The final paper in this ECREA 2012 session is by Teresa Naab, but presented by proxy; it focusses on the use of media for managing the impression that others have of us. People engage with the news conspicuously in order to appear to others in a certain way – but does this actually work? People also perceive other, obvious characteristics about each other, and from this extrapolate (partly stereotypic) impressions; can conspicuous display of media use affect such impressions, then?

The next speaker in this ECREA 2012 session is Maria José Brites, whose interest is in young people's perspectives on the news. So far, much journalism research has focussed on the point of view of news producers than audiences; this is true especially for young people's attitudes towards journalism – there is a real need particularly for more longitudinal and participatory studies here.

The next speaker at ECREA 2012 is Irène Bastard, whose interest is in the use of the Facebook 'like' button to engage with the news. Talking about news can be a democratic expression, or can enhance social interactions; it can be a driver of attention and buzz, activate weak social links, or serve as a 'bubble' filter. I ordinary conversations, there may also be a range of acceptable or unacceptable topics, depending on the social situation.

The next speaker in this ECREA 2012 session is Alison Preston from the UK Office of Communication, whose interest is in the role of online and social media in news consumption, as measured by an Ofcom survey of some 3,300 respondents and various focus groups and interviews. Most people in the UK use television for news; just over half use radio and newspapers for news (the latter is declining); while Internet, mobile, and app-based news consumption is growing rapidly, especially in younger groups.

It's the final day of ECREA 2012, and I've wandered into a session on the perception of news. The first speaker on this (uncomfortably early – which means there's hardly anyone here; hello, conference organisers!) Saturday morning is Mark Harmon, whose interest is in examining the value of local news. In the US, news use except for online news has declined; traditional outlets and mainstream broadcast news are down, while local broadcast news is stable, and online (including mobile and tablet) news is growing.

The next speakers in our ECREA 2012 panel are Laura Ahva and Maria Hellman, whose interest is in the citizen eyewitnessing of crises. Witnessing has always been a central task of crisis journalism, but citizen-generated content is now increasingly important; citizen eyewitness images are especially central now, and are mediated from the sites of crises to the global audience. The Arab Spring provides a very useful recent example for this.

The final paper in our ECREA 2012 panel is presented by Jennifer Wladarsch, who focusses on the recent resignation of the German federal president following a corruption scandal. Scandals represent a specific constellation of actors – the scandalised actor themselves, the scandalising actors who point out and report the scandal, and the general public who respond (with outrage) to the scandal.

Day two at ECREA 2012 starts with a panel on political communication using social media which I've had a hand in organising, and the panel begins with our paper on Twitter in the recent Queensland state elections. The slides are below – audio to follow... is also available now.

Political Networks on Twitter: Tweeting the Queensland State Election from Axel Bruns

For the next ECREA 2012 session, I'm attending a panel which starts with Christian Christensen's presentation on WikiLeaks. His interest is in how WikiLeaks has been engaging with mainstream media in its publishing of leaked content; WikiLeaks relied on mainstream outlets as a means of summarising and promoting such materials.