My family and I are heading to Washington, D.C. tomorrow to attend the National Communication Association’s annual conference. I am excited to return to the conference circuit after a one-year hiatus. I spent the previous academic year writing the first two-thirds of the media marathoning manuscript–and gestating a baby. This year is one of debuts:…
My Introduction to Media Studies course is currently grappling with Neil Postman’s Amusing Ourselves to Death. Comprehending the medium as metaphor for our culture is challenging, so I present a lot of examples in class to help them see the reading in a new way. In this first of two media marathoning blog posts, I…
I am far enough in my media marathoning research and writing that I’m ready to announce my thesis: The immersive experience of media marathoning creates a liminal space through which the fictive and real worlds come into contact. In this space, marathoners are able to use the dialogue between fictive and real worlds to work…
It seems that the media marathoning metaphor can be extended. Just like in a running marathon, some Breaking Bad viewers were kicking to the finish. They were not trying to reach a Boston qualifying time. Rather, they were sprinting to the series finish. (And both experiences might make you sick.) Brian Stelter discusses this “race…
I was given the exciting opportunity to speak about my work with Berkeley Brean of News10NBC last week. He asked many thoughtful questions. My answers were necessarily brief in the story, so I am using my blog to expound upon those answers. [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DtMkLTDQviE&feature=youtube[/youtube] Many of the popular press articles that address media marathoning pathologize this…
Fall is a time for catching up–with colleagues, with friends, and with media. Many television viewers are tucking into previous seasons before the fall premieres kick into gear. My public library is even in the spirit as they put out a table of television show DVDs with a sign encouraging viewers to “get caught up”…
Life is good as the mother of two little ladies. Rosaleen is sleeping very well, and Hazel is a loving big sister. Despite the extensive parenting responsibilities that come with having no summer day care, Josh and I have been able to do most of the other things we want to do: garden, read, run,…
This month has been very enjoyable (and hectic) because of new baby Rosaleen and no day care for three-year-old Hazel, but I didn’t want to let June slip away without making a post. I’m almost finished drafting the “Cognitive Involvement” chapter of the marathoning monograph and wanted to report an interesting comment from (pseudonym) Sarah.…
The media marathoning blog has been quiet lately because of the end-of-semester craziness and wonderful baby Rosaleen who arrived in my life last week. I am working on a post about motherhood and marathoning, but it is on hold because of a different birth: the Arrested Development Netflix “mini-series” that debuts on Sunday, May 26th.…
We have no bank holidays in mid-March, but March Madness is a media equivalent. The festivities tipped off today (go Georgetown), with 60% of respondents of an online MSN poll reporting that they would fill out a bracket. My first experience filling out a bracket was at Penn State in 2003. I finished near the…