- Ohio University, Scripps College of Communication, AlumnusOhio Northern University, Communication and Media Studies, Faculty Memberadd
- Multimedia Journalism, Cyberstudies, Information Science, Mobile Media, Media Studies, Social Media, and 44 moreNew Media, Celebrity, Nanocelebrity, Journalism, Citizen Journalism, Online Journalism, Digital Journalism, Selfies, Game studies, Applied Psychology, Narrative and Music, Video Game Audio and Music, The Legend of Zelda, Memes, Internet memes, memetic communication, Social Psychology, Journalism Ethics, CNN effect, Steve Jobs, Aesthetics, Video Games, Gestalt Psychology, Mere Exposure, Lizard Brain, Cyberpsychology, Affect (Cultural Theory), Emotional Development, Social Interaction, Face Work, Interpersonal Communication, Sociotechnical Systems, Martin Heidegger, Technology and Society, Final Fantasy, Propaganda, Political communication, Visual Communication, Stuart Hall, Persuasion, Twitter, Media and Communications, Influencers, and TikTokedit
- Shane Tilton earned his Ph.D. from Ohio University's Individual Interdisciplinary Program (I.I.P.) in 2012. His main ... moreShane Tilton earned his Ph.D. from Ohio University's Individual Interdisciplinary Program (I.I.P.) in 2012. His main research interest deals with new media and computer-mediated communication within the framework of sociological theory. His dissertation research is dealing with how social networks aid in coping/adjustment of the incoming students to universities. Shane was an instructor of Instructional Communication at the University of Kentucky. He had taught Communication for the last 14 years.edit
As American high school seniors graduate and prepare to attend college, these students must change in order to adapt to the new rituals that higher education presents. Teens, for the most part, leave their family structure and their... more
As American high school seniors graduate and prepare to attend college, these students must change in order to adapt to the new rituals that higher education presents. Teens, for the most part, leave their family structure and their normal everyday routines to pursue a degree and a chance for a good paying job.
However, these students can be unsure about their new collegiate environment. They can feel scared about moving away from their family, friends and their local community. More teens are looking at online social networks, primarily Facebook, to gain awareness of the surroundings that they are moving into. Since the advent of online social networks, there has been little research regarding how students are using this new channel of communication to adapt to the collegiate culture. This dissertation will document my triangulation study of American first-year college students’ use of Facebook as a mode of adapting to college life and how their participation on Facebook relates to their “real world” interactions.
The focus of this research will explain three of the core functions of Facebook as they relate to the development of a first year college student; (1) Facebook as a “stream of awareness” for the student, (2) Facebook as a point of engagement between the student and the collegiate environment and (3) Facebook as a “real world” community builder. These functions will be explored through the use of three methods: a survey exploring how Facebook is helping first year college students adapt and cope to their new lives on campus; a series of interviews addressing the issues that first year students are facing on campus, and the relationship between those issues and the students’ online presentation, and a virtual ethnography study of students’ Facebook profiles with a focus on how students’ online presentation impacts their everyday lives on campus.
However, these students can be unsure about their new collegiate environment. They can feel scared about moving away from their family, friends and their local community. More teens are looking at online social networks, primarily Facebook, to gain awareness of the surroundings that they are moving into. Since the advent of online social networks, there has been little research regarding how students are using this new channel of communication to adapt to the collegiate culture. This dissertation will document my triangulation study of American first-year college students’ use of Facebook as a mode of adapting to college life and how their participation on Facebook relates to their “real world” interactions.
The focus of this research will explain three of the core functions of Facebook as they relate to the development of a first year college student; (1) Facebook as a “stream of awareness” for the student, (2) Facebook as a point of engagement between the student and the collegiate environment and (3) Facebook as a “real world” community builder. These functions will be explored through the use of three methods: a survey exploring how Facebook is helping first year college students adapt and cope to their new lives on campus; a series of interviews addressing the issues that first year students are facing on campus, and the relationship between those issues and the students’ online presentation, and a virtual ethnography study of students’ Facebook profiles with a focus on how students’ online presentation impacts their everyday lives on campus.
Research Interests:
One of the issues facing journalists is a lack of training that focuses on creating editorial content with the changes to media platforms, economic models, and the mode of communicating with their audience. There is a lack of guidance on... more
One of the issues facing journalists is a lack of training that focuses on creating editorial content with the changes to media platforms, economic models, and the mode of communicating with their audience. There is a lack of guidance on how to apply their storytelling style and lessons from college with newer content management systems and fragmented journalism workflows. There is a need for journalists to gain mastery in performing the "series of non-routine tasks" that will face them in the future. Journalists entering the job market must have a level of social intelligence to understand the changing nature of audiences and their news consumption habits. New journalists must also apply critical thinking practices and creative problem-solving skills toward the complex news-gathering process.
The Journalism Breakdown integrates praxis and research from journalism, social psychology, computer science, and visual communication along with the best practices from media organizations to provide skills and techniques to apply essential journalism practices to the dynamic and often chaotic world of the newsroom. Parts of the lessons from this book will teach the reader how to use flexible thinking, a growth mindset, solution-focused thinking, audience awareness, and community engagement to craft stories worth reading now and the future.
The Journalism Breakdown integrates praxis and research from journalism, social psychology, computer science, and visual communication along with the best practices from media organizations to provide skills and techniques to apply essential journalism practices to the dynamic and often chaotic world of the newsroom. Parts of the lessons from this book will teach the reader how to use flexible thinking, a growth mindset, solution-focused thinking, audience awareness, and community engagement to craft stories worth reading now and the future.
Research Interests:
Memes have been part of computer-assisted communication almost since the development of the first consumer browser (the "World Wide Web") in 1990. The internet's ability to provide a public sphere for people to discuss the issues of the... more
Memes have been part of computer-assisted communication almost since the development of the first consumer browser (the "World Wide Web") in 1990. The internet's ability to provide a public sphere for people to discuss the issues of the day and other topics of interest means that people can use the language of the internet to express themselves in ways that would not be feasible in the real world.
Those bits of content are so native to the internet that it feels obvious to want to understand why they are so compelling to tens of millions of people who use smartphones, tablets, computers, and other smart devices. This book seeks to explain how memes influence societies and cultures beyond the confines of social networking services. It will begin by reviewing the fundamental definitions that frame discussions about memes in popular culture and academic research. There will be a connection between theoretical concepts about memes and the memetic content itself. Each chapter will be using one theorist's work to dig a little deeper into what makes memes effective modes of engagement between people online.
Those bits of content are so native to the internet that it feels obvious to want to understand why they are so compelling to tens of millions of people who use smartphones, tablets, computers, and other smart devices. This book seeks to explain how memes influence societies and cultures beyond the confines of social networking services. It will begin by reviewing the fundamental definitions that frame discussions about memes in popular culture and academic research. There will be a connection between theoretical concepts about memes and the memetic content itself. Each chapter will be using one theorist's work to dig a little deeper into what makes memes effective modes of engagement between people online.
Research Interests: Social Psychology, Performing Arts, Art Therapy, Collective Intelligence, Online Communities, and 15 moreTheodor Adorno, Max Horkheimer, Intertextuality, Cultural Industries, Marshall McLuhan, Stuart Hall, Ferdinand Tönnies, Erving Goffman, Memes, Gestalt Theory, Richard Dawkins, John Berger, Computer and Human interactions, Edward Tufte, and memetic communication
Research Interests:
On October 3, 2008, a post on CNN’s iReport, a citizen journalism social network website, reported that Steve Jobs suffered a massive heart attack, spurring a decline in Apple’s stock. The story’s falsehood was quickly discovered, and the... more
On October 3, 2008, a post on CNN’s iReport, a citizen journalism social network website, reported that Steve Jobs suffered a massive heart attack, spurring a decline in Apple’s stock. The story’s falsehood was quickly discovered, and the credibility of CNN and citizen journalism was thus called into question. The purpose of this article is to analyze those ethical questions and the relationship of citizen journalism to traditional media outlets.
Specifically, I investigate how the ethics of citizen journalism have changed since the Steve Jobs incident. I consider the improvement of the tools of production and their impact on workflow within a digital newsroom as they relate to the decision-making processes of the leadership within a journalistic organization. I examine key ethical decisions from the viewpoint of multiple actors within the organization, as those actors influence the speed of production within the network and what content is released to the general public.
The chapter begins with historical and theoretical analyses of the iReport event and its ethical aspects. The historical analysis derives from a study of the articles published during the time of the misreported story (i.e. October 2008 to January 2009). Beyond the initial analysis of the iReport event, the case study is centered on the context of other issues relating to citizen journalism since October 2008. In particular, the case study examines the internal and external code of ethics followed by news organizations that partner with citizen journalists. By doing so, I hope to ascertain a lineage of ethical evolution.
The case study concludes by discussing the current state of citizen journalism and its future within traditional journalistic organizations. The conclusion presents takeaways that future scholars may reference when studying the connection between ethical codes and citizen journalism.
Specifically, I investigate how the ethics of citizen journalism have changed since the Steve Jobs incident. I consider the improvement of the tools of production and their impact on workflow within a digital newsroom as they relate to the decision-making processes of the leadership within a journalistic organization. I examine key ethical decisions from the viewpoint of multiple actors within the organization, as those actors influence the speed of production within the network and what content is released to the general public.
The chapter begins with historical and theoretical analyses of the iReport event and its ethical aspects. The historical analysis derives from a study of the articles published during the time of the misreported story (i.e. October 2008 to January 2009). Beyond the initial analysis of the iReport event, the case study is centered on the context of other issues relating to citizen journalism since October 2008. In particular, the case study examines the internal and external code of ethics followed by news organizations that partner with citizen journalists. By doing so, I hope to ascertain a lineage of ethical evolution.
The case study concludes by discussing the current state of citizen journalism and its future within traditional journalistic organizations. The conclusion presents takeaways that future scholars may reference when studying the connection between ethical codes and citizen journalism.
Research Interests:
The general public’s first exposure to the Legend of Zelda series came from the original Legend of Zelda (1987)—specifically, its opening credits. Before a video gamer even started playing, the Title Screen music set the tone of the game.... more
The general public’s first exposure to the Legend of Zelda series came from the original Legend of Zelda (1987)—specifically, its opening credits. Before a video gamer even started playing, the Title Screen music set the tone of the game. The driving rhythms and grandioso melodies allow the player know they’re about to be thrown into an epic journey. The Legend of Zelda series set the tempo in the series with the music from the original game. To this day, the music from the original game is still special. Players hear the songs from the original game and feel those original emotions they had during their first plays of the games. This emotional draw comes from a place bigger than the game itself. As this original Zelda game was the first to introduce the game-playing world to the kingdom and mythology of Hyrule, its music played a crucial role in engaging a player enough to press “start” (Consalvo, 2003).
The music that a player hears during the first exposure of the Legend of Series aids a player in making the decision if they would like to start playing. Every note, beat, and rest weaves together a musical narrative that expands the audience’s understanding of what their expectation should be playing that game. This initial interaction is vital. A player will only spend a limited amount of time determining if a game is worth their time and most of it is spent in the beginning stages including the title screen. The music the player hears during the Title Screen helps the player maintain their interest in the game and communicate to the player what to expect when playing the Legend of Zelda (Livingstone & Brown, 2005).
Music affects and sticks with us for many reasons, but there are several psychological theories that best explain why the Legend of Zelda’s music does so in particular: the mere-exposure effect, the lizard (lizalfos) brain, and aesthetics of music. To fully understand the impact of the music in The Legend of Zelda and the reason it remains an iconic part of the game—and, in turn, our popular culture—it is crucial to contemplate and examine the psychological components that provide the music with so much meaning.
The music that a player hears during the first exposure of the Legend of Series aids a player in making the decision if they would like to start playing. Every note, beat, and rest weaves together a musical narrative that expands the audience’s understanding of what their expectation should be playing that game. This initial interaction is vital. A player will only spend a limited amount of time determining if a game is worth their time and most of it is spent in the beginning stages including the title screen. The music the player hears during the Title Screen helps the player maintain their interest in the game and communicate to the player what to expect when playing the Legend of Zelda (Livingstone & Brown, 2005).
Music affects and sticks with us for many reasons, but there are several psychological theories that best explain why the Legend of Zelda’s music does so in particular: the mere-exposure effect, the lizard (lizalfos) brain, and aesthetics of music. To fully understand the impact of the music in The Legend of Zelda and the reason it remains an iconic part of the game—and, in turn, our popular culture—it is crucial to contemplate and examine the psychological components that provide the music with so much meaning.
