The 4th International conference ‘Comparative Media Studies in Today’s World’ will take place at School of Journalism and Mass Communications, St.Petersburg State University, Russia, on April 20, 2016. In previous years, the conference has become a gathering point for scholars interested in the leading media research from all over the world; this year, it aspires to break through conventions in comparative media studies.

In 2016, the focus of the conference is upon new and under-developed areas in comparative media research, as well as new methodologies of their exploration. Recently, the basic domains of comparative media studies have been contested by growing criticism towards classic media effects research, de-westernization studies, and inquiries to previously under-researched social milieus and geographical locations, to name just a few. The conference, being this year seemingly broad in its scope, clearly aims at gathering new research ideas that expand the mainstream media research and illuminate new zones of possible comparative studies.