Jennifer M. Proffitt

Exploring the Political Blogosphere: Perceptions of Political Bloggers About Their Sphere

This study examines the relationship between news media and bloggers from the perspective of political bloggers. Working from the theoretical frameworks of media accountability systems (Bertrand, 2000) and Brosius and Weimanns (1996) models of agenda-setting and two-step flow, the article proposes a new model that includes political bloggers. Via an online questionnaire, the study examines the demographics of political bloggers, how they view the blogosphere, and how they perceive their relationships with the mainstream media. Results suggest that bloggers do tend to define their role in the blogosphere as an extension of traditional media, sharing similar norms and values such as accuracy, responsibility, and independence, and at the same time believe that they have an impact on politics and news and serve as an accurate source of political information and analysis for their readers. It seems hopeless. How can the newspaper industry survive the Internet? On the one hand, newspapers are expected to supply their content free on the Web. On the other hand, their most profitable advertising—classifieds—is being lost to sites like Craigslist. And display advertising is close behind. Meanwhile, there is the blog terror: people are getting their understanding of the world from random lunatics riffing in their underwear, rather than professional journalists with standards and passports. (Kinsley, 2006, ¶1)

Plugging Back Into The Matrix: The Intertextual Flow of Corporate Media Commodities

This article argues that The Matrix franchise provided global Hollywood with a model for channeling revenue and fans through different multimedia revenue streams via linked commodity narratives. Building on previous theoretical concepts of the expansion of corporate media texts, the article discusses The Matrix as “commodified intertextual flow” where various consumable forms were marketed as narratively necessary purchases for Matrix fans. Ultimately, The Matrix as a narratively integrated brand expanded the marketing strategies for commodity-oriented media texts and undermined the original films critique of consumer culture. The integration of DVD technologies, release strategies, and ancillary licensing constructed a narrative necessity and “community” of fans who may have felt compelled to buy into the complete multicommodity narrative.

Bollywood and the Indian Premier League (IPL): the political economy of Bollywood's new blockbuster

This paper interrogates the interrelationships between sports and popular culture to facilitate an understanding of the converging areas between political and economic forces and cultural practices operative in the global marketplace. Using a critical political economy approach, it examines the innovatively formatted and media-friendly Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket tournament and the Bollywood stars who are involved as owners and promoters of the league. The profit-generating capacity of cricket has increased the interest of the corporate sector and the entertainment industries, resulting in the spectaclization, commercialization, and corporatization of the popular sport.

Bong hits and water bottles: an analysis of news coverage of athletes and marijuana use.

This paper examines how sports media framed marijuana incidences involving athletes Michael Phelps, Michael Vick, Josh Howard, and Brad Miller. The analysis finds that Phelps’ actions were generally downplayed, as his youth, his Olympic success, and the perceived irrationality of marijuana laws were frequently used as excuses not afforded to his athletic peers. It concludes that race does affect how media cover athletes and that onfield success can affect how media frame stories involving athletes.

Penn State’s “Success With Honor” How Institutional Structure and Brand Logic Disincentivized Disclosure

In the wake of the Penn State child sex tragedy, media coverage tended to focus on the individuals involved rather than the corporatized university’s economic motivations and the institutional structure under which officials’ (in)actions occurred. This article interrogates and critiques that institutional structure, arguing that the “brand logic” of big-time intercollegiate athletics programs places image and profits ahead of people. In conjunction with on-field success, image and branding play prominently in an athletics program’s ability to maximize new revenue streams (e.g., licensing and merchandising). Further, administrators argue that athletics function as a university’s “front porch,” returning (symbolic) value to the institution (e.g., community, visibility, branding, alumni giving, and student applications). Thus, university and athletics administrators constantly take brand logic into their decision-making. The fallout from the Penn State tragedy offers insights into the ways in which brand logics disincentivize ethical decision-making when image, reputation, and millions of dollars are on the line.

Introduction to the Special Forum on Monetization of User-Generated Content: Marx Revisited

The identification of core characteristics of labor and value creation in the information society is complicated, specifically in regard to user-generated content in social media websites and networks of audience labor. The issues related to user-generated content raise a number of definitional questions that are fundamental for theory development. Core elements of this debate include the definitions and significance of user-generated content, labor, value, price, production, commodities, exploitation, and class, all of which are challenging to define in the context of information and knowledge activities. Each perspective article in this special issue brings something unique to questions about labor in the information society, contributing both to clarification of concepts and to theory-building regarding labor and value creation.

Looking Back as We Prepare to Move Forward: US Presidential Candidates' Adoption of YouTube

As the United States prepares for the 2012 Presidential Election, we reflect on how the 2008 candidates and the voting public adopted social computing technology with specific focus on YouTube. Using the Social Influence Model as a framework, this article sought to examine how candidates adopted YouTube to determine what types of messages were disseminated via YouTube and what kind of response from viewers videos received. We conducted a content analysis of candidate YouTube sites, focusing on video characteristics and content. Findings indicate that the candidates did not use YouTube to its fullest extent and that there were significant differences between the candidates in terms of the types of videos posted and the content posted and that constituents did adopt the medium as demonstrated in viewership numbers and responses.

Mimicking Bollywood in Slumdog Millionaire: Global Hollywood’s Newest Co-Optation of Culture

In an age when mass media transcend geographic barriers, Slumdog Millionaire (SDM) represents a new type of film in the global media market—a seemingly Bollywood, although not technically Bollywood, production. As film-going provides a site for ideological and cultural production, this article examines SDM’s success as a product imitative of Bollywood film. Due to its recency, SDM has yet to be examined as a product that crosses both cultural and geographic boundaries with commercial ties to major Hollywood media conglomerates. Applying political economic theory, this research examines the reasons for Hollywood involvement in a film production that is mimetic of the Bollywood genre, in an attempt to better understand the global political economic factors that drive the film industry today.

Sports, Labor and the Media: An Examination of Media Coverage of the 2011 NFL Lockout

This paper examines media coverage of sports labor issues from a political economic perspective by analyzing New York Times coverage of the 2011 National Football League lockout. We find that sports labor issues are framed in a manner consistent with findings by scholars such as Martin (2004), Schmidt (1993), and McChesney (2008). In particular, the media cover labor from a consumer-based perspective, simplify the conflict between players and owners as being disagreements between “millionaires and billionaires,” and focus more on offers made by owners to players than on owner demands. Other expected findings, such as media denigration of player labor and a general focus on player finances rather than owner finances, were not evident.

Taking Root in the Sunshine State The Emergence of the Media Reform Movement in the State of Florida

This paper explores the emergence of the media reform movement in the state of Florida in 2008. Focusing on the development of a statewide coalition, the paper details the tensions between local and national policy agendas, the barriers faced by local activists as they attempt to build support for the concept of media reform in their communities, and the diversity of interests represented under the banner of media reform. This case study also reveals an ideological bias toward the left among the movement activists currently working in Florida, signaling a need to harness the broad-based dissatisfaction that exists across the political spectrum.