Research Interests:
This chapter explores the importance of navigating the terrain of social interactions, being open to new experiences, and avoiding the traps of going through the linear motions of the well-worn pathways of life. The rewards for choosing... more
This chapter explores the importance of navigating the terrain of social interactions, being open to new experiences, and avoiding the traps of going through the linear motions of the well-worn pathways of life. The rewards for choosing to explore the boundaries of the territory will also be discussed as well as how to minimize interpersonal risk by being able to recognize potential the dangers are and how to react to them. Examples from various games, along with Face-Work and Affect Theory, will be creating an understanding that being open to new experiences means viewing emotion as the pallet that influences a person’s views of the world and creates a roadmap of how to be a more open person.
Research Interests:
Square Enix created a series of worlds designed to push the player’s understanding of how social development and interactions could be crafted within the Japanese Role Playing Game genre of video games. The three continents of World A... more
Square Enix created a series of worlds designed to push the player’s understanding of how social development and interactions could be crafted within the Japanese Role Playing Game genre of video games. The three continents of World A from Final Fantasy I (FF I) to the lonely star known as Eos in Final Fantasy XV (FF XV) provide the backdrop for all of the action that takes place within the game. Players enter a rich cultural experience throughout the series and, in turn, players care about the lives that the different player characters (PCs) and non-player characters (NPCs) go through during the game. These environments and personas represent an almost “mirror world” as it reflects the different eras found on Earth with all of the various forms of strife that existed in our world.
Final Fantasy, as a study in social psychology, represents a complex challenge as the game designers essentially create a new world and society for every version of the game. Few narrative threads connect the overall series. The more significant connections come from the traditional good versus evil battles that are found in Japanese mythological storytelling (along with some references to Judeo-Christian and Islamic religion in character creation). Also, the symbolic components of crystals, life force, and the apocalypse are embedded in the overall storyline. These narrative supports described above built the spiritual overtones that most players of the series would recognize as core to the gaming experience. A broader story arc, which will be the arc examined by this chapter, is the influence of technology within the cultures and societies of these games. The rationale for this analysis is that as the series progressed from FF I to FF XV along an almost similar technological development curve to Earth with the exception that Earth-based technologies were not built upon the foundations of magic or spiritual influences.
The later versions of the game series invoke Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law of Technology, which states “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The “uninitiated” outsider that the player represents would look at a society like the Garleans from Final Fantasy XIV that has the capability to grab a moon for the sole purpose of weaponizing it to destroy the other “primitive” nations and control all of the world of Hydaelyn as a magical place that should be fear. This fear is in contrast to the world of Earth were nations have the capability of destroying and controlling merely through the weaponization of the atom.
This broader discussion of technology is not merely to look at how technologies drive the various nations from the Final Fantasy universe. After all, the PCs and NPCs are motivated more by the game designers’ algorithms and narratives than the more baser psychological drives of man. This writing instead will use a few of the critical worlds from the series as a model to explain how technology influences human behavior in the real world. Final Fantasy as a series raises the problems people experience with technology on a day-to-day basis. Technologies in their most basic form represent a power structure and cultural mindset that people have accepted as part of the norms of society. These power structures and cultural mindsets are made explicit when the players play these games.
This critical discussion of technology will need to be framed by the right set of theories. It seems that these worlds could use the work of philosophers to examine vital socio-technical concerns. One philosopher in particular, Martin Heidegger, would provide a good grounding for this discussion because of his work on technology and modern society.
Final Fantasy, as a study in social psychology, represents a complex challenge as the game designers essentially create a new world and society for every version of the game. Few narrative threads connect the overall series. The more significant connections come from the traditional good versus evil battles that are found in Japanese mythological storytelling (along with some references to Judeo-Christian and Islamic religion in character creation). Also, the symbolic components of crystals, life force, and the apocalypse are embedded in the overall storyline. These narrative supports described above built the spiritual overtones that most players of the series would recognize as core to the gaming experience. A broader story arc, which will be the arc examined by this chapter, is the influence of technology within the cultures and societies of these games. The rationale for this analysis is that as the series progressed from FF I to FF XV along an almost similar technological development curve to Earth with the exception that Earth-based technologies were not built upon the foundations of magic or spiritual influences.
The later versions of the game series invoke Arthur C. Clarke’s Third Law of Technology, which states “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” The “uninitiated” outsider that the player represents would look at a society like the Garleans from Final Fantasy XIV that has the capability to grab a moon for the sole purpose of weaponizing it to destroy the other “primitive” nations and control all of the world of Hydaelyn as a magical place that should be fear. This fear is in contrast to the world of Earth were nations have the capability of destroying and controlling merely through the weaponization of the atom.
This broader discussion of technology is not merely to look at how technologies drive the various nations from the Final Fantasy universe. After all, the PCs and NPCs are motivated more by the game designers’ algorithms and narratives than the more baser psychological drives of man. This writing instead will use a few of the critical worlds from the series as a model to explain how technology influences human behavior in the real world. Final Fantasy as a series raises the problems people experience with technology on a day-to-day basis. Technologies in their most basic form represent a power structure and cultural mindset that people have accepted as part of the norms of society. These power structures and cultural mindsets are made explicit when the players play these games.
This critical discussion of technology will need to be framed by the right set of theories. It seems that these worlds could use the work of philosophers to examine vital socio-technical concerns. One philosopher in particular, Martin Heidegger, would provide a good grounding for this discussion because of his work on technology and modern society.
Research Interests:
A standard part of journalism scholarship is considering the relationships between the journalist/journalistic organization, the community covered by the journalist, and the audience that reads/listens/watches the journalist's work. Those... more
A standard part of journalism scholarship is considering the relationships between the journalist/journalistic organization, the community covered by the journalist, and the audience that reads/listens/watches the journalist's work. Those who have the privilege of teaching journalism at any level would naturally develop their students entering the workforce to deal with the ever-changing media industry by thinking critically about those relationships. I needed to adjust this developmental training practice due to COVID-19. During the summer break, I reflected on the journalists that would cover these gut-wrenching stories when I was a child.
Research Interests:
Social deception games are games that involve players adopting roles and teams that are not known to all players of the game. One of the components of these types of games is deceiving other players for the purpose of completing goals and... more
Social deception games are games that involve players adopting roles and teams that are not known to all players of the game. One of the components of these types of games is deceiving other players for the purpose of completing goals and tasks. The focus of this case study is to show how social deception games were used to teach aspects of small group communication (specifically the development of roles with small groups and power structures that emerge within small groups) to multiple groups of students taking a basic communication course at a large university in the United States. The framework of this case study will begin with an explanation of two social deception games (“Are You a Werewolf?” and “The Resistance”) and the previous literature related to small group communication, game-based learning, and other pedagogical frameworks. This review of literature is followed by a description of the lesson plan and course objectives that were used to frame the class time. An analysis of the reflective assignments will help describe the benefits of approaching small group communication with a ludological technique. Finally, discussion of the effectiveness of games like those in the category of social deception within the college communication curriculum is provided.
Research Interests:
A need exists for students and communication educators to go beyond the traditional concepts of literacy. Students enrolled in our communication courses are expected to be proficient in verbal communication through traditional... more
A need exists for students and communication educators to go beyond the traditional concepts of literacy. Students enrolled in our communication courses are expected to be proficient in verbal communication through traditional face-to-face forms of engagement and more mediated/electronic modes of interaction. Practitioners of communication must be able to archive their speeches and other relevant oral presentations for future consumption. This skill set will be equivalent to mastering word processing and information gathering as a measure of being a successful graduate in the field of communication.
Research Interests:
Tablet computers (or just tablets) are often discussed in context with their relationship with books as an informational portal. For the most part, the analysis of tablets has dealt with frequent tablet activities, locations of use and... more
Tablet computers (or just tablets) are often discussed in context with their relationship with books as an informational portal. For the most part, the analysis of tablets has dealt with frequent tablet activities, locations of use and contextual factors. It is fair also to note how the tablet has become a central nexus of production tools for the content creator. Tablets represent a platform both for distributing content to multiple audiences and providing the tools necessary to produce content on the fly. Tablets allow the user to capture thoughts on a screen that is slightly smaller than that of a traditional laptop (10 vs. 13 inches), while maintaining a level of portability and usability beyond what a traditional laptop can provide. This ability to quickly capture thoughts and ideas is extremely handy to academics in the field, specifically researchers, as they conduct research or present knowledge to the larger population. This study will look at how researchers are using tablets to replace older techniques for gathering data and publishing their work. The analysis of publishing will look at the differences between writing on a tablet and writing on an office computer or laptop. For example, the advantages and disadvantages of a touch screen device versus traditional user interfaces (keyboard and mouse) will be discussed by the researchers and shown via the everyday use of the tablet/office computer.
Research Interests: Epistemology, Archival Studies, Data Collecting and Analyzing, Research Methodology, Ethnography, and 9 moreSociology of Knowledge, Mobile Technology, Academic Writing, Meta-Analysis and Systematic Review, Information Communication Technology, Documentary, Communication Research Methods, Form Factor, and Technologies of Research
In March 2014, a viral campaign spread across social media using the tag #nomakeupselfie. This campaign involved women posting selfies without wearing makeup and (in later iterations of the trend) donating money to cancer charities. It... more
In March 2014, a viral campaign spread across social media using the tag #nomakeupselfie. This campaign involved women posting selfies without wearing makeup and (in later iterations of the trend) donating money to cancer charities. It was credited with raising £8 million for the charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and received a wealth of coverage in mainstream news media as well as across a range of blogs and news sites. The starting point for the #nomakeupselfie has been attributed by its lead campaigner to a single picture Laura Lippman posted on Twitter after Kim Novak’s appearance at the Oscars on 2nd March 2014 (Ciambriello, 2014; London, 2014).1 Novak’s appearance was marred by criticism about her look. Some people on Twitter commented on how her face was not beautiful and that it was disfigured from plastic surgery. Lippman’s tweet of “No makeup, kind lighting. #itsokkimnovak” (Figure 1) was noted as the starting point to the prosocial focus of this hashtag.
The meme initially saw female users of multiple social media sites post selfies sans makeup with comments along the lines of “here’s my makeup-free selfie for breast cancer.” Before long, the posts mutated to being about cancer more generally, and they acquired messages with more specific actions, such as “Text BEAT to 70099 to donate £3.” More people started to share these photos, sometimes accompanied by a screenshot of their mobile phone to prove they had donated. And people began to nominate others to be the next one to dare to bare. It was around this time that the trend reached enough critical mass for it to be picked up on by other media outlets, and over the following week it mutated several times more, developing spin-off male-oriented memes, including #manupandmakeup (men wearing makeup) and #cockinasock (men naked except for socks covering their penises), as well as gaining traction internationally—generating thousands of words of commentary across news media and blog sites.
This article explores how the selfie became used as a charitable meme in this campaign and how the meme mutated from a (possibly naïve) notion of raising awareness to becoming a multimillion-pound fund-raiser. We consider the way the campaign was discussed and problematized within other media and how this contrasted with the coverage of cancer patient Stephen Sutton’s social media fund-raising events during the same time period and the campaign for Britons to post selfies using the #thumbsupforstephen hashtag following his death. Finally, we consider how these cases reflect wider discourses within British culture about charity, performativity, and national identity as well as how and why wider media responses to these two campaigns differed.
The meme initially saw female users of multiple social media sites post selfies sans makeup with comments along the lines of “here’s my makeup-free selfie for breast cancer.” Before long, the posts mutated to being about cancer more generally, and they acquired messages with more specific actions, such as “Text BEAT to 70099 to donate £3.” More people started to share these photos, sometimes accompanied by a screenshot of their mobile phone to prove they had donated. And people began to nominate others to be the next one to dare to bare. It was around this time that the trend reached enough critical mass for it to be picked up on by other media outlets, and over the following week it mutated several times more, developing spin-off male-oriented memes, including #manupandmakeup (men wearing makeup) and #cockinasock (men naked except for socks covering their penises), as well as gaining traction internationally—generating thousands of words of commentary across news media and blog sites.
This article explores how the selfie became used as a charitable meme in this campaign and how the meme mutated from a (possibly naïve) notion of raising awareness to becoming a multimillion-pound fund-raiser. We consider the way the campaign was discussed and problematized within other media and how this contrasted with the coverage of cancer patient Stephen Sutton’s social media fund-raising events during the same time period and the campaign for Britons to post selfies using the #thumbsupforstephen hashtag following his death. Finally, we consider how these cases reflect wider discourses within British culture about charity, performativity, and national identity as well as how and why wider media responses to these two campaigns differed.
