Showing papers in "Journal of Communication Inquiry in 2017"
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examine the theoretical framework of communities of practice and explore how it can productively be applied to the study of journalists and find that focusing on the collaborative learning aspect and development of shared practice through the lens of Communities of practice enables us to more fully understand the nature of skill and practice-building among specific subgroups of journalistic practit...
Abstract: In light of changes in the structure of how journalism works due to technological, economic, cultural, and political shifts, we examine the theoretical framework of communities of practice and explore how it can productively be applied to the study of journalists. In evaluating the feasibility of applying communities of practice to journalism, we also consider other theoretical frameworks that have been used for examining journalistic groups, including interpretive communities, professions and organizations, and boundary work. The article provides examples to illustrate how different groups of journalists may constitute communities of practice. Whereas community is often attached to the idea of discourse communities or interpretive communities, we find that focusing on the collaborative learning aspect and development of shared practice through the lens of communities of practice enables us to more fully understand the nature of skill- and practice-building among specific subgroups of journalistic practit...
29 citations
TL;DR: The authors assesses news media coverage of two environmental justice cases involving Native American groups in Washington State through inductive framing analysis, and evaluate the way they evaluated the way the media reported these cases.
Abstract: This research assesses news media coverage of two environmental justice cases involving Native American groups in Washington State. Through inductive framing analysis, this work evaluates the way i...
20 citations
TL;DR: The Internet was heralded as a medium that might expand coverage of women's sports, yet some question whether the Internet has provided even more opportunities to perpetuate gender stereotypes as discussed by the authors...
Abstract: The Internet was heralded as a medium that might expand coverage of women’s sports, yet some question whether the Internet has provided even more opportunities to perpetuate gender stereotypes. Thi...
14 citations
TL;DR: In this article, 45 interviews with media scholars in liminality theory were conducted to understand how scholars use social media as they transition to combined offline and online communication. But, they struggle with a double bind of needing to be social media savvy while worrying about career consequences of posting publicly.
Abstract: This study grounds 45 interviews with media scholars in liminality theory and analyzes how scholars use social media as they transition to combined offline and online communication Scholars employ highly personal strategies to decide if and how to integrate social media into their professional lives for peer and public communication Scholars struggle with a double bind of needing to be social media savvy while worrying about career consequences of posting publicly Few best practices exist
14 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue for the importance of exploring how strategic forgetting operates in conjunction with the familiar and formulaic frame of personalization to erase or evade the continued presence of structured, systemic racism in the (re)construction/renewal of city spaces.
Abstract: Despite the tangible and documented impact race plays in questions of housing, employment, education, and health, discourses of antiracialism perpetuate the idea race—and by extension, racism—is no longer a relevant marker of disparity. In this alleged “post race” context, how do news accounts cover stories on urban crisis and renewal? This article takes up scholarly calls to develop “conceptual tools” that may enable critical scholars to explore how racism continues undercover in the 21st century. I argue for the importance of exploring how strategic forgetting operates in conjunction with the familiar and formulaic frame of personalization to erase or evade the continued presence of structured, systemic racism in the (re)construction/renewal of city spaces.
13 citations
TL;DR: This article used textual analysis to analyze how journalists are depicted on the Netflix drama House of Cards through the lens of orientalism and cultivation, and examined how depictions of journalists were depicted.
Abstract: This study utilizes textual analysis to analyze how journalists are depicted on the Netflix drama House of Cards. Through the lens of orientalism and cultivation, researchers examine how depictions...
12 citations
TL;DR: The authors examines mainstream newspaper coverage of Monica Lewinsky in 1998, the year her relationship with President Bill Clinton came to public light, and highlights how a private citizen became a public figure.
Abstract: This study examines mainstream newspaper coverage of Monica Lewinsky in 1998, the year her relationship with President Bill Clinton came to public light. It highlights how a private citizen became ...
9 citations
TL;DR: Although Benjamin's "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction" is a seminal essay in the study of media history, the work itself gives a surprisingly brief account of one of the most famous works of art in history as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Although Walter Benjamin’s “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction” is a seminal essay in the study of media history, the work itself gives a surprisingly brief account of one of fie...
9 citations
TL;DR: Class is an issue rarely foregrounded in advertising criticism, although the emphasis on consumption and commodity-defined images of the good life frequently makes advertising a class-oriented disc....
Abstract: Class is an issue rarely foregrounded in advertising criticism, although the emphasis on consumption and commodity-defined images of the good life frequently makes advertising a class-oriented disc...
9 citations
TL;DR: The authors argue that the representation of cultural difference to the preschooler audience is fearful and propagates racist discourses of yellow peril and Orientalism, and identify four ways that Hiro is "othered" in the film: (1) his glamorized description as "strange", (2) his consistently heavily accented voice, (3) his Japanese origin story, and (4) his pigmentation and powerlessness.
Abstract: Television is a significant socialization tool for children to learn about their social worlds. The children's brand, Thomas & Friends, targets preschool audiences with manifest messages about friendship and utility as well as troubling, latent messages about race, ethnicity, and difference. Through critical visual and verbal discursive analyses of the film, Hero of the Rails, we expose Thomas & Friends' investment in racial hierarchies despite its broader message of friendship. We identify four ways that Hiro is “othered” in the film: (1) his glamorized description as “strange,” (2) his consistently heavily accented voice, (3) his Japanese origin story, and (4) his pigmentation and powerlessness. Using theories of “othering,” we argue that the representation of cultural difference to the preschooler audience is fearful and propagates racist discourses of yellow peril and Orientalism.
