The Fourth Estate Utopias—House of Common Affairs #1

The House of Common Affairs (HOCA) is a new, smashing journal about the Fourth Estate Utopias. It provides an opportunity to challenge the niche and yet popular field that exists in the overlap between the arts and journalism. HOCA invites a more diverse range of voices into the conversation with the aim to promote an international and interdisciplinary exchange of ideas, as well as knowledge. It seeks to offer a space for critical thinking with the aim of provoking further developments in this field.
The Fourth Estate Utopias is the first issue of HOCA, and as such addresses the project’s subtitle, “fancy discussions about Fourth Estate utopias,” and is about the role of visual communication in relation to journalism.

Contents
• Introduction by Noortje van Eekelen
• Forum 1: “An Artist, a Politician, and a Journalist Walk Into a Bar …” with Belle Phromchanya, Ruben Pater, Ken Hollings, Monika Parrinder, Noortje van Eekelen and participants; moderated by Paula Minelgaite
• “Form, function, content, payroll: micro and macro politics of design,” essay by Depatriarchise Design
• Interviews with Alina Negoita, Chourouk Zarkaoui and Latifah Al-Said
• Forum 2: “What Do We Want? Clickbait! When Do We Want It? The Answer Will Shock You!” with Olivier Kugler, Jessie Bond, Theo Inglis and participants; moderated by Paula Minelgaite
• “Parallel channels,” essay by Jaione Cerrato

Contributors
• Alina Negoita is an interdisciplinary artist
• Belle Phromchanya is a designer, visual researcher, and filmmaker
• Chourouk Zarkaoui is a multidisciplinary designer and communicator
• Depatriarchise Design (Anja Neidhardt and Maya Ober) is a research platform focusing on Design Patriarchy
• Jaione Cerrato is a graphic designer and artist
• Jessie Bond is a writer, researcher, and editor
• Ken Hollings is a writer, broadcaster, and cultural theorist
• Latifah Al-Said is an artist of British/Omani heritage
• Monika Parrinder is a design writer, consultant, and educator
• Noortje van Eekelen is the founder and director of ACED
• Olivier Kugler is a reportage illustrator
• Paula Minelgaite is a designer concerned with the politics of truth
• Ruben Pater is a designer and researcher
• Theo Inglis is a graphic designer and writer