Research Interests:
This article will look at the impact that mobile technologies have had on the ability of people to document their everyday lives. What is important to note about this documentation is that it has become a public display of events and... more
This article will look at the impact that mobile technologies have had on the ability of people to document their everyday lives. What is important to note about this documentation is that it has become a public display of events and experiences via mediated content. This documentation becomes more interesting to observe when it is put in context of how people can now record their travels. This “public memory” of private travel is assisted via mobile technologies with applications designed to record locations through Global Positioning System data and mediated content. After the documentation, the consumption of this content is conducted through social media services and other public outlets as opposed to the traditional means of showing where people have traveled via postcards, slides, and souvenirs. Through a mixed-method study, this process of documentation is analyzed via the thematic dichotomies that emerged throughout the course of surveys and interviews. This article will explore this contrast between the digital and physical through an analysis of the “traditional tourist” versus the “archiver of experiences.” Finally, the impact of this documentation will be framed in the context of mobile communication.
As people adjust to mobile technologies as part of the normal flow of society, those same people find new and innovative methods of applying these technologies beyond mere one-to-one communication or even one-to-many communication (Ling & Campbell, 2011). Some people are applying the channels of communication to become more of a self-documenting mode. This self-documenting mode is comprised of writing posts and comments and recording mediated content for the purpose of recording the experiences and mundane actions of everyday in a way that can be recalled or searched via a public social feed. This feed of information represents a kind of “public memory” for the individual who posted the content.
For the purpose of this analysis, the term public memory is simply shorthand for posting content onto a mediated platform where one of the purposes of posting is to journal or note information that has a personal significance. For example, one could take pictures of their meals not because they are showing the dinner to their friends but rather keeping a recorded journal of their favorite meals to remember them later. In this way, there is not necessarily an imagined audience that the individual is focusing their content toward, but rather it is designed to be an online scrapbook.
The purpose of this work is to look at how mobile media is changing the nature of the collection of memory via digital artifacts created by the hybrid of services that represent the social and hyper-local interactions. These interactions are best exemplified through the use of the SoLoMo (social, local, mobile) category of applications for mobile devices, especially services such as FourSquare and Instagram (Nelson, 2013). These services will be discussed within the context of their impact on public memory, specifically how they bridge the gap between the digital and the physical, the gap between an artifact and a souvenir, and its ability to combine the role of the tourist and the archiver. The remaining parts of this article will define these terms and describe the impact that the mobile media space has had on these concepts.
As people adjust to mobile technologies as part of the normal flow of society, those same people find new and innovative methods of applying these technologies beyond mere one-to-one communication or even one-to-many communication (Ling & Campbell, 2011). Some people are applying the channels of communication to become more of a self-documenting mode. This self-documenting mode is comprised of writing posts and comments and recording mediated content for the purpose of recording the experiences and mundane actions of everyday in a way that can be recalled or searched via a public social feed. This feed of information represents a kind of “public memory” for the individual who posted the content.
For the purpose of this analysis, the term public memory is simply shorthand for posting content onto a mediated platform where one of the purposes of posting is to journal or note information that has a personal significance. For example, one could take pictures of their meals not because they are showing the dinner to their friends but rather keeping a recorded journal of their favorite meals to remember them later. In this way, there is not necessarily an imagined audience that the individual is focusing their content toward, but rather it is designed to be an online scrapbook.
The purpose of this work is to look at how mobile media is changing the nature of the collection of memory via digital artifacts created by the hybrid of services that represent the social and hyper-local interactions. These interactions are best exemplified through the use of the SoLoMo (social, local, mobile) category of applications for mobile devices, especially services such as FourSquare and Instagram (Nelson, 2013). These services will be discussed within the context of their impact on public memory, specifically how they bridge the gap between the digital and the physical, the gap between an artifact and a souvenir, and its ability to combine the role of the tourist and the archiver. The remaining parts of this article will define these terms and describe the impact that the mobile media space has had on these concepts.
Research Interests:
Twitter, and other forms of microblogging, represent a recent occurrence on the Internet. Microblogging allows an individual to express themselves 140 characters at a time through a website, through a program designed to access the... more
Twitter, and other forms of microblogging, represent a recent occurrence on the Internet. Microblogging allows an individual to express themselves 140 characters at a time through a website, through a program designed to access the individual's account, like Tweetdeck, or even through a mobile device, like a Blackberry. This channel also presents an opportunity to broadcast an individual's thoughts across the Internet to a group of followers.
Research Interests:
This paper will look at the ability of online social networks to predict election outcomes of a connected society, in this case a university. Facebook represents a new phenomenon in networking within a university. These network constructs... more
This paper will look at the ability of online social networks to predict election outcomes of a connected society, in this case a university. Facebook represents a new phenomenon in networking within a university. These network constructs allow for communication to occur rapidly and can influence the opinion of the student body. It is the conglomeration of previous information and communication technologies (ICTs) wrapped up under a simple graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the student body to communicate quickly and has allowed online social networks to dominate collegiate culture. Collegiate culture exists in a duality of the real world and this new online social network. Student governance is reflected in both of these realms. Student governance is as close to political power as most students get within the confines of the university and just as complex as the network structure present in Facebook. Like Facebook, the students within the collegiate experience must successfully navigate within the internal network to survive and become leaders in the community. With these similarities, the research question that will framed the rest of the paper will be "could Facebook be used to estimate the results of a student election?" The research used a hierarchical linear matrix, which was developed for the work of Raudenbush & Bryk, to develop a model that could answer this question. The final analysis of the matrix showed it was able to predict what place the candidates came in 21 out of 27 times for all of the candidates in a given election. In terms of predicting the candidate's final percentage of votes received (within half the standard deviation of the Estimated Polling Percentage, which was .072722) during the election 12 out of 27 times for all of the candidates in a given election.
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This case study examines how social media accounts use memes and on- the-ground content to create a “real-time” and historical record of the events hap-pening in Ukraine during the 2022 invasion of their country by Russian forces and... more
This case study examines how social media accounts use memes and on- the-ground content to create a “real-time” and historical record of the events hap-pening in Ukraine during the 2022 invasion of their country by Russian forces and their allies. Artifacts from the Ukrainian Memes Forces’ Twitter account (among others) provides the memetic artifacts of examination. The grounding of this case study is based on Stuart Hall’s “Readings” to assess how audiences would interpret these messages the memetic artifacts via Twitter and TikTok and using an analysis of the layers within the memes that pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian content creators are producing. The general theme is that pro-Russian content creators are focusing their content on an internal audience under a theme of nationalistic pride, while pro-Ukraine content creators are focusing their content on external audiences under the themes of satire of Russian propaganda and global awareness of the war.
Research Interests:
International Journal of Communication 9: 1788-1805.
Research Interests:
Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are those activities in which players craft representations of themselves by creating player characters (PCs) and their various skills, abilities, and traits that the player adds to their PCs. Those... more
Tabletop role-playing games (TTRPGs) are those activities in which players craft representations of themselves by creating player characters (PCs) and their various skills, abilities, and traits that the player adds to their PCs. Those PCs will interact with a fictional environment in some meaningful way determined by pre-described and understood rules and restrictions that the players acknowledge. Players then have face-to-face interactions connected to those mechanisms and mechanics, and those actions facilitate play among the players. This paper will look at the communication benefits of participating in such activities.
A comprehensive survey was created through a composite of eight established research instruments and given to ten traditional-aged college students from the southern part of the United States before and after they played in a multi-session campaign. This comprehensive survey was part of a pilot study that found that taking part in a face-to-face campaign could reduce certain aspects of the player's sadness, shame, and worthlessness. However, further research is required to determine the overall effectiveness of such gameplay, as the research needs to be more extensive in scope.
A comprehensive survey was created through a composite of eight established research instruments and given to ten traditional-aged college students from the southern part of the United States before and after they played in a multi-session campaign. This comprehensive survey was part of a pilot study that found that taking part in a face-to-face campaign could reduce certain aspects of the player's sadness, shame, and worthlessness. However, further research is required to determine the overall effectiveness of such gameplay, as the research needs to be more extensive in scope.
Research Interests:
Instagram represents a new platform for photojournalists and journalistic organizations to deliver news and information to audiences and build community. Photographers can frame a developing event through their unique lens and instantly... more
Instagram represents a new platform for photojournalists and journalistic organizations to deliver news and information to audiences and build community. Photographers can frame a developing event through their unique lens and instantly publish it garnering audience reaction from the universe of the platforms 150 million users. This social platform allows organizations to connect populaces, branding, modes of authentication, and resources (both in the form of production and support for the photographer). Both photojournalists and news organizations are adapting to this crowdsourced feed of content (Aitamurto, 2015), the issues related to the perceived validity of photos (Brandtzaeg et al., 2015), and the changing tempos related to the production and consumption of journalistic content (Garcia, 2014).
The focus of previous research on Instagram’s impact on journalism has focused on the impact to individual photojournalists either covering crisis zones throughout the world (Alper, 2014), the authenticity & hyperreality of the images (Borges-Rey, 2015), or the connection to citizen journalism and other forms of amateur reporting (Mortensen & Keshelashvili, 2013). Little work has been done to determine how journalists and news organizations are presenting news on Instagram. A content analysis of 18 of the top 25 “Most Popular and Active News Brands on Instagram” (Sherk, 2013) was conducted using the last 50 posts at the time of coding. This analysis will look at the work produced on Instagram by the various categories of journalistic organizations (e.g. print, broadcast, & multimedia) and analyze how these organizations and photojournalists present narratives within the framework of the Instagram platform in regards to assisting with the branding and promotion of those journalistic organizations.
The focus of previous research on Instagram’s impact on journalism has focused on the impact to individual photojournalists either covering crisis zones throughout the world (Alper, 2014), the authenticity & hyperreality of the images (Borges-Rey, 2015), or the connection to citizen journalism and other forms of amateur reporting (Mortensen & Keshelashvili, 2013). Little work has been done to determine how journalists and news organizations are presenting news on Instagram. A content analysis of 18 of the top 25 “Most Popular and Active News Brands on Instagram” (Sherk, 2013) was conducted using the last 50 posts at the time of coding. This analysis will look at the work produced on Instagram by the various categories of journalistic organizations (e.g. print, broadcast, & multimedia) and analyze how these organizations and photojournalists present narratives within the framework of the Instagram platform in regards to assisting with the branding and promotion of those journalistic organizations.
Research Interests:
This panel will cover how to effectively create assessment narratives and plans for media and journalism programs when dealing with lay audiences. The focus of this panel will include yearly assessments, seven-year reviews, advisory... more
This panel will cover how to effectively create assessment narratives and plans for media and journalism programs when dealing with lay audiences. The focus of this panel will include yearly assessments, seven-year reviews, advisory boards, and general fiscal planning initiatives by colleges and universities. This presentation was given October 26, 2018 during ACP/CMA/SCJ Fall National College Media Convention in Louisville, KY.
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This presentation was part of the "Shrinking Enrollments & the Impact on Media Programs" panel at the 2018 Broadcast Education Association annual conference. The focus of the presentation was how to incorporate media production trends... more
This presentation was part of the "Shrinking Enrollments & the Impact on Media Programs" panel at the 2018 Broadcast Education Association annual conference. The focus of the presentation was how to incorporate media production trends into two-year/small college media programs.
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It is an honor to be given an opportunity to respond to these series of papers that strikes at the core of what our discipline and division studies; the role that newer communication technologies play in the interactions between different... more
It is an honor to be given an opportunity to respond to these series of papers that strikes at the core of what our discipline and division studies; the role that newer communication technologies play in the interactions between different communities that forms the mass audience of the modern society. As respondent to this panel, it is my job to follow the guidelines set by Raymond Puchot in fulfilling this role, which is being able to praise the work of the scholars, providing a clear summary of the individual papers & the connective elements between the various presentations, focusing on the questions left unanswered by the research, and challenging the scholars to go beyond what was stated in the written and spoken word related to their given research. It is a charge that I attend to fulfill given the nature of this work and the scholars that are before you today.
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The presentation was given during the 2017 Broadcast Education Association annual conference during the "Where do you see yourself in 3 to 5 years?" session of the conference. The focus of the presentation was to help novice media... more
The presentation was given during the 2017 Broadcast Education Association annual conference during the "Where do you see yourself in 3 to 5 years?" session of the conference. The focus of the presentation was to help novice media educators with the advising and planning of students' futures.