9 citations
TL;DR: The 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant calamity created a global focal point for debate about nuclear energy, and a notable forum for dissent as mentioned in this paper, and the incident, marked by the meltdown of three of the nuc...
Abstract: Japan’s 2011 Fukushima nuclear plant calamity created a global focal point for debate about nuclear energy, and a notable forum for dissent. The incident, marked by the meltdown of three of the nuc...
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors explore a contemporary digital media project, which explores the potential for disseminating campaigns, connecting with constituency, and creating spaces for connectivity. But, they focus on the use of social media for connecting communities.
Abstract: Digital media present great potential for disseminating campaigns, connecting with constituencies, and creating spaces for connectivity This article explores a contemporary digital media project,
TL;DR: In this paper, the television laugh track is used as a crutch for bad jokes or a means to routinize audience response. But it is also used for good jokes.
Abstract: This article complicates popular and scholarly discourses that understand the television laugh track as a crutch for bad jokes or a means to routinize audience response. By exploring early institut...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors address how one learns to intern and negotiate his or her class identity between a blue-collar past and a precarity cinema of precarity, drawing on the literature regarding internships and precarity.
Abstract: Drawing on the literature regarding internships and cinema of precarity, this article addresses how one “learns” to intern and negotiate his or her class identity between a blue-collar past and whi...
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present research on the communications surrounding the “Knit Your Bit” campaign, which the American Red Cross conducted with help from the U.S. government-sponsored Committee on Public Information.
Abstract: Government public relations are often viewed as propaganda. However, one’s own perspective has much to do with how the communications are perceived. One example of American propaganda is linked to World War I. While there has been research devoted to the patriotic posters and films of this era, other forms of media during this same time period have been largely overlooked. This article, therefore, presents research on the communications surrounding the “Knit Your Bit” campaign, which the American Red Cross conducted with help from the U.S. government-sponsored Committee on Public Information. The campaign persuaded knitters on the home front to knit for the troops using content in the major women’s magazine of the day: Ladies’ Home Journal. This article considers how the overlooked campaign contributed to efforts to generate patriotism during World War I and how social, political, and economic factors affected the communications.
TL;DR: With the increasing use of innovative and expressive dramaturgical actions in contemporary social movements, activists appeal to the public's emotional and moral convictions so as to elicit action as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: With the increasing use of innovative and expressive dramaturgical actions in contemporary social movements, activists appeal to the public’s emotional and moral convictions so as to elicit action....
TL;DR: In the past 45 years since his death, Morrison's legacy, in the form of rebellious and anti-establishment reputation, numerous reprints of his photographs and the continued popularity of the Doors' music, has elevated the singer from a 1960s sex symbol image to the status of a pop culture icon.
Abstract: In the past 45 years since his death, Jim Morrison’s legacy, in the form of rebellious and antiestablishment reputation, numerous reprints of his photographs and the continued popularity of the Doors’ music, has elevated the singer from a 1960s sex symbol image to the status of a pop culture icon. This paper aims to trace the roots of his now mythical image by analyzing the components which have been identified as those that initiated its creation: his attractive physical appearance and the promotional material launched to enhance it, press articles that focused on his physique, his highly sexual and unpredictable live performances, and his verbal ingenuity shown in the interviews he gave with memorable catch phrases.
TL;DR: In this article, a particular episode of CBS's The Good Wife (2009-2016) is analyzed to extend Mittell's concept of drillability and explore its theoretical links to Mikhail Bakhtin's "dialogic imagination".
Abstract: Jason Mittell argues that contemporary television narrative is marked by degrees of both structural and consumptive complexity. One way he addresses this complexity is through the concept of drillability, which he describes as “a mode of forensic fandom that invites viewers to dig deeper, probing beneath the surface to understand the complexity of a story and its telling.” This essay analyzes a particular episode of CBS’s The Good Wife (2009–2016) to extend Mittell’s concept of drillability and to explore its theoretical links to Mikhail Bakhtin’s “dialogic imagination.” In doing so, the essay argues that “producer-fans” model modes of critical media consumption required by an informed and engaged citizenry.
TL;DR: The authors analyzed recent road movies from prolific British director Michael Winterbottom, whose work is often characterized as confrontational toward the political and cinematic status quo, and drew on the tropes of movement derived from Bauman to analyze recent "road movies" from British directors, including In This World (2002), Genova (2008), and The Trip to Italy (2014).
Abstract: This investigation draws on tropes of movement derived from Bauman to analyze recent “road movies” from prolific British director Michael Winterbottom, whose work is often characterized as confrontational toward the political and cinematic status quo. In addressing movement, the analysis also addresses the films’ contrasting postures toward globalization, where salient. Following a quick case study of Everyday (2012) that calls upon tropes of the tourist, traveler, and vagabond, In This World (2002) is interpreted as a quasi-fictional portrait of marginalized vagabonds that reveals the hard edges of an exclusionary global regime—as well as contradictions within that regime. By contrast, Genova (2008) is structured around privileged subjects’ extended travel experience as they partake of globalization’s benign opportunities for therapeutic discovery. Finally The Trip (2010) and The Trip to Italy (2014) stage tourism in largely affirmative, consumerist terms that reproduce male and class privilege, in a ret...