Putting the “Reach” Back in Research

When my students write excellent papers, I encourage them to submit to conferences and even publications so that their work “has life beyond the classroom.” A related set of concerns has plagued me since graduate school: Do scholars have an obligation to give their work life beyond academia? If so, how can we make that happen? Who is…

Spoiler Definitions and Behaviors in the Post-Network Era

The Media Marathoning researched forced me to think a lot about spoilers. Unless enjoying a whole season drop (such as Orange is the New Black or House of Cards), marathoners must time shift (watch episodes after their air date). Time shifting is an agentic move that allows viewers to watch on their own schedule; however, it opens them…

Spoiler Presentation at WSCA

This time last year I was conducting interviews with TV critics, entertainment journalists, and editors to gain a better understanding of how the vocal reactions of spoiler-phobes may impact their work. Noelle McElrath-Hart and I analyzed the interview discourse through a Community of Practice framework to understand how the writers and editors were implicitly engaging in spoiler meaning…

Marathoning News

What’s new in marathoning news, you ask? This post foregrounds a smattering of recent developments in technology, politics, and scholarship related to media marathoning. 1. Marathoning has become both easier and more challenging with new options from T-Mobile and Netflix. First, the good news. T-Mobile recently launched their Binge On™ plan that allows subscribers with 3GB or more…

TV Critics and Spoilers

My Media Marathoning book led to several research project “spin-offs,” one of which analyzes the experiences of TV critics as they navigate the spoiler-rich television environment. I completed the final interview on June 8th. Now bring on the writing! I am grateful that the following kind people gave me their time for an interview: Gina Carbone,…