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This research was presented at Theorizing the Web 2017 in Brooklyn, NY on the 8th of April. The focus of the presentation was to examine the narratives from Appalachian regional media sources and national media sources that describe the... more
This research was presented at Theorizing the Web 2017 in Brooklyn, NY on the 8th of April. The focus of the presentation was to examine the narratives from Appalachian regional media sources and national media sources that describe the Appalachia region and people & their views of the national election. This mixed-method study used a quantitative content analysis to examine the article and sort them based on the thematic and regional focus. The rhetorical case study examined the theme and discourse that emerged from the stories from the Appalachian region and the United States.
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It is always an honor to be given an opportunity to respond to the top papers of the Communication and the Future interest division. This year is no expectation. I try to follow the wisdom that Raymond Puchot set regarding the role of the... more
It is always an honor to be given an opportunity to respond to the top papers of the Communication and the Future interest division. This year is no expectation. I try to follow the wisdom that Raymond Puchot set regarding the role of the respondent, which is being able to praise the work of the scholars, providing a clear summary of the individual papers & the connective elements between the various presentations, focusing on the questions left unanswered by the research, and challenging the scholars to go beyond what was stated in the written and spoken word related to their given research. It is a charge that I attend to fulfill given the nature of this work and the scholars that are before you today. The level of scholarship, analysis, and academic rigor shown by the scholars is a tribute to work that was put in developing the particular problematics worthy of this division. The research questions and hypotheses addressed by the scholars pushed the division further as those questions and hypotheses used innovative applications of research instruments, quality meta-analyses of the problematics, and solid conceptualization of the realm of the known and the problematics of study. We should praise these scholars for the work they have done for this conference.
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Nerd, geek, dweeb, and dork were the four terms used often in the late part of the 20th century as a means to create a barrier and separate those whose quirks were considered outside the mainstream sense of normal. Nowadays, the "otaku"... more
Nerd, geek, dweeb, and dork were the four terms used often in the late part of the 20th century as a means to create a barrier and separate those whose quirks were considered outside the mainstream sense of normal. Nowadays, the "otaku" nature of popular culture has removed some of the negative connotations related to those terms. Those four terms are included as modifiers to aspects of culture that involve a "deep dive" by a selected niche of the populace. This essay will act as an etymologocial analysis within the structure of a popular culture case study on the use of these terms and a more realistic construction of the various terms as they relate to fan culture and fandom. The hope is that the reader of this work understands the connection between popular culture intelligential properties, fan culture, and the temperament of a given fan as a result of this analysis.
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As Ohio Northern University moved from Journalism to Multimedia Journalism, one of the areas that a point of discussion was how to help students tell stories that had the media "amplify" the narrative (as opposed to being redundant). This... more
As Ohio Northern University moved from Journalism to Multimedia Journalism, one of the areas that a point of discussion was how to help students tell stories that had the media "amplify" the narrative (as opposed to being redundant). This presentation will discuss the Media Hub model and how this model helps students create works that use the platform effectively. Dreyfus' Model is also used as a way of explaining the level of proficiency needed in today's media landscape. The presentation will end with a discussion of the five-year plan associated with the transition to a media hub.
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This was my response to the papers and presentations delivered by those students that won the "Top Student Honors" from Communication and the Future.
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My report in front of the Mass Communication interest division at NCA 2015 reviewing the actions from the Legislative Assembly meeting held on November 18.
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“Are You a Werewolf?” (AYAW?) is a deception based party game that forces a group of villagers to pick out a pair of werewolves from the group and eliminate them before the werewolves destroy the village. Andrew Plotkin created this game... more
“Are You a Werewolf?” (AYAW?) is a deception based party game that forces a group of villagers to pick out a pair of werewolves from the group and eliminate them before the werewolves destroy the village. Andrew Plotkin created this game as a derivative of Dmitry Davidoff’s “Mafia” and is a favorite of gamers as a representation of a “social game” (Chittaranjan & Hung, 2010). The game is often played late at night with many of the popular gaming conventions in the United States (Origins, GenCon, San Diego Comic Con, Dragon Con, etc.) as a way for gamers to socialize, to “decompress” from the convention experience, and as a means to participate in the act of gaming in a more “adult” manner (language, alcohol consumption, and other adult behaviors that normally frown upon at a family-friendly event).
Along the same style of game, “The Resistance” was inspired by AYAW? with only 5 to 10 players needed to make the game work, as opposed to the 15 to 21 players needed for AYAW? This change in the player structure allows for, according to the manufacturer of the game, “increase the resources for informed decisions, intensify player interaction, and eliminate player elimination.” Both “The Resistance” & AYAW? fit the classic definition of a social deception game (SDG)
One of the strengths of SDG is the primary interactions are communication-based. It is not a traditional role playing game (RPG) that uses dice rolls and generated player stats as the primary mode of interaction, nor is it a traditional card/board game where the main mode of interactions being the elements present on a tabletop. Bluffing and perception are the tools that players use within a typical game of AYAW? It is these two elements that make a great platform to teach about small group communication, specifically the power roles within small groups and the structures within a small group (Verderber, Verderber, & Sellnow, 2013).
Many of the academic studies of SDGs either relates to the mathematical probabilities connected to the various structural co-constructions based on role configurations and village engagements (Midgal, 2010) or as a proxy for analysis of deception (Chittaranjan & Hung, 2010). As communication scholars, it is important to look at the communication interactions themselves, rather than a proxied representation of social interactions present in the previous research.
The focus of this case study is to show how SDGs were used to teach aspects of small group communication (specifically the developments of roles with small groups & power structures that emerge with small group structures (Harris & Sherblom, 2011)) to multiple groups of students taking the basic communication course at a large university in the United States. The framework of the case study will begin with an explanation of the game. The next element will be a brief discussion of the previous literature related to SDGs are the ludological aspects of small group communication. This will be followed be a description of the lesson plan/course objectives that were used to frame the class time. An analysis of the reflective assignments will help describe the benefits of approaching small group communication with a ludological technique. There will also be artifacts from interviews with other werewolf players from popular gaming conventions to show how the students’ impressions of the game match “the reality” of playing the game with others (as opposed to playing the game in the academic realm). Finally, there will be a discussion of the effectiveness of SDGs within the college communication curriculum.
Two of the major themes that were present in the reflective analyses conducted by the students were the understanding of “task-based” communication patterns and the impact of power roles and leadership within SGC. Artifacts will be presented in this case study to provide context behind these two themes.
Along the same style of game, “The Resistance” was inspired by AYAW? with only 5 to 10 players needed to make the game work, as opposed to the 15 to 21 players needed for AYAW? This change in the player structure allows for, according to the manufacturer of the game, “increase the resources for informed decisions, intensify player interaction, and eliminate player elimination.” Both “The Resistance” & AYAW? fit the classic definition of a social deception game (SDG)
One of the strengths of SDG is the primary interactions are communication-based. It is not a traditional role playing game (RPG) that uses dice rolls and generated player stats as the primary mode of interaction, nor is it a traditional card/board game where the main mode of interactions being the elements present on a tabletop. Bluffing and perception are the tools that players use within a typical game of AYAW? It is these two elements that make a great platform to teach about small group communication, specifically the power roles within small groups and the structures within a small group (Verderber, Verderber, & Sellnow, 2013).
Many of the academic studies of SDGs either relates to the mathematical probabilities connected to the various structural co-constructions based on role configurations and village engagements (Midgal, 2010) or as a proxy for analysis of deception (Chittaranjan & Hung, 2010). As communication scholars, it is important to look at the communication interactions themselves, rather than a proxied representation of social interactions present in the previous research.
The focus of this case study is to show how SDGs were used to teach aspects of small group communication (specifically the developments of roles with small groups & power structures that emerge with small group structures (Harris & Sherblom, 2011)) to multiple groups of students taking the basic communication course at a large university in the United States. The framework of the case study will begin with an explanation of the game. The next element will be a brief discussion of the previous literature related to SDGs are the ludological aspects of small group communication. This will be followed be a description of the lesson plan/course objectives that were used to frame the class time. An analysis of the reflective assignments will help describe the benefits of approaching small group communication with a ludological technique. There will also be artifacts from interviews with other werewolf players from popular gaming conventions to show how the students’ impressions of the game match “the reality” of playing the game with others (as opposed to playing the game in the academic realm). Finally, there will be a discussion of the effectiveness of SDGs within the college communication curriculum.
Two of the major themes that were present in the reflective analyses conducted by the students were the understanding of “task-based” communication patterns and the impact of power roles and leadership within SGC. Artifacts will be presented in this case study to provide context behind these two themes.
Research Interests:
Tablet computers (or just tablets) are often discussed in context with their relationship with books as an informational portal. For the most part, the analysis of the tablets has dealt with frequent tablet activities, locations of use... more
Tablet computers (or just tablets) are often discussed in context with their relationship with books as an informational portal. For the most part, the analysis of the tablets has dealt with frequent tablet activities, locations of use and contextual factors (Muller, Gove & Webb, 2012). It is fair also to note how the tablet has become a central nexus of production tools for the content creator. Tablets represent not only a platform for distributing content to multiple audiences but also a content creator can use the production tools of the tablet to produce content on the fly (Hendricks, 2010). Tablets allow the user to capture their thoughts on a screen that is slightly smaller than a traditional laptop screen (10 inches versus 13 inches) while maintaining a level of portability and usability beyond what a traditional laptop can provide. The ability to collect and express thoughts on the go is an amazing expression of freedom. Also, the camera and microphone on most tablets are “good enough” to replace the need for carrying a digital camera on a daily basis. This ability to quickly capture thoughts and ideas is extremely handy to academics in the field, specifically researchers, as they conduct research or present knowledge to the larger population.
The purpose of this work will be to examine how researchers use tablets. The focus of this research will look at how researchers are using tablets to replace older techniques for gathering data and publishing their work. The analysis of publishing will look at the differences between writing on a tablet and writing on an office computer or laptop. For example, the advantages and disadvantages of a touch screen device versus traditional user interfaces (keyboard and mouse) will be discussed by the researchers and shown via the everyday use of the tablet/office computer. Gathering data through the tablet will be analyzed through the traditional ethnographic methods of qualitative research and the scientific instruments of quantitative inquiry. The purpose will be to look at how these instruments and methods are conducted via the tablet. Both data collection and the presentation of knowledge are key elements for the dissemination of information by the researcher to the larger whole. This research will look at how the tablet changes the way both of these functions are done.
The purpose of this work will be to examine how researchers use tablets. The focus of this research will look at how researchers are using tablets to replace older techniques for gathering data and publishing their work. The analysis of publishing will look at the differences between writing on a tablet and writing on an office computer or laptop. For example, the advantages and disadvantages of a touch screen device versus traditional user interfaces (keyboard and mouse) will be discussed by the researchers and shown via the everyday use of the tablet/office computer. Gathering data through the tablet will be analyzed through the traditional ethnographic methods of qualitative research and the scientific instruments of quantitative inquiry. The purpose will be to look at how these instruments and methods are conducted via the tablet. Both data collection and the presentation of knowledge are key elements for the dissemination of information by the researcher to the larger whole. This research will look at how the tablet changes the way both of these functions are done.
Research Interests:
Presented 2014 November 21 at “The History of the Future of Communication: The "Communication and the Future" Chair's Panel” during the 100th National Communication Association Annual Conference in Chicago, IL.
Research Interests:
The purpose of this work will be to examine the role of new media sources, especially social media hubs and mobile media platforms and those sources’ ability to help cope and adjust to the changes in society and the speed of information.... more
The purpose of this work will be to examine the role of new media sources, especially social media hubs and mobile media platforms and those sources’ ability to help cope and adjust to the changes in society and the speed of information. These sources represent the communication technology structure of today’s society. The research for this work was built on a year-long triangulation study that focused on the use of Facebook as it relates to helping people with a move to a new city, which led to the development of three thematics explaining how new media sources help with the coping/adjustment process. The thematics presented within the paper will be a hybrid between the artifacts of the previous research and a modified review of the literature on the elements of modernity. These thematics will also be explained through theory related to modernity & post-modernity. Finally, the work will look at a model of how new media sources help with the modern condition & the future of mediated communication. This model, the liquid mob academy, bridges the gaps between social network theory and psychology of transition.
Research Interests:
"This IgNite speech focused on the summary of my dissertation, 'First Year Students in a Foreign Fabric: A Triangulation Study on Facebook as a Method of Coping/Adjustment.' The presentation will discuss how incoming Freshman coming from... more
"This IgNite speech focused on the summary of my dissertation, 'First Year Students in a Foreign Fabric: A Triangulation Study on Facebook as a Method of Coping/Adjustment.' The presentation will discuss how incoming Freshman coming from multiple backgrounds adjust to the collegiate experience through the use of "centers of interest" to navigate through the "foreign fabric." In five minutes, I will explain what the foreign fabric, centers of interest and connections are. The first part of the speech explained my rationale for selecting my research problematic, which was how first-year college students use online social networks to cope and adjust to their first year of college. The second part explained the methods used during the research. Finally, the presentation ended with what to do with this knowledge based on my dissertation research."
