. Jeriesa Osorio, MA. Echoing the conference’s focus, the study employed computational analysis and topic modeling to explore the semantic and effective associations defining how online media mediates queer belonging. With media and communication’s growing role in mediating transgender struggles and discriminatory encounters, the study’s findings reinforce the urgent need for a comprehensive SOGIESC Law in the Philippines to provide protection beyond the existing Safe Spaces Act.
The ECC is organized by the European Communication Research and Education Association (ECREA), a learned society of communication scholars devoted to the development of communication research and higher education in Europe.
/MANST 2026
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