Under the Cloak of Whiteness: A Circuit of Culture Analysis of Opportunity Hoarding and Colour-blind Racism Inside US Advertising Internship Programs

Drawing on qualitative fieldwork at three large agencies, this article adapts Richard Johnson’s “circuit of culture” (1986) as a framework to examine both the material practices that help reproduce an overwhelmingly white labour force within US advertising agencies and the ideological screens that conceal them from scrutiny, critique, and reform. I argue that efforts to diversify advertising through internship-based affirmative action programs are ultimately undermined and overwhelmed by the more widespread systems of white privilege whereby agency executives and powerful clients bypass the application process and directly place personal friends and relatives into highly sought after internship slots. Furthermore, I contend that such material practices of class preference are masked, and thereby enabled, by ideological screens of colour-blind meritocracy. I argue that colour-blindness leads to meritocracy in theory, but race discrimination in practice, and conclude with a discussion of some possible implications for communication theory in general and critical media industry studies in particular.

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Towards an Integrative Methodological Approach of Film Remake Studies

Adaptation ◽

10.1093/adaptation/apz033 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 13 (2) ◽

pp. 210-223

Author(s):

Eduard Cuelenaere

Keyword(s):

Future Development ◽

Textual Analysis ◽

Consumer Preferences ◽

Methodological Approach ◽

Translation Studies ◽

Media Industry ◽

Industry Studies ◽

Disciplinary Boundaries ◽

Cultural Mediators ◽

Critical Media

Abstract This article argues that, after decades of pointing towards the importance of including production and reception research into the study of film remakes, we should actually start addressing production and reception methodologies and investigate why this is necessary for the sustainability and future development of the field. I argue that a lot can be learned from the insights coming from the existing methodologies that are being used in, that is, format studies, (critical) media industry studies, (audiovisual) translation studies, and more recently the study of cultural transduction. The first section of the article mainly deals with the importance of investigating the different cultural mediators that take part in the production lifecycle of the film remake. It is contended that the analysis of film remakes should start examining the different individuals or institutions that mediate or intervene between the production of cultural artefacts and the generation of consumer preferences. The second part of the article points towards the importance of investigating the reception, experience, and interpretation of film remakes. It is shown that crucial questions like ‘(why) do audiences prefer the domestic remake over the foreign film?’, ‘how do audiences experience, interpret, and explain differences and similarities between source films and remakes?’, but also ‘how do audiences define and assess film remakes?’ remain yet to be asked. The article concludes that if the field of remake studies wishes to break out of its disciplinary boundaries, adopting a multi-methodological approach will help to further brush off its dusty character of textual analysis.

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Television’s role in Indian new screen ecology

Media Culture & Society ◽

10.1177/0163443719899804 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 42 (7-8) ◽

pp. 1226-1242

Author(s):

Smith Mehta

Keyword(s):

New Media ◽

Qualitative Interviews ◽

Meaningful Work ◽

Evidence Based ◽

Media Industry ◽

Industry Studies ◽

Everyday Practices ◽

The Everyday ◽

Critical Media ◽

Digital Delivery

In this article, I discuss the various issues that have prompted select creators such as writers, directors, actors, producers and casting agents to focus their creative energies on Internet-based content. The article’s main findings illustrate that because a growing segment of Indian content, new media practitioners are disillusioned by the programming and industrial practices of television, they increasingly embrace digital delivery platforms as the preferred outlets for their creative expressions. By drawing from critical media industry studies framework, the aim of this research is to examine the everyday practices of content creators and compare the formal and aesthetic qualities of their textual artefacts, as these professionals navigate the larger structural tensions between television and Internet in India. The article marshals evidence based on qualitative interviews, trade press, and news articles to suggest that the television industry’s production culture discourages creators from seeking meaningful work and instead look for opportunities on the Internet.