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This weekend, I was asked to moderate a panel at the Theorizing the Web conference (#TtW13) in New York City. During this time, I had to write down the key points of the panel and post them on Twitter. In addition, I wanted to respond to... more
This weekend, I was asked to moderate a panel at the Theorizing the Web conference (#TtW13) in New York City. During this time, I had to write down the key points of the panel and post them on Twitter. In addition, I wanted to respond to the panelists’ points and add some analysis to the work. Like most great panels, this one ran long. I only had a few short minutes to take some questions from the digital floor. So, I want to use this format to provide some sort of response to the panelists.
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With the need to utilize your space, your program, and your resources in order to justify the expenditures, how do you maximize your facilities when the kids have gone home for the day? How do you reach out to the adult learner who is... more
With the need to utilize your space, your program, and your resources in order to justify the expenditures, how do you maximize your facilities when the kids have gone home for the day? How do you reach out to the adult learner who is looking to change their career path, looking to learn communication skills, or wanting to 'live the dream' of being a broadcaster? This session will will also discuss the pluses and minuses of adult education courses.
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The purpose of this panel is to focus on a few key points. The first point is to briefly discuss how to form content within the channels of social media communication (microblogging / microcommunication / anything that uses XMPP to... more
The purpose of this panel is to focus on a few key points. The first point is to briefly discuss how to form content within the channels of social media communication (microblogging / microcommunication / anything that uses XMPP to transmit information) that shows off a person's expertise. The presentation will use examples from key figures in the field and note how those figures connect their knowledge with their audience. The second point that will be explored in this presentation will be how “opinion leaders” were formed in this channel. It looked like since these channels used as a pseudo-formal “many-to-many” communication platform, it seemed that the strength of speaker comes from the ability of that speaker’s message to be re-transmitted, how “well-known” is the user and the value of the information/knowledge being delivered by the user. It is a through a combination of these factors that a user can attract and maintain a following. Examples of this will be shown during the presentation. The final point that I want focus on is how these opinion leaders using these channels to deliver vital information to an audience. I would like to be able to tell the stories of the community outside the confines of the network. There is a series of interesting and complex narratives that can be shared by these nanocelebrities to the rest of the outside world. These narratives will be shared during the presentation.
Research Interests:
"In the beginning of this year, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) announced that due to low ratings during NBC's prime time lineup that Jay Leno would move back to the 11:30PM time slot from the 10 PM time slot he held on the... more
"In the beginning of this year, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) announced that due to low ratings during NBC's prime time lineup that Jay Leno would move back to the 11:30PM time slot from the 10 PM time slot he held on the network for the past four months. The 11:30 PM time slot was the realm of the Tonight Show whose host, Conan O'Brien, took over the Tonight Show slot from Jay Leno. This change would mean that the Tonight Show would start at 12:05 AM, while Leno's show would air from 11:35 PM to 12:05 AM. This decision caused a shockwave throughout the late night television landscape in the United States and through online social networks (OSNs).
The purpose of this paper will be to examine the impact that online social networks (in this case Hulu, Facebook and Twitter) had on the turmoil in the NBC national offices, the affiliates, Conan O'Brien's camp, Jay Leno's camp and more importantly, the fans of late night programming. Part of the paper and the time for the presentation will be used to explain some of the decision making processes of the NBC national offices and how those processes were perceived and discussed throughout the various OSNs. The second area that to be discussed will be the virtual artifacts and interactions created between the fans of the show. These artifacts and interactions feed into the "economy of cyberpromotion" that help drive fans to watch the shows, buy merchandise that promotes the shows and create content that cycles back into the fan culture (Elmer, 2000 & Ito, 2008). The third section will be used to discuss how fans took the resources gained from their interactions on these OSN and planned real world events and promotions to maintain the status quo on NBC via the "technologies of cooperation" (Rheingold, 2002). The final part of this paper will look at the aftermath of the feud and the lesson that can be learned regarding the role of "interactive audiences" and their ability to feel some connection to the content and the networks used to distribute that content (Jenkins, 2006)
Since this research is a work in progress, it would seem fair to try to experiment with a hybrid/mixed method of research to explore the problematic.The methods that I will use for this research will consist of a blend of a traditional case study, a virtual ethnographic study (Hine, 2000) and a contextual study. The intent is to use the traditional social network to set the framework of the structure of the network (both the OSNs and NBC). The contextual study would be used to flesh out the network and provide context on how the networks interact with one another. The realm of the contextual study would consist of the press releases delivered by NBC, Leno or O'Brien. The fan-created images and videos would be examined as well. Finally, the authenticity and identity of the fans' communities would be determined through a series of discussions with the leaders of the Facebook fan pages and pages that use Twitter as the mode of communication (i.e. "I'm with Coco," "Team Coco," "Team Leno" Facebook Fan Pages). "
The purpose of this paper will be to examine the impact that online social networks (in this case Hulu, Facebook and Twitter) had on the turmoil in the NBC national offices, the affiliates, Conan O'Brien's camp, Jay Leno's camp and more importantly, the fans of late night programming. Part of the paper and the time for the presentation will be used to explain some of the decision making processes of the NBC national offices and how those processes were perceived and discussed throughout the various OSNs. The second area that to be discussed will be the virtual artifacts and interactions created between the fans of the show. These artifacts and interactions feed into the "economy of cyberpromotion" that help drive fans to watch the shows, buy merchandise that promotes the shows and create content that cycles back into the fan culture (Elmer, 2000 & Ito, 2008). The third section will be used to discuss how fans took the resources gained from their interactions on these OSN and planned real world events and promotions to maintain the status quo on NBC via the "technologies of cooperation" (Rheingold, 2002). The final part of this paper will look at the aftermath of the feud and the lesson that can be learned regarding the role of "interactive audiences" and their ability to feel some connection to the content and the networks used to distribute that content (Jenkins, 2006)
Since this research is a work in progress, it would seem fair to try to experiment with a hybrid/mixed method of research to explore the problematic.The methods that I will use for this research will consist of a blend of a traditional case study, a virtual ethnographic study (Hine, 2000) and a contextual study. The intent is to use the traditional social network to set the framework of the structure of the network (both the OSNs and NBC). The contextual study would be used to flesh out the network and provide context on how the networks interact with one another. The realm of the contextual study would consist of the press releases delivered by NBC, Leno or O'Brien. The fan-created images and videos would be examined as well. Finally, the authenticity and identity of the fans' communities would be determined through a series of discussions with the leaders of the Facebook fan pages and pages that use Twitter as the mode of communication (i.e. "I'm with Coco," "Team Coco," "Team Leno" Facebook Fan Pages). "
Research Interests:
The McCauley Graphic Novel Forum was designed to be a discussion of the influence of graphic novels within the academy and society at large. The focus of Interactive Graphic Storytelling was to describe the state of the industry as it... more
The McCauley Graphic Novel Forum was designed to be a discussion of the influence of graphic novels within the academy and society at large. The focus of Interactive Graphic Storytelling was to describe the state of the industry as it related to digital production and distribution. The bulletpoints mention in the course of the presentation were designed to focus the audience and the other panelist on the impact digital graphic novel will have on the industry and business of graphic novels and comics.
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Second Life is a virtual construction of the real world. The sandbox and open nature of the software allows for real-time meetings to occur within the same sense of "space." The focus of this presentation is to begin to explain what... more
Second Life is a virtual construction of the real world. The sandbox and open nature of the software allows for real-time meetings to occur within the same sense of "space." The focus of this presentation is to begin to explain what Second Life is and how it can be used in media education. Theory, praxis & pedagogy will be apply to this emerging system.
Research Interests:
The American Association of University Professors reports that non-tenure-track positions of all types account for 65 percent of all faculty appointments in American higher education. Adjuncts face special productivity challenges to their... more
The American Association of University Professors reports that non-tenure-track positions of all types account for 65 percent of all faculty appointments in American higher education. Adjuncts face special productivity challenges to their instructional objective and benefit from policies, practices, and courses that are adjunct friendly. This panel invites discussion to understand the current challenges faced by non-tenure track instructors and share solutions to support adjunct faculty promoting an ethic of excellence among all faculty.
Adjunct faculty are relied on heavily in community colleges and four-year institutions throughout the higher education system in the United States. The American Association of University Professors reports that between 1998 and 2001, the number of full-time non-tenure-track positions grew by 35.5 percent (www.aaup.org). Adjunct faculty in particular teach without the same levels of support and resources provided to full-time faculty.
This panel was originally suggested by Ron Compton, an adjunct faculty member in the Chicago area, interested in promoting understanding of how institutions might better support the adjunct faculty they use. Panelists currently work at a variety of two- and four-year institutions and will share their experiences and perspectives in the hopes of improving awareness, understanding and opportunity for adjunct faculty.
Adjunct faculty are relied on heavily in community colleges and four-year institutions throughout the higher education system in the United States. The American Association of University Professors reports that between 1998 and 2001, the number of full-time non-tenure-track positions grew by 35.5 percent (www.aaup.org). Adjunct faculty in particular teach without the same levels of support and resources provided to full-time faculty.
This panel was originally suggested by Ron Compton, an adjunct faculty member in the Chicago area, interested in promoting understanding of how institutions might better support the adjunct faculty they use. Panelists currently work at a variety of two- and four-year institutions and will share their experiences and perspectives in the hopes of improving awareness, understanding and opportunity for adjunct faculty.
Research Interests:
Documentary storytellers and mass communication faculty are creating and shaping the media future by incorporating traditional documentary methods in a new online environment. This session will explore the impact of media convergence on... more
Documentary storytellers and mass communication faculty are creating and shaping the media future by incorporating traditional documentary methods in a new online environment. This session will explore the impact of media convergence on the documentary genre and media departments in general. Panelists will share information about documentary storytelling in an online environment and the process of curriculum changes to make convergence happen.
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This article will observe the perceived value of two established cyberjournaling medium, podcasting and blogging. It is argued that the media allows for the free flow of information without the filter placed on communication. This... more
This article will observe the perceived value of two established cyberjournaling medium, podcasting and blogging. It is argued that the media allows for the free flow of information without the filter placed on communication. This unabridged delivery is a valuable asset, because of its ability to cut through the levels of news bureaucracy. However, cyberjournaling has its critics, as it fails the journalist integrity test. The paper will first focus on the technological breakdown of the media. Then, drawing on critical theory, theoretical dimensions concerning control, cause and closure are applied and analyzed to the media. A discussion of political economy and postmodern perspectives prepares the position for analysis. The article concludes by applying this analysis to a possible new cyberjournaling medium, jumpcasting. The paper will examine current technology and show how it can be used for cyberjournaling.
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Six years ago, Rick Shriver wrote “A Primer for the Student of Electronic Media”, which showed new students entering the field of digital media how to survive and thrive in the competitive marketplace that the field of electronic media... more
Six years ago, Rick Shriver wrote “A Primer for the Student of Electronic Media”, which showed new students entering the field of digital media how to survive and thrive in the competitive marketplace that the field of electronic media has become. This paper will seek to inform students wanting to work in the digital media industry. Currently, the field of digital media is in the same place that the field of electronic media was in twenty years ago, in terms of acceptance by society and the people working in the industry. To help new students who want to enter this field, this paper will look at the issues that affect the discipline of digital media. This paper will also look at the different ways of viewing digital media and digital manipulation. In addition, this paper will look at communication theory and will apply it to the digital arena of communication and this “new era” of the media. Students in the first week of the “Introduction to Digital Media” class are the primary audience of this paper.
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"Dmitry Sklyarov, a 27-year-old programmer for ElcomSoft Co. Ltd., was arrested after giving a speech at DEFCon, a major annual technical conference. He was arrested for trafficking software, which could circumvent the technological... more
"Dmitry Sklyarov, a 27-year-old programmer for ElcomSoft Co. Ltd., was arrested after giving a speech at DEFCon, a major annual technical conference. He was arrested for trafficking software, which could circumvent the technological protection on eBooks in Adobe's eBook format. He was charged with five criminal offensives. With his arrest came the first criminal challenge to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). This paper will study why he was charged and later acquitted. It will also show how “fair use” has been defined in the terms of the DMCA. Mainly, it will observe the failures in the DMCA. This paper will also show the effect that the DMCA, according to several experts in the field of software, has had on current research in the field of digital media."
