The latest ep of the podcast Unruly Subjects with [alum] @chenjerai.bsky.social, "Creating Conditions for Black Mothers to Thrive," features Malajah Rigsby, a new mother, & her doula Shantice Edwards AND psychotherapist Saadiqa Kumanyika (also a Penn State alum!). podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Screenshot of SCMS panel, titled "Reading between selves: queer, neurodivergent, and feminized fan cultures"
Presenting at #SCMS26 for the first time! If anyone is interested in seeing Abby and I talk about Netflix's Love on the Spectrum, we're on Saturday 2:15-4:00
@abbysimmerman.bsky.social
Another conference that I came back to Bluesky for and this time it is for my first #scms26. I had a great time yesterday presenting my work on meme-inspired micro-transactions in video games and chairing the panel! Thanks to all who attended, really enjoyed all the presentations and discussion!
Bellisario at SCMS!
In the subject "Communication & Media Studies," Penn State ranks #29 in the London-based QS World University Rankings, and #12 in the US. The #29 ranking places Comm/Media as the sixth highest subject at Penn State in these rankings. www.topuniversities.com/university-s...
PhD alum Chongdae Park has translated into Korean the great work Big Media, Big Money by late faculty Ron Bettig and Jeanne Hall.
I spoke with CBC about the FCC, Brendan Carr and CBS' decision not to broadcast Colbert's interview with U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico.
TL:DR: The FCC is making decisions that are motivated by the very partisan ideology the warned broadcasters about.
I'm so very sorry.
"We own it, we're ending it, and we don't want to talk to anyone who wants to buy it. Don't call us; we won't answer you."
www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/n...
That appears to be the current status of the Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh. Via @dankennedy.net
Sometimes I remember Reagan removing Jimmy Carter’s solar panels and I think we’ve been enduring this shit for way too many years.
It's Superbowl Sunday, the day when interests coalesce around a singular purpose
US journalism is demonstratively weaker now than even a year ago: public media federal funding rescinded; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette closing; billionaire-owner eroding news independence (WaPo, LA Times, CBS), & now massive WaPo layoffs. Those in power know that our watchdogs are less watchful.
Cops at her front door, holding a phone to her face, asking if that's her Facebook account.
What the fuck are we doing here?
If you're wondering what Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, has said publicly in response to the FBI's raid of a Washington Post reporter's home last week, the answer is nothing.
😳
We can hope that a new civic-minded nonprofit or low-profit local media institution emerges in Pittsburgh until we arrive at a more structural approach -- ideally a reinvented and greatly expanded public media system -- that can deal with the news deserts problem across the country.
I mean, if we're talking about the red meat in the era of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, sure.
A diseased product sold by hucksters that wreaks havoc and even causes death, forcing the federal government to step in with harsh regulations?
Yeah, man, that works.
This message could/should be extended to a wide range of academic fields and areas of study. My field, communication, has too often dismissed media ownership concentration as a serious concern.
Read the full report from @victorpickard.bsky.social, @bilalb.bsky.social and @shahrzadshams.bsky.social of @rooseveltinstitute.org called "The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis."
HERE: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
Since owner Jeff Bezos overhauled the Post's editorial board earlier this year, it has been very good at cranking out billionaire-friendly propaganda. It is quite bad at everything else.
advertisers also wanted nothing to do with bari's gibberish, relegating it to being aired alongside ads for the chia pet like some dogshit 3am infomercial
I was privileged to appear on “Democracy Works” to discuss the Trump admin compact w/universities, the growing “diploma divide” in the U.S. electorate, and why higher ed matters to democracy. Thanks to the terrific folks at the Penn State McCourtney Institute. #EduSky
radio.wpsu.org/opinion/2025...
Congrats, Mina!
List of 16 films, ranked by preference. All That Jazz: 3.08, 4 first-place votes In The Mood For Love: 5.92, 3 first-place votes Fast Times at Ridgemont High: 6.08, 2 first-place votes Portrait of a Lady on Fire: 6.23, 2 first-place votes The Conversation: 6.46 Marie Antoinette: 6.54, 1 first-place vote Double Indemnity, 7.31, 1 first-place vote Blood Simple, 7.31 Breathless, 8.23 Blue Velvet, 8.46 The Blair Witch Project, 9.31 The Wizard of Oz, 9.69 Millennium Actress, 11.62 Meshes of the Afternoon, 12.31 Daughters of the Dust, 12.85 With Babies and Banners, 14.62 Some other details: No film received my favorite honor in this exercise (first- and last-place votes), but Daughters of the Dust came close, with a single second-place vote and five last-place votes. All That Jazz's victory was defined by consistency; only one person rated it outside the top five. Fittingly, Double Indemnity and Blood Simple tied all the way to the millionths decimal point. I gave DI the nod because of its lone first-place vote.
One of my favorite things to do in class is ask my students to rank our screened materials at the end of the semester. The results are not often surprising, but they're still interesting/instructive.
The results from my 200-level Film History & Theory course this semester.
What happens when journalists try to serve democracy inside institutions working against them? In this Q&A by @abbyqin.bsky.social, @margotsusca.bsky.social talks about the "financialization" of news and how journalists can navigate corporate control.
ethics.sjmc.wisc.edu/2025/12/10/e...
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IMPORTANT PODCAST ALERT! Unruly Subjects, with @chenjerai.bsky.social.
Flyer featuring pictures of George conscious Lee and Chenjerai and QR code. And text describing event
EVENT ALERT!
For the last year we've been cooking up a critical conversation between myself and orator, educator, and influential content creator Conscious Lee. We’ll discuss how he determines what's true, communicates complex stories, and promotes compelling, accessible public political education
🙂
I was listening to a podcast of authors talking about "bad review" parties where everyone brings their most brutal review to try to win a predetermined prize.
Academics should do this with peer reviews.
I think my "amusing at best, waste of academic time at worst" is a strong contender.