As culture becomes increasingly digitized, arguments for the “dematerialization” of media are becoming commonplace. However, media have always been, and remain, embedded in and structured by material objects, networks, and practices that delimit their uses and meanings.
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Perspectives
The Materiality of Media
Film Review: Can Generation P’s Cultural References Play Abroad?
Most scholars of media have at some point stumbled onto something from another country without the proper frame of reference and been utterly bewildered by it. Generation P seems to be consciously playing up this experience as part of its appeal for a niche foreign market.
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Balancing between “Academy” and “Industry”
A discussion of academic media studies work outside the university.
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The Rise and Fall of @Sutterink: Showrunners [Off] Twitter III
While it was perhaps inevitable that Sutter’s lack of a filter would result in his Twitter account becoming a liability, the rise and fall of “@sutterink” has more to do with public perceptions of Twitter than with his actual commentary.
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“Quiet, you”: Computer Games, Silence, and the Anti-Aliasing of Expression
A hunt for elusive video game silence and an investigation of its meaning.
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The Overseas Job Market and the Media Studies Academy
A discussion of the academic job market and hiring processes in the UK and Ireland.
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How the Categories Got Their Shapes: Eligibility & the Emmy Nominations
While we are often quick to point out the flaws in the Emmy nomination process, lamenting the absence of our favorite programs, often the nominations are guided as much by eligibility as by voter subjectivities.
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You Have Friends That Want You Back Home
Treme’s focus on how its culture and cultural economies are created and presented through music and cuisine has meant a majority of its almost 22 narrative hours watching musicians struggle with bar owners, the recording business, the law and each other.
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Whatever Happened to the Devil’s Music?
Surely in the final minutes of the last day of the Glastonbury rock festival, people are supposed to look sick, bedraggled and filthy, following a weekend of unfettered debauchery, but those kids are just too clean!. Come to think of it, why is Beyonce headlining anyway?
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Sarah Palin, Anti-Fandom, and the Nature of Political Celebrity
With the release of the new documentary on Sarah Palin, the former governor takes umbrage at the "hate" directed toward her by Hollywood celebrities. She either doesn't understand celebrity culture or understands it all too well.
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The Guilty Pleasure of the Red Carpet Fashion Smackdown
Fashion Police is a bundle of contradictions—it is both celebratory and critical, sophisticated and vulgar, insightful and adolescent.
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Glenn Beck’s Legacy for Television News
Glenn Beck's departure from Fox News does not mean he truly leaves the network. Cable television news has been fundamentally changed as a result of his presence. We look back at Beck's legacy and what that means for television news.
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Salvaging the Sinking Soaps?
Could the demise of so many daytime soaps be causing a return to form for a genre fans have long felt was losing its way? The rapidly changing world of U.S. daytime television has as many highs and lows as a juicy soap storyline these days.
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Tremé: Feels Like Joy and Pain
The challenge facing Tremé (and every other media representation of New Orleans) is finding a way to balance a celebration of the city’s unique cultural contributions with an acknowledgment of its more conventional, and often more damning, histories, memories, and contemporary realities. Week 6’s episode “Feels Like Rain” responds to this challenge, self-consciously,...
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Could The Good Wife Be More Prescient?
When it comes to misbehaving male politicos, troubled marriages, and suffering wives, it seems a reasonable question to ask whether the writers/creators of The Good Wife are either clairvoyant, or just darned lucky.
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