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Gaia is the Greek Goddess who represents Earth and is thought of as the Great Mother of all living things. She is also considered by some to be the "biological consciousness" of planet Earth. This biological consciousness is coming into... more
Gaia is the Greek Goddess who represents Earth and is thought of as the Great Mother of all living things. She is also considered by some to be the "biological consciousness" of planet Earth. This biological consciousness is coming into conflict with human hazards and natural disasters. There are efforts being made through Internet campaigns to address vital ecological issues. This presentation will show the efforts made by environmental cyber-activist groups for the ecological welfare of the planet. It will also place efforts of these groups in the framework of Sherry Turkle and Donna Haraway's "cyber-goddess" theoretical perspective . This will show how mechanical workings of the groups are interacting with the natural world.
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Dr. Shane Tilton, assistant professor of multimedia journalism, will present a discussion on the role of a decentralized citizen journalism movement, focusing on the last decade and the role of social media.
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The following slides were used as part of a copyright talk to a graduate student colloquium in Washington D.C. July 23, 2016. The focus of the talk was the connection between copyright law and augmented reality. Specifically, the focus... more
The following slides were used as part of a copyright talk to a graduate student colloquium in Washington D.C. July 23, 2016. The focus of the talk was the connection between copyright law and augmented reality. Specifically, the focus was on the questions surrounding the academic and legal issues around copyright law in augmented reality platforms and environments,
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This lecture was designed to discuss the foundations of understanding communication research based on the traditions of research.
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This was present as a symposium speech during Mia Consalvo's "Digital Games" class. This was looking at the social constructions around the concept of the term of gamers.
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One of my lectures when I taught "Critical Thinking and Information Studies" at the University of Kentucky.
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Abstract gaming is the idea that the game isn’t defined by the pieces, board and, to a small extent, the rules. The gaming experience is defined by the player’s and designer’s creativity. This was a guest lecture I gave for Mia Consalvo's... more
Abstract gaming is the idea that the game isn’t defined by the pieces, board and, to a small extent, the rules. The gaming experience is defined by the player’s and designer’s creativity. This was a guest lecture I gave for Mia Consalvo's "Digital Games" at Ohio University during Spring 2004 quarter.
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Wednesday is a date that has been part of Facebook hoaxes for nearly two years. October 21, 2015 at 1:21 am represents the time that Marty McFly enters the “future” from “Back to the Future 2.” One of the common jokes/meme/criticisms can... more
Wednesday is a date that has been part of Facebook hoaxes for nearly two years. October 21, 2015 at 1:21 am represents the time that Marty McFly enters the “future” from “Back to the Future 2.” One of the common jokes/meme/criticisms can be found on the “Back to the Future Future Date Guardians” Facebook page. “ This is simply a group to remind everyone that the REAL Future Date is October 21, 2015 at 1:21 am, so no need to stress about hoverboards or zero-calorie pizza until then.” Flying cars, garbage as energy, and especially those hoverboards have been part of our concept of the future since the movie came out in 1989. The design of the hoverboard has been discussed since it floated out onto the screen and into our imaginations. With this important date in mind, it’s important to discuss why we shouldn’t be disappointed that Mr. Fusion is not attached to every car. Matthew Rosza from Salon wrote a great article highlighting a few of the reasons why the writers missed the mark on the future. However, I think there are more basic reasons for this miss.
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Nerd, and nerd culture, has been a popular fixture in the media and popular culture. Dr. Shane Tilton looks at how the term has changed in recent times.
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In a previous article, I referred to Jon Stewart as a “News Nerd.” It may be a good point to explain why nerd was appropriate, and not the term du jour of geek. The purpose of this article is to try to look at the terms we seem to use to... more
In a previous article, I referred to Jon Stewart as a “News Nerd.” It may be a good point to explain why nerd was appropriate, and not the term du jour of geek. The purpose of this article is to try to look at the terms we seem to use to describe our community and the way we represent ourselves to the general public. Also, I want to try to explain how these terms have moved away from the negative pejoratives towards a more normalized view by members of society.
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As we wish #JonVoyage, Dr. Shane Tilton attempts to argue that Jon Stewart is a big "news nerd" that knows how to mimic a journalist.
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Richard Prince is known for his reappropriation of popular works into new pieces that could be interpretted as providing a critical eye of American culture and commericalism. His exhibit “New Portraits” shown at the Gagosian is not a... more
Richard Prince is known for his reappropriation of popular works into new pieces that could be interpretted as providing a critical eye of American culture and commericalism. His exhibit “New Portraits” shown at the Gagosian is not a criticism or a creative endeavor but it does represent the lengths some would go to in order to falsify the works of others. Primarily, I would (as a few others have) argue that the works are nothing more than the intellectual theft of others’ work for the sole purpose of profit.
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With fewer and fewer of the "original" Daily Show correspondents left to take over for Jon Stewart, Shane Tilton looks at The Daily Show with Jon Stewart's legacy and what a new host would mean for the show.
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To say the last six hours in the media has been a surreal experience would be an understatement. Brian Williams being suspended from NBC News on the same night that Jon Stewart decides to end his nearly two-decade run on the Daily Show... more
To say the last six hours in the media has been a surreal experience would be an understatement. Brian Williams being suspended from NBC News on the same night that Jon Stewart decides to end his nearly two-decade run on the Daily Show made for an interesting night of media self-reflection. We look at one institution with a de-facto credibility in terms of journalism and another institution that is trying to rebuild its credibility after one if its managing editors inflated his importance.
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This case study examines how social media accounts use memes and on- the-ground content to create a “real-time” and historical record of the events hap-pening in Ukraine during the 2022 invasion of their country by Russian forces and... more
This case study examines how social media accounts use memes and on- the-ground content to create a “real-time” and historical record of the events hap-pening in Ukraine during the 2022 invasion of their country by Russian forces and their allies. Artifacts from the Ukrainian Memes Forces’ Twitter account (among others) provides the memetic artifacts of examination. The grounding of this case study is based on Stuart Hall’s “Readings” to assess how audiences would interpret these messages the memetic artifacts via Twitter and TikTok and using an analysis of the layers within the memes that pro-Russian and pro-Ukrainian content creators are producing. The general theme is that pro-Russian content creators are focusing their content on an internal audience under a theme of nationalistic pride, while pro-Ukraine content creators are focusing their content on external audiences under the themes of satire of Russian propaganda and global awareness of the war.
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The discipline of information studies is one of those areas that I enjoy teaching. I had the pleasure of teaching "IS 200 Information Literacy and Critical Thinking" during my post-doc at the University of Kentucky. One of the areas that... more
The discipline of information studies is one of those areas that I enjoy teaching. I had the pleasure of teaching "IS 200 Information Literacy and Critical Thinking" during my post-doc at the University of Kentucky. One of the areas that I wish I could have done early in the development of this course was craft a primer on information studies terminology that helped establish what some of the baseline terms were given in the context of this course. This primer would have assisted discussions, since the primer laid out the groundwork for the direction of future readings the students would have needed to complete. The article (though almost a decade late) would have served this purpose.
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This was my response to the papers and presentations delivered by those students that won the "Top Student Honors" from Communication and the Future.
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This chapter explores the importance of navigating the terrain of social interactions, being open to new experiences, and avoiding the traps of going through the linear motions of the well-worn pathways of life. The rewards for choosing... more
This chapter explores the importance of navigating the terrain of social interactions, being open to new experiences, and avoiding the traps of going through the linear motions of the well-worn pathways of life. The rewards for choosing to explore the boundaries of the territory will also be discussed as well as how to minimize interpersonal risk by being able to recognize potential the dangers are and how to react to them. Examples from various games, along with Face-Work and Affect Theory, will be creating an understanding that being open to new experiences means viewing emotion as the pallet that influences a person’s views of the world and creates a roadmap of how to be a more open person.
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Social deception games are games that involve players adopting roles and teams that are not known to all players of the game. One of the components of these types of games is deceiving other players for the purpose of completing goals and... more
Social deception games are games that involve players adopting roles and teams that are not known to all players of the game. One of the components of these types of games is deceiving other players for the purpose of completing goals and tasks. The focus of this case study is to show how social deception games were used to teach aspects of small group communication (specifically the development of roles with small groups and power structures that emerge within small groups) to multiple groups of students taking a basic communication course at a large university in the United States. The framework of this case study will begin with an explanation of two social deception games (“Are You a Werewolf?” and “The Resistance”) and the previous literature related to small group communication, game-based learning, and other pedagogical frameworks. This review of literature is followed by a description of the lesson plan and course objectives that were used to frame the class time. An analysi...
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This article will look at the impact that mobile technologies have had on the ability of people to document their everyday lives. What is important to note about this documentation is that it has become a public display of events and... more
This article will look at the impact that mobile technologies have had on the ability of people to document their everyday lives. What is important to note about this documentation is that it has become a public display of events and experiences via mediated content. This documentation becomes more interesting to observe when it is put in context of how people can now record their travels. This “public memory” of private travel is assisted via mobile technologies with applications designed to record locations through Global Positioning System data and mediated content. After the documentation, the consumption of this content is conducted through social media services and other public outlets as opposed to the traditional means of showing where people have traveled via postcards, slides, and souvenirs. Through a mixed-method study, this process of documentation is analyzed via the thematic dichotomies that emerged throughout the course of surveys and interviews. This article will explore this contrast between the digital and physical through an analysis of the “traditional tourist” versus the “archiver of experiences.” Finally, the impact of this documentation will be framed in the context of mobile communication.
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Research Interests: Epistemology, Archival Studies, Data Collecting and Analyzing, Research Methodology, Ethnography, and 9 moreSociology of Knowledge, Mobile Technology, Academic Writing, Information Communication Technology, Documentary, Communication Research Methods, Meta Analysis and Systematic Review, Form Factor, and Technologies of Research
"Dmitry Sklyarov, a 27-year-old programmer for ElcomSoft Co. Ltd., was arrested after giving a speech at DEFCon, a major annual technical conference. He was arrested for trafficking software, which could circumvent the technological... more
"Dmitry Sklyarov, a 27-year-old programmer for ElcomSoft Co. Ltd., was arrested after giving a speech at DEFCon, a major annual technical conference. He was arrested for trafficking software, which could circumvent the technological protection on eBooks in Adobe's eBook format. He was charged with five criminal offensives. With his arrest came the first criminal challenge to the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA). This paper will study why he was charged and later acquitted. It will also show how “fair use” has been defined in the terms of the DMCA. Mainly, it will observe the failures in the DMCA. This paper will also show the effect that the DMCA, according to several experts in the field of software, has had on current research in the field of digital media."
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This article will observe the perceived value of two established cyberjournaling medium, podcasting and blogging. It is argued that the media allows for the free flow of information without the filter placed on communication. This... more
This article will observe the perceived value of two established cyberjournaling medium, podcasting and blogging. It is argued that the media allows for the free flow of information without the filter placed on communication. This unabridged delivery is a valuable asset, because of its ability to cut through the levels of news bureaucracy. However, cyberjournaling has its critics, as it fails the journalist integrity test. The paper will first focus on the technological breakdown of the media. Then, drawing on critical theory, theoretical dimensions concerning control, cause and closure are applied and analyzed to the media. A discussion of political economy and postmodern perspectives prepares the position for analysis. The article concludes by applying this analysis to a possible new cyberjournaling medium, jumpcasting. The paper will examine current technology and show how it can be used for cyberjournaling.
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Research Interests:
Documentary storytellers and mass communication faculty are creating and shaping the media future by incorporating traditional documentary methods in a new online environment. This session will explore the impact of media convergence on... more
Documentary storytellers and mass communication faculty are creating and shaping the media future by incorporating traditional documentary methods in a new online environment. This session will explore the impact of media convergence on the documentary genre and media departments in general. Panelists will share information about documentary storytelling in an online environment and the process of curriculum changes to make convergence happen.
Research Interests:
Twitter, and other forms of microblogging, represent a recent occurrence on the Internet. Microblogging allows an individual to express themselves 140 characters at a time through a website, through a program designed to access the... more
Twitter, and other forms of microblogging, represent a recent occurrence on the Internet. Microblogging allows an individual to express themselves 140 characters at a time through a website, through a program designed to access the individual's account, like Tweetdeck, or even through a mobile device, like a Blackberry. This channel also presents an opportunity to broadcast an individual's thoughts across the Internet to a group of followers.
