IMMAA Webinars Relaunch: Insights into Media Management and Economics

A Monthly Forum for Sharing New Research and Ideas within our Global Community

The IMMAA webinar series has long been appreciated as a forum for thoughtful discourse about contemporary developments in media strategy, management, and policy issues affecting media industries and companies in the digital age. Through 2025, the webinars have been led and produced by Professor Eli Noam at Columbia University in a successful partnership with the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information (CITI). Across nearly fifty sessions, thought leaders and respected figures in media research and scholarship have been featured as guests. They include Vint Cerf, Lawrence Lessig, Chris Anderson, Alfonso Tabernero, Sherry Turkle, Chris Yu, Julia Cage, Robert McChesney, Rober Picard, John Oliver, Elena Vartanova, and many others. 

For several years, Prof. Noam organized the sessions; more recently, each IMMAA Board member became responsible for producing one session. This created organizational problems and led to a hiatus. In early 2026, the Executive Board agreed to renew and relaunch the series. 

Building on the rich legacy of the series to date, the Executive Board is thrilled to announce the relaunch of the IMMAA Webinars: Insights into Media Management and Economics. The format is more flexible, and each board member will produce at least one episode each year. In addition to more traditional seminars, we can expect interviews, roundtable discussions, expert panels, and so forth. IMMAA produces the series as a service to the global community of scholars, practitioners, and policy-makers. The Board is pleased to inform our community that Prof. Noam has agreed to serve as the Series Director, supported by an Advisory Committee of the Board consisting of the IMMAA President – currently Professor Gregory Ferrell Lowe at Northwestern University Qatar — and another member. 

Said Prof. Noam about the renewed series, “This will be an important forum for the wider media management community by providing a regular platform for sharing new research and ideas, and for its focus on a speaker, a new book, or a topic, beyond our annual conferences.” On behalf of the community, Prof. Lowe expressed gratitude for the work accomplished in planning the new iteration. “This series will continue to be a hub for the development of knowledge and insights of high relevance to the field. The renewed IMMAA Webinars will provide a platform for frequent interaction and collaboration.”  

The series will relaunch as a monthly event convened during the fall and spring academic semesters. IMMAA Board members will produce and moderate episodes on a rotating basis. The Board welcomes suggestions from our community for guests, topics, and formats. The planned launch date is September 2026. 

The Board welcomes all colleagues and members to visit the IMMAA website to explore the extensive archive of recaps and videos from the CITI sessions, and to stay updated on forthcoming webinars.

(Image: Dylan Ferreira/Unsplash)