Congratulations Class of 2012

The Department of Media Studies congratulates the Class of 2012!
We celebrate the accomplishments of our majors in the Class of 2012:
Michael Babus
Lauren Bicknell
Daniel Carter
Stevie Chancellor
Michelle Doty
Aashish Edakadampil
Allison Flicker
Njeri Gachathi
Rachel Goldberg
Jessica Hatch
Erika Maguire
Christopher McElaney
Cecily Mullen
Margaret Pritchard
Matthew Saverese
Amy Shroyer
Elizabeth Stanton
Kristin Twiford
Hannah Wagner

Intelligence Squared Debate

Prof. Siva Vaidhyanathan participated in an Intelligence Squared debate in New York on April 17th.  He took the side for the argument "When it comes to politics the internet is closing minds."  See how he and his partner do in the debate!

Prof. Siva Vaidhyanathan on MSNBC

Watch Prof. Vaidhyanathan discuss Google and your Privacy on MSNBC's UP with Chris Hayes. 

http://video.msnbc.msn.com/up-with-chris-hayes/46612984#46612984

Media Studies Applicants Info Sessions Scheduled

Interested in applying to the Media Studies major?  If so, then you should attend one of two information sessions scheduled.  The sessions will be:  Monday February 20 at noon in Clemons Room 407 and Monday, February 27 at 6:00 p.m. in Clemons Room 201.  This is your chance to ask questions of faculty and current students about the application process and the major requirements.  Applications to the major are due by 5:00 p.m. on March 16.

The Cartoonist and the Whaler: Two Tales of Journalism's Future

Thursday, Dec. 8, 2:00 p.m. Wilson 235
Speaker: Ian Bogost, Georgia Tech.
A "newsgame" is a videogame that does journalism. Drawing from five years of commercial development and academic research on this new approach, this talk summarizes the principles of newsgames and then offers two related but conflicting perspectives on its role in the future of newsmaking.

Dr. Ian Bogost is Professor at the Georgia Institute of Technology (where he is also Director of the Graduate Program in Digital Media) and Founding Partner at Persuasive Games LLC. His research and writing considers videogames as an expressive medium, and his creative practice focuses on political games and artgames. Bogost is author or co-author of many books, including Unit Operations, Persuasive Games, Racing the Beam, Newsgames, How To Do Things with Videogames and the forthcoming Alien Phenomenology. Bogost's videogames cover topics as varied as airport security, disaffected workers, the petroleum industry, suburban errands, and tort reform. His games have been played by millions of people and exhibited internationally. His most recent game, A Slow Year, a collection of game poems for Atari, won the Vanguard and Virtuoso awards at the 2010 Indiecade Festival.

Digital Inequality and Its Implications for Internet Research

Tuesday, December 6, 4:00 p.m.
Speaker: Eszter Hargittai, Northwestern University

Many of the questions being asked about whether or how digital media are changing our world and our lives assume universal outcomes across population segments. Many inquiries tend to take for granted that there is one overarching answer that applies to all cases. Questions such as "Does Internet use influence political participation?", "Are digital media democratizing the public sphere?", "What is the relationship between playing video games and one’s health?", "Does the Internet help people find jobs?" often disregard that the answers may not apply uniformly across different population segments. This talk will discuss disparities in people’s online practices and what challenges such digital inequality poses for Internet research more generally speaking.

Eszter Hargittai is Associate Professor of Communication Studies and Faculty Associate of the Institute for Policy Research at Northwestern University where she heads the Web Use Project. She is also Fellow at Harvard's Berkman Center for Internet & Society where she spent the 2008-09 academic year in residence.

Beyond Media Markets: Media Ecosystem Research for Policy Making, Policy Analysis, and Policy Advocacy

Wednesday, November 30, 10:00 a.m.

233 Wilson Hall

Guest Speaker:  Philip Napoli, Fordham University

Many media policy issues need to be grounded in assessments of the structure and dynamics of local media markets. Traditionally, such assessments have focused on levels of competition and ownership diversity at the local level. However, as local media systems have grown more complex, in terms of structure, participants, and content flows, such analytical approaches are increasingly inadequate for informing contemporary media policy debates. This presentation examines these shifting information needs and describes ongoing efforts to develop a more comprehensive analytical approach grounded in the notion of media ecosystems, that seeks to account for the changing array of information sources at the local level; the flows of new and information within and across media platforms; and the relevant dynamics of citizen media usage and exposure patterns.