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The McCauley Graphic Novel Forum was designed to be a discussion of the influence of graphic novels within the academy and society at large. The focus of Interactive Graphic Storytelling was to describe the state of the industry as it... more
The McCauley Graphic Novel Forum was designed to be a discussion of the influence of graphic novels within the academy and society at large. The focus of Interactive Graphic Storytelling was to describe the state of the industry as it related to digital production and distribution. The bulletpoints mention in the course of the presentation were designed to focus the audience and the other panelist on the impact digital graphic novel will have on the industry and business of graphic novels and comics.
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""In the beginning of this year, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) announced that due to low ratings during NBC's prime time lineup that Jay Leno would move back to the 11:30PM... more
""In the beginning of this year, the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) announced that due to low ratings during NBC's prime time lineup that Jay Leno would move back to the 11:30PM time slot from the 10 PM time slot he held on the network for the past four months. The 11:30 PM time slot was the realm of the Tonight Show whose host, Conan O'Brien, took over the Tonight Show slot from Jay Leno. This change would mean that the Tonight Show would start at 12:05 AM, while Leno's show would air from 11:35 PM to 12:05 AM. This decision caused a shockwave throughout the late night television landscape in the United States and through online social networks (OSNs). The purpose of this paper will be to examine the impact that online social networks (in this case Hulu, Facebook and Twitter) had on the turmoil in the NBC national offices, the affiliates, Conan O'Brien's camp, Jay Leno's camp and more importantly, the fans of late night programming. Part of the paper and the time for the presentation will be used to explain some of the decision making processes of the NBC national offices and how those processes were perceived and discussed throughout the various OSNs. The second area that to be discussed will be the virtual artifacts and interactions created between the fans of the show. These artifacts and interactions feed into the "economy of cyberpromotion" that help drive fans to watch the shows, buy merchandise that promotes the shows and create content that cycles back into the fan culture (Elmer, 2000 & Ito, 2008). The third section will be used to discuss how fans took the resources gained from their interactions on these OSN and planned real world events and promotions to maintain the status quo on NBC via the "technologies of cooperation" (Rheingold, 2002). The final part of this paper will look at the aftermath of the feud and the lesson that can be learned regarding the role of "interactive audiences" and their ability to feel some connection to the content and the networks used to distribute that content (Jenkins, 2006) Since this research is a work in progress, it would seem fair to try to experiment with a hybrid/mixed method of research to explore the problematic.The methods that I will use for this research will consist of a blend of a traditional case study, a virtual ethnographic study (Hine, 2000) and a contextual study. The intent is to use the traditional social network to set the framework of the structure of the network (both the OSNs and NBC). The contextual study would be used to flesh out the network and provide context on how the networks interact with one another. The realm of the contextual study would consist of the press releases delivered by NBC, Leno or O'Brien. The fan-created images and videos would be examined as well. Finally, the authenticity and identity of the fans' communities would be determined through a series of discussions with the leaders of the Facebook fan pages and pages that use Twitter as the mode of communication (i.e. "I'm with Coco," "Team Coco," "Team Leno" Facebook Fan Pages). ""
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A standard part of journalism scholarship is considering the relationships between the journalist/journalistic organization, the community covered by the journalist, and the audience that reads/listens/watches the journalist’s work. Those... more
A standard part of journalism scholarship is considering the relationships between the journalist/journalistic organization, the community covered by the journalist, and the audience that reads/listens/watches the journalist’s work. Those who have the privilege of teaching journalism at any level would naturally develop their students entering the workforce to deal with the ever-changing media industry by thinking critically about those relationships. I needed to adjust this developmental training practice due to COVID19. During the summer break, I reflected on the journalists that would cover these gutwrenching stories when I was a child.
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In March 2014, a viral campaign spread across social media using the tag #nomakeupselfie. This campaign involved women posting selfies without wearing makeup and (in later iterations of the trend) donating money to cancer charities. It... more
In March 2014, a viral campaign spread across social media using the tag #nomakeupselfie. This campaign involved women posting selfies without wearing makeup and (in later iterations of the trend) donating money to cancer charities. It was credited with raising £8 million for the charity Cancer Research UK (CRUK) and received a wealth of coverage in mainstream news media as well as across a range of blogs and news sites. The starting point for the #nomakeupselfie has been attributed by its lead campaigner to a single picture Laura Lippman posted on Twitter after Kim Novak’s appearance at the Oscars on 2 March 2014 (Ciambriello, 2014; London, 2014). Novak’s appearance was marred by criticism about her look. Some people on Twitter commented on how her face was not beautiful and that it was disfigured from plastic surgery. Lippman’s tweet of “No makeup, kind lighting. #itsokkimnovak” (Figure 1) was noted as the starting point to the prosocial focus of this hashtag.
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Dr. Shane Tilton, assistant professor of multimedia journalism, will present a discussion on the role of a decentralized citizen journalism movement, focusing on the last decade and the role of social media.
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Abstract This paper will look at the ability of online social networks to predict election outcomes of a connected society, in this case a university. Facebook represents a new phenomenon in networking within a university. These network... more
Abstract This paper will look at the ability of online social networks to predict election outcomes of a connected society, in this case a university. Facebook represents a new phenomenon in networking within a university. These network constructs allow for communication to occur rapidly and can influence the opinion of the student body. It is the conglomeration of previous information and communication technologies (ICTs) wrapped up under a simple graphical user interface (GUI) that allows the student body to communicate ...
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This is the second part of a two part trans-media series on the impact of comedy on journalistic content and political action. This article focuses on how the threats to satire by the current administration could impact journalistic... more
This is the second part of a two part trans-media series on the impact of comedy on journalistic content and political action. This article focuses on how the threats to satire by the current administration could impact journalistic content and civic inaction in the United States.
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This is the first part of a two part trans-media series on the impact of comedy on journalistic content and political action. This article focuses on late night comedy show that follow the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" model of comedic... more
This is the first part of a two part trans-media series on the impact of comedy on journalistic content and political action. This article focuses on late night comedy show that follow the "Daily Show with Jon Stewart" model of comedic action.
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One of the fundamental issues that novice journalists face when entering the workforce that the lack of institutional feedback they may receive. Specifically, the concern is that there is a lack of resources available for the improvement... more
One of the fundamental issues that novice journalists face when entering the workforce that the lack of institutional feedback they may receive. Specifically, the concern is that there is a lack of resources available for the improvement of journalists within news organizations. This essay is designed to give new journalists tools to evaluate journalistic works in the field. It begins with some basic foundations and definitions related to journalism. After this, the article goes into ways of evaluating a journalist's own work via the five criteria of journalistic content. This novice journalist is then able to evaluate other's works and breakdown the positives and negatives of journalistic writing and news media production.
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The Appalachian region of the United States is an area of perceived social and intellectual “backwardness.” This perception is portrayed in the media (i.e. “Snuffy Smith”, skits on “Saturday Night Live”, “Deliverance”, etc.) as the people... more
The Appalachian region of the United States is an area of perceived social and intellectual “backwardness.” This perception is portrayed in the media (i.e. “Snuffy Smith”, skits on “Saturday Night Live”, “Deliverance”, etc.) as the people living in this area are culturally inept to handle the “modern world”. It is possible to show, through statistics provided by the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) that these people are double or even triple disadvantaged through the definition of disadvantage previously denoted through discussion on status (Shelly, Sept. 22, 2005). There is an attempt through political channels to try to provide the area with better Internet service and other telecommunication products that could present increased economic stability to the area. These initiatives also have the advantage of spotlighting the region to “paint a better image of the area”. The focus of this research paper will be describe the current narrative of technological development within the Appalachian Ohio region and try to frame the discussion within the context of future economic and social development.
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The purpose of this white paper is to propose a novel and innovative method of communication (video games) to address a serious health problem (Type II diabetes) affecting the Appalachian Ohio region. Issues of the digital divide will be... more
The purpose of this white paper is to propose a novel and innovative method of communication (video games) to address a serious health problem (Type II diabetes) affecting the Appalachian Ohio region. Issues of the digital divide will be addressed within the context of this paper with regards to access and government initiatives. This paper will also show a health model designed to look at diabetes as a family health situation, as opposed to a personal health problem. There will be a brief introduction to the nature of the problem. This will be followed up by an analysis of the Appalachian Ohio region. The paper will then discuss diabetes and how the Family Health Model addresses some of the issues associated with diabetes. Previous models of health communication will be analyzed to determined strengths and weaknesses of those models. A look at serious health games will finish the review of the problem in context. The paper will end with a list of recommendations that the authors believe can provide a new approach to health communication with a focus on the family and allowing new channels of communication.
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This paper will look at the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the modern model of higher education. There will be a critical analysis within this paper of the actors within this system and how they respond to the... more
This paper will look at the role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the modern model of higher education. There will be a critical analysis within this paper of the actors within this system and how they respond to the environment and the introduction of new technology.
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This article will apply Marxist analysis to the medium of blogging. This paper will focus on how the means of production has changed and what this means for those who wish to publish online. There will also be a discussion on the impact... more
This article will apply Marxist analysis to the medium of blogging. This paper will focus on how the means of production has changed and what this means for those who wish to publish online. There will also be a discussion on the impact of division of labor on the World Wide Web. Finally, there will be a discussion on how much control is present in the current computer mediated age and who has this control.
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Social networks are created by shared interests in the same books, movies, television shows, and bands. Social groups are the nexus that intersects the individual users. They allow for general interactions between others who share common... more
Social networks are created by shared interests in the same books, movies, television shows, and bands. Social groups are the nexus that intersects the individual users. They allow for general interactions between others who share common interests. These interactions permit a universal level of understanding and means of communicating shared social experiences to others. It is because of this universal level of socialization that helps frame my interest in the field. The nature of social groups online creates a duality between the real world relationships and virtual extension of this existence. When alcohol is introduced to the environment, it can blur the boundaries even more.
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Fred Rogers was "America's Neighbor." Since his humble start as an unseen puppeteer for the "The Children's Corner" show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he has always had an interest in children and teaching them how to be good neighbors.... more
Fred Rogers was "America's Neighbor." Since his humble start as an unseen puppeteer for the "The Children's Corner" show in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, he has always had an interest in children and teaching them how to be good neighbors. Everyday for the past three decades, millions of school age children rode the trolley to the Land of Make-Believe to visit the Kingdom of Friday the XIII. He always talked to the children on their level. As the voice of reason and calm, he causally removed his outside shoes and coat to put on a comfy sweater and sneakers when he entered his television home. His quiet interaction with children is in direct contrast with other children’s programming to the fast-paced action that accompanied other programming designed for children.
When Mr. Rogers died last year, millions of his loyal viewers were saddened. He left a rich legacy of programming that may never be duplicated. Yet, with all of his influence on children, there has been remarkably little academic research done on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. This article will attempt to seek an understanding of Mr. Rogers' influence through uses and gratification study on viewers in creating an analysis of what impact Mr. Rogers has had on these children.
When Mr. Rogers died last year, millions of his loyal viewers were saddened. He left a rich legacy of programming that may never be duplicated. Yet, with all of his influence on children, there has been remarkably little academic research done on Mister Rogers' Neighborhood. This article will attempt to seek an understanding of Mr. Rogers' influence through uses and gratification study on viewers in creating an analysis of what impact Mr. Rogers has had on these children.
Research Interests:
Modern universities operate in a complex arena with many different interests and fields of study that can be pursued. The definition of what the university provides seems to change on a regular basis. As new disciplines enter the college... more
Modern universities operate in a complex arena with many different interests and fields of study that can be pursued. The definition of what the university provides seems to change on a regular basis. As new disciplines enter the college catalog and new “fads” in management and administration affect the university, one item keeps the purpose of the individual college or university clear: the mission statement. The mission statement provides a clear description of the overall goals of the university, and dictates to the university what is and is not important to the university. All present and future goals revolve around the ideas in this statement.
A slight problem of the mission statement is that while the goals of the university may be clear, the role of faculty may be nebulous (Hight and Cooper, n.d.). With all of the guidance provided by the statement, faculty seems to fade into the organization of the university. If the mission statement reflects what is important in the institution, the faculty member can feel that they lack the importance in the overall structure of the university. Faculty members can be unclear on how to best advance the mission of the university and define their own place in its structure. Therefore, they can choose to take the mission statement and fulfill all of the aspects of it, thus working themselves so hard they become burned out.
One way of achieving balance between the three roles of the modern faculty member is by analyzing the roles and breaking them down to their core components (i.e. what does being a teacher mean, what the essential parts of the job are, etc.). The core components dictate what define each of the roles. These components allow faculty members to know the essential mechanisms of each role. This can help the faculty member plan around the components and make effective use of their time. After a critical analysis of the roles of faculty members, one can know what to focus on in the key parts of the job.