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Critical Media Industry Studies: A Research Approach

Communication Culture and Critique ◽

10.1111/j.1753-9137.2009.01037.x ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 234-253 ◽

Cited By ~ 65

Author(s):

Timothy Havens ◽

Amanda D. Lotz ◽

Serra Tinic

Keyword(s):

Research Approach ◽

Media Industry ◽

Industry Studies ◽

Critical Media ◽

Media Industry Studies

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Russia’s STS Television Network

VIEW Journal of European Television History and Culture ◽

10.18146/2213-0969.2017.jethc125 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 6 (11) ◽

pp. 81

Author(s):

Jeffrey Brassard

Keyword(s):

Global Market ◽

Media Industry ◽

Global Media ◽

Industry Studies ◽

Television History ◽

Television Network ◽

Critical Media ◽

Production Techniques ◽

History Of ◽

Privately Owned

Little attention has been given to privately owned television channels in Russia though they now rival the state-run networks in importance. The most influential network in post-Soviet television history is the entertainment network STS. Using the framework of critical media industry studies proposed by Havens, Lotz and Tinic this paper traces the history of STS, its importance in bringing new genres and production techniques to Russia and its rapid growth in the 2000s. Particular attention is given to questions of hybridity, interactions with global media industries and the network’s attempt to build formats for the global market.

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Localism in Internet governance: The rise of China's provincial web

China Information ◽

10.1177/0920203x211055038 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 0920203X2110550

Author(s):

Angela Xiao Wu ◽

Luzhou Li

Keyword(s):

Political Economy ◽

Local Governments ◽

Service Providers ◽

New Technology ◽

Media Industry ◽

Internet Governance ◽

Chinese Media ◽

Internet Service ◽

Political Economy Of Media ◽

Critical Media

Often analysing ‘the Chinese Internet’ as a national entity, existing research has overlooked China's provincially oriented web portals, which have supplied information and entertainment to substantial user populations. Through the lenses of the critical political economy of media and critical media industry studies, this article traces the ascendance of China's provincial web from the late 1990s to the early 2000s by analysing industry yearbooks, official reports, conference records, personal memoirs, archived webpages, and user traffic data. We uncover interactions between Internet service providers, legacy media organizations, commercial Internet companies, and the central and local governments – each driven by discrete economic interests, political concerns, and imaginaries about the new technology. Delineating the emergence and consolidation of China's provincial web, our study foregrounds the understudied political economy of online content regionalization at scale. Further, it sheds new light on Chinese media policy, Internet governance, and Internet histories, especially the widely noted conservative turn of online cultures after the mid-2010s.

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Approaching media industries comparatively: A case study of streaming

International Journal of Cultural Studies ◽

10.1177/1367877918813245 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 22 (3) ◽

pp. 349-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 7

Author(s):

Daniel Herbert ◽

Amanda D. Lotz ◽

Lee Marshall

Keyword(s):

Media Industries ◽

Business Practices ◽

Media Industry ◽

Consumer Experience ◽

Novel Approach ◽

Comparative Media ◽

The Us ◽

Critical Media ◽

Music Film ◽

Industry Comparison

Although ‘streaming’ media has become increasingly common across multiple media industries, significant differences underpin the industrial practices that allow this behavior and explain discrepant experiences of internet distribution across industries. This article uses collaborative comparative media industry analysis to investigate the commonalities and variations among streaming in the US music, film, and television industries to assess the viability of theorizing the cultural implications of streaming as a consistent phenomenon across media industries. The article explores the consistencies and divergences of streaming among consumer experience, business practices, and textual implications to compare how established uses, production practices, and media content have been affected by internet distribution. Such detailed industry comparison is a novel approach, and the article also considers the methodological value of rigorous collaboration among scholars expert in different media industries. The analysis is based on industry data and practices obtained through trade press, industry reports, and interviews with media workers consistent with a critical media industries approach.

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Black and Blue

Departures in Critical Qualitative Research ◽

10.1525/dcqr.2021.10.2.33 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 10 (2) ◽

pp. 33-40

Author(s):

Wesley Johnson

Keyword(s):

Law Enforcement ◽

Personal Experience ◽

White Privilege ◽

Pop Culture ◽

White Identity ◽

Popular Song ◽

Circuit Of Culture ◽

Trayvon Martin ◽

Post Racial America

This mystory explores alienation in a law enforcement family and anti-racist allyship after the 2012 murder of Florida teen Trayvon Martin. Situated within key circuit of culture moments of identity and representation, I use the popular song “What It Means” by Drive-By Truckers (2016) and my personal experience to address whiteness. Colorblindness and fragility are twin components of whiteness in post-racial America that animate alienation and allyship. Both embodied analyses of pop culture and personal experience describe white identity and white privilege at the interpersonal and intercultural level.

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