Meme Culture: How User-Generated Content Sells Stuff
For his media studies capstone project, SOJC student Keegan Pond examined how marketers rely on celebrities and meme culture to sell products.
Media Literacy
Media Influence on Politics: 7 Election Trends in 2024
SOJC experts analyze the media’s influence on politics and discuss 2024 election trends like news fatigue, misinformation, polling and social media impact.
SOJC's Phillips Interviewed about Misinformation
Whitney Phillips, SOJC assistant professor of media ethics and digital platforms, talks to the New York Times about why misinformation proliferates on the right and the left during election season.
Media Expert Whitney Phillips Weighs in on ‘Weird’ Era
Conservatives are attracting followers by moving away from talk of God or religion and toward a demonizing of the “liberal devil,” says Whitney Phillips, an SOJC assistant professor of media studies.
SOJC's Phillips Introduces Substack on Political Demonology
SOJC Assistant Professor Whitney Phillips has a new Substack newsletter on political demonology that connects to her book “The Shadow Gospel,” co-authored with political science scholar Mark Brockway.
How one SOJC class is building community trust in media
SOJC students in the Engaged Journalism class use community journalism approaches, such as needs assessments and listening sessions, to improve local news and information.
Misinformation may arise from 'unease in the world'
SOJC Assistant Professor Whitney Phillips says that conspiracy theories about celebrities like Kate Middleton stem from a need to take control of “a really precarious, scary and unsettling moment."
SOJC faculty on the future of AI in communication
SOJC faculty members Seth Lewis, Ed Madison, Donna Davis, and Lisa Peyton are using AI in their work, researching its impact on the field, and teaching students how to use it to prepare for the future.
Critical thinking and research core to communication and media studies programs
Undergraduates majoring in media studies learn how to examine the media’s social, cultural and economic impact from an ethical perspective while gaining research and media production skills.
The true crime genre is popular, but is it ethical?
Is consuming true crime stories ethical? That is the big question asked in J-397 Media Ethics, taught by Whitney Phillips, assistant professor of digital platforms and ethics.