A Critical Forum on Media and Culture
A Critical Forum on Media and Culture
Beyond DRM
by: John McMurria / DePaul University
With the divide growing between consumer groups, global corporations, government agencies, and end users, there are increasing calls for genuine change in the way digital music is disseminated. Is the time right for compulsory licensing as a viable alternative?
The YouTube Community
by: John McMurria / DePaul University
While the idealization of YouTube as a self-organizing, radically democratic community for sharing clip culture certainly helped to buffer what could be considered an act of selling “the community” as property to corporate giant Google, the image of YouTube as a revolutionary alternative to corporate media culture has nevertheless been a powerful one.
Strategic Liberalism and Media Reform
by John McMurria / DePaul University
Are we in for more of the same deregulatory policies and neoliberal principles that informed the 1996 Telecommunications Act?
À la carte Culture
By: John McMurria / DePaul University
What are the cultural repercussions of an à la carte cable? And does anyone in the FCC care?
Redefining Indecency
by: John McMurria / DePaul University
Television networks fearful of steep fines and consumer backlash rush to ensure decency standards are upheld. This article looks at indecency in myriad of ways, from the Superbowl pre-game and half-time shows to the funeral of Coretta Scott King.
Broadcasting Is Dead, Long Live Broadcasting
by: John McMurria / DePaul University
As Internet companies move towards increasing video content they have begun to look to television as a model. What lessons can be learned from the history of broadcast as Internet/TV convergence gains momentum? In 4 case studies of Internet/TV convergence, the issues of access, fair use and public initiatives are explored and critiqued.
Desperate Citizens
by: John McMurria / DePaul University
Extreme Makeover Home Edition contestants are portrayed as good and deserving citizens who are the victims of misfortunes beyond their control. However, while EMHE helps these deserving citizens, the corporate sponsored show fails to recognize the irony inherent in the fact that it is these very corporations that contribute to these problems in the first place.