A slight problem of the mission statement is that while the goals of the university may be clear, the role of faculty may be nebulous (Hight and Cooper, n.d.). With all of the guidance provided by the statement, faculty seems to fade into the organization of the university. If the mission statement reflects what is important in the institution, the faculty member can feel that they lack the importance in the overall structure of the university. Faculty members can be unclear on how to best advance the mission of the university and define their own place in its structure. Therefore, they can choose to take the mission statement and fulfill all of the aspects of it, thus working themselves so hard they become burned out.
One way of achieving balance between the three roles of the modern faculty member is by analyzing the roles and breaking them down to their core components (i.e. what does being a teacher mean, what the essential parts of the job are, etc.). The core components dictate what define each of the roles. These components allow faculty members to know the essential mechanisms of each role. This can help the faculty member plan around the components and make effective use of their time. After a critical analysis of the roles of faculty members, one can know what to focus on in the key parts of the job.
Research Interests:
"Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge” can be described as the classic airplane fighting game. The action is fast and furious. The characters are well developed and have distinctive traits with allows players to “latch on” to them.... more
"Crimson Skies: High Road to Revenge” can be described as the classic airplane fighting game. The action is fast and furious. The characters are well developed and have distinctive traits with allows players to “latch on” to them. Underneath all of the playability of the game, I noticed repeated themes in the game. In fact, I would pose three hypotheses about the game. They are:
The game has been heavily influenced by the events of September 11, 2001. The setting of the game, “the Nation-States of America” portrays a stereotypical landscape of the United States of America. The game “romanticizes” the “American Spirit” of protecting a cause through any means necessary. I will attempt to show how I came to these hypotheses through the analysis. The method of analysis that was chosen for this paper is a modified version of a film analysis, adapted from Dr. Jacobs-Huey’s method of analyzing film (http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~jacobshu/guide2filmanalysis.html).
The game has been heavily influenced by the events of September 11, 2001. The setting of the game, “the Nation-States of America” portrays a stereotypical landscape of the United States of America. The game “romanticizes” the “American Spirit” of protecting a cause through any means necessary. I will attempt to show how I came to these hypotheses through the analysis. The method of analysis that was chosen for this paper is a modified version of a film analysis, adapted from Dr. Jacobs-Huey’s method of analyzing film (http://www-rcf.usc.edu/~jacobshu/guide2filmanalysis.html).
Research Interests:
Columbus Dispatch is the “paper of record” in the state of Ohio. This study seeks to understand how the Columbus Dispatch creates their online content and selects what is their “featured story” for their website www.dispatch.com. The... more
Columbus Dispatch is the “paper of record” in the state of Ohio. This study seeks to understand how the Columbus Dispatch creates their online content and selects what is their “featured story” for their website www.dispatch.com. The study will use a content analysis, along with onsite interviews as the means analyzing the process. This study will look if pictures, audio, video and/or interactivity adds to this selection process.
Research Interests:
Over the past decade, there has been a great insurgence of technology in education. Educators are now better equipped to handle bigger enrollment in their classes through email and teaching classes over the Internet. Grading is as easy... more
Over the past decade, there has been a great insurgence of technology in education. Educators are now better equipped to handle bigger enrollment in their classes through email and
teaching classes over the Internet. Grading is as easy as punch a few keys on a computer. The discipline that has had to adapt quickest to the onset of new technology is the field of electronic
media. The days of cutting and splicing reel and recording on carts have now been replaced by sampling music through a digital audio editor. Video editing no longer takes two VCRs and days of watching and paste one scene after another. All of this work is done on a non-linear editor. Finally comes the growth of teaching web design and multimedia production, which can be taught by several different departments and in some college and university are being done through an agenda-by-committee. But, it does seem that even though all of the new production technique
out in the field, the teaching of the production method is very similar, if not identical, to how electronic media was taught ten or fifteen years ago. The key question that should be asked is are
the traditional methods of teaching electronic media well equipped to handle the rapid changes that are occurring in the field. The epistemological shift has led to a small identity crisis to the students already in a university setting. One question seems to be asked by more perceptive incoming students is what is the purpose of having a degree in electronic media, radio/TV or
telecommunication if the students already have a firm background in the materials. To understand why this question is being asked, one should examine the students that would enter
an electronic media program.
teaching classes over the Internet. Grading is as easy as punch a few keys on a computer. The discipline that has had to adapt quickest to the onset of new technology is the field of electronic
media. The days of cutting and splicing reel and recording on carts have now been replaced by sampling music through a digital audio editor. Video editing no longer takes two VCRs and days of watching and paste one scene after another. All of this work is done on a non-linear editor. Finally comes the growth of teaching web design and multimedia production, which can be taught by several different departments and in some college and university are being done through an agenda-by-committee. But, it does seem that even though all of the new production technique
out in the field, the teaching of the production method is very similar, if not identical, to how electronic media was taught ten or fifteen years ago. The key question that should be asked is are
the traditional methods of teaching electronic media well equipped to handle the rapid changes that are occurring in the field. The epistemological shift has led to a small identity crisis to the students already in a university setting. One question seems to be asked by more perceptive incoming students is what is the purpose of having a degree in electronic media, radio/TV or
telecommunication if the students already have a firm background in the materials. To understand why this question is being asked, one should examine the students that would enter
an electronic media program.
Research Interests:
Tori Amos is a musician that appears on MTV whose music has “raw melodies, filled with rage and religious irreverence. [She has] found an audience in the alternative music scene pretty quickly” (Alber, 1996). Her fans called, “ears with... more
Tori Amos is a musician that appears on MTV whose music has “raw melodies, filled with rage and religious irreverence. [She has] found an audience in the alternative music scene pretty quickly” (Alber, 1996). Her fans called, “ears with feet” (Whitehead, 1997), are part of overall emotional package defined as a Tori Amos performance. These performances go beyond the concerts to her videos and every song on every one of her albums. These emotional connections also go beyond her concerts as well. Usenet, which is an Internet newsgroup connected to one topic, subject, issue or concern (Berners-Lee & Frystyk, 1997), represents one arena that Tori Amos’ fans can come together to discuss their love of Tori Amos’ music.
An informal survey (Anderson & Gansneder, 1995) that was structured in the format for electronic mail (e-mail) was submitted to the Tori Amos’ Usenet group (rec.music.tori-amos) three times between February and March 1995. This survey was created for the purpose of determining what uses Tori Amos’ fans have for her performances and how these performances gratify Tori Amos fans.
Two major areas were addressed in the research. The first being Amos' fans experiences when listening to her performance represented the emotional connection that the fans felt between themselves and Tori. The second area that was briefly explored in the research is the feeling of community among the members of the rec.music.tori-amos (RMTA) Usenet group. This paper will conclude by looking at fans on Usenet groups as a community and address the communication and interactions that occur between members of these groups.
An informal survey (Anderson & Gansneder, 1995) that was structured in the format for electronic mail (e-mail) was submitted to the Tori Amos’ Usenet group (rec.music.tori-amos) three times between February and March 1995. This survey was created for the purpose of determining what uses Tori Amos’ fans have for her performances and how these performances gratify Tori Amos fans.
Two major areas were addressed in the research. The first being Amos' fans experiences when listening to her performance represented the emotional connection that the fans felt between themselves and Tori. The second area that was briefly explored in the research is the feeling of community among the members of the rec.music.tori-amos (RMTA) Usenet group. This paper will conclude by looking at fans on Usenet groups as a community and address the communication and interactions that occur between members of these groups.
Research Interests:
Instagram represents a new platform for photojournalists and journalistic organizations to deliver news and information to audiences and build community. Photographers can frame a developing event through their unique lens and instantly... more
Instagram represents a new platform for photojournalists and journalistic organizations to deliver news and information to audiences and build community. Photographers can frame a developing event through their unique lens and instantly publish it garnering audience reaction from the universe of the platforms 150 million users. This social platform allows organizations to connect populaces, branding, modes of authentication, and resources (both in the form of production and support for the photographer). Both photojournalists and news organizations are adapting to this crowdsourced feed of content (Aitamurto, 2015), the issues related to the perceived validity of photos (Brandtzaeg et al., 2015), and the changing tempos related to the production and consumption of journalistic content (Garcia, 2014).
The focus of previous research on Instagram’s impact on journalism has focused on the impact to individual photojournalists either covering crisis zones throughout the world (Alper, 2014), the authenticity & hyperreality of the images (Borges-Rey, 2015), or the connection to citizen journalism and other forms of amateur reporting (Mortensen & Keshelashvili, 2013). Little work has been done to determine how journalists and news organizations are presenting news on Instagram. A content analysis of 18 of the top 25 “Most Popular and Active News Brands on Instagram” (Sherk, 2013) was conducted using the last 100 posts at the time of coding. This analysis will look at the work produced on Instagram by the various categories of journalistic organization (e.g. print, broadcast, & multimedia) and analyze how these organizations and photojournalists present narratives within the framework of the Instagram platform.
The focus of previous research on Instagram’s impact on journalism has focused on the impact to individual photojournalists either covering crisis zones throughout the world (Alper, 2014), the authenticity & hyperreality of the images (Borges-Rey, 2015), or the connection to citizen journalism and other forms of amateur reporting (Mortensen & Keshelashvili, 2013). Little work has been done to determine how journalists and news organizations are presenting news on Instagram. A content analysis of 18 of the top 25 “Most Popular and Active News Brands on Instagram” (Sherk, 2013) was conducted using the last 100 posts at the time of coding. This analysis will look at the work produced on Instagram by the various categories of journalistic organization (e.g. print, broadcast, & multimedia) and analyze how these organizations and photojournalists present narratives within the framework of the Instagram platform.
Research Interests:
The purpose of this paper is to discuss to discuss how the work of Kant can be applied to the future of communication scholarship. Kant’s analysis of knowledge and scholarship was framed on his Doctrine of Methods. This doctrine described... more
The purpose of this paper is to discuss to discuss how the work of Kant can be applied to the future of communication scholarship. Kant’s analysis of knowledge and scholarship was framed on his Doctrine of Methods. This doctrine described the key praxeological and axiological issues that should define all scholarship; cognition, definition & ethical discourse. Kant’s conception of Erkenntniß or cognition represented a real possibility constraint and a determinate content constraint within the course of knowledge of the world (Schafer, 2013). Definition in Kant viewpoints focus on the contrast between the analytic (things are true by virtue of their meaning) & synthetic propositions (things are true by how their meaning relates to the world). Finally, the ethical discourse looked at the ground rules of communication in order to establish the standards of discussing knowledge.
Research Interests:
This course will focus on culture as communication via the smallest unit of expression, the meme. The term itself comes from Richard Dawkins in 1976 to describe some of the most basic constructions of culture within society, like... more
This course will focus on culture as communication via the smallest unit of expression, the meme. The term itself comes from Richard Dawkins in 1976 to describe some of the most basic constructions of culture within society, like stereotypes within television shows, wallpaper patterns, and even the form factors of kitchen appliances.
The structure of the course will be in the form of the analysis of memetic communication (using the more modern definition of the term) using visual communication theory, mass communication theory, and interdisciplinary approaches to attempt to deconstruct memes and understand how to effectively communicate in the often noisy arena of communication known as the Internet.
The structure of the course will be in the form of the analysis of memetic communication (using the more modern definition of the term) using visual communication theory, mass communication theory, and interdisciplinary approaches to attempt to deconstruct memes and understand how to effectively communicate in the often noisy arena of communication known as the Internet.
Research Interests:
My syllabus for the UKC/IS 200 class I taught in the Spring 2014 semester at the University of Kentucky.
Research Interests:
Introduction to the techniques and practices of media analysis. Designed to provide critical skills to understand media products for the messages embedded within them, the different interpretations that various audience mem- bers or users... more
Introduction to the techniques and practices of media analysis. Designed to provide critical skills to understand media products for the messages embedded within them, the different interpretations that various audience mem- bers or users take away from them, and how those products can change or not in a global culture. This course is an advanced undergraduate examination of mass communication theory and criticism, with the primary goal of showing how theory drives research, and how research helps us understand mass media. We’ll be learning through lectures, classroom discussions and readings, as well as your own explorations as you work on assign- ments. The primary objective is to give you the knowledge and problem-solving skills to understand and critique the patterns and processes that underlie modern media institutions, their productions and practices; and the con- sequences of those patterns and processes on the way media audiences understand and interpret the world. The ultimate objective is to place media institutions, texts, and practices within an understanding of the power struc- tures that shape our cultural life, politics and economics.