By Enock Sithole
As global debates over inequality, artificial intelligence and information disorder intensify, the International Communication Association (ICA) will also hold its 76th flagship annual conference in Africa for the first time, a milestone organisers say signals a shift toward greater global inclusion in communication scholarship.
The conference will take place in Cape Town from 4–8 June 2026 at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, drawing around 3,000 scholars, communication academics and practitioners from across the world. The programme is expected to extend into a two-week academic gathering, including hundreds of presentations, pre-conferences and post-conference events.
Described as one of the world’s largest academic organisations in communication studies, the ICA spans more than 80 countries and has over 5,000 members. It brings together researchers working across journalism studies, communication history, health communication, feminist scholarship, global media systems and digital communication methods.
Professor Herman Wasserman Local Organising Committee chairperson.
Speaking to AJENda ahead of the conference, chairperson of the Local Organising Committee and a fellow and board member of the ICA, Prof. Herman Wasserman, said the decision to host the event in South Africa carries particular significance.
“This is the first time that this event will be held on African soil,” Wasserman said, noting that although a smaller ICA regional conference had previously been hosted in Cape Town, the 2026 gathering marks the organisation’s largest global meeting on the continent to date.
He added that the theme, Communication and Inequalities in Context, and the location of the conference were especially appropriate given South Africa’s position as one of the most unequal societies in the world.
According to Prof Wasserman, the theme reflects urgent global concerns about unequal access to information, unequal participation in digital systems and the uneven distribution of communicative power across societies.
Scholars who will attend the event are expected to explore how communication systems both reflect and reproduce inequalities linked to race, class, gender, geography and political power. South Africa, with its stark socio-economic divides, provides a symbolic setting for these discussions.
Prof. Wasserman said the theme is particularly timely given how rapidly communication environments are changing.
The conference will take place against the backdrop of fast-evolving technologies, including artificial intelligence-generated content, digital surveillance, misinformation and platform monopolies, all of which are reshaping elections, economies and public discourse globally, said Prod Wasserman. Speakers at the event are expected to examine how these developments affect vulnerable communities in different regions.
Beyond inequality, the ICA 2026 programme will also engage with pressing issues in communication research, including artificial intelligence in newsrooms, journalism transformation and the rise of disinformation networks.
A growing body of ICA-linked research has examined how journalists are integrating AI tools into reporting workflows, as well as how African newsrooms are adapting to emerging technologies. Other studies focus on how AI itself is being represented in African media environments.
Researchers are also increasingly analysing disinformation narratives and transnational networks of influence online — areas that have become central to contemporary communication scholarship.
The ICA says the annual conference serves as a platform for presenting cutting-edge research before publication, while fostering international collaboration. For 2026, organisers have introduced a hybrid format allowing remote participation in selected sessions.
More than 400 in-person sessions are planned, alongside ICA-wide discussions and interdivisional panels.
The programme will include sessions on journalism and democracy, political communication, health communication, digital media, climate communication and social justice, as well as poster presentations, mentorship programmes, awards and networking events.