Focus: Diversity

Abstract: The 1980s featured a niche slate of syndicated shows prizing nostalgia, sex, consumerism, and camp–and often in children’s programming! First-run syndication in this era was rife with the queer erotics of characters, featuring rippling muscled toons like He-Man and Masters of the Universe, The Transformers, and ThunderCats alongside the spandex-clad American Gladiators and the […]

Abstract: When television programs are translated for global audiences, languages are changed, but so too are constructions of diverse identities. Characters who are Black, Indigenous, or people of color (BIPOC) undergo transformations in order to be intelligible outside of their original national contexts; such transformations might reinforce these characters’ difference or eliminate it, effectively whitewashing […]

Abstract:  Sport around the world is principally organized around masculinity, and women athletes are often afforded limited coverage in sports media. In this study, I examined media representations of two Chinese female athletes of different status in China, a nation in the midst of a social transformation and a sports-reform initiative: state athlete, Ding Ning, […]

Abstract: This paper presents the case of Black Girls RUN! (BGR), an Atlanta-based organization and social movement with a grassroots and community-driven approach to changing fitness-related ideology and health outcomes within the Black community. Using an interdisciplinary approach built built upon tenets of media studies, cultural studies, Black Feminist Thought, and health promotion theory, this […]

Abstract: Recent years have seen changes to the video game industry and the image of video game players. There are more games on the market and larger variety of ways to play those games. Yet, despite market shifts, authors such as Shaw (2012)demonstrate that there are still tensions surrounding gamer identification. Even as next-generation systems […]

Abstract: Depression is now one of the most severe public health threats in China and among Chinese college students. To examine the role of depression news coverage and address barriers in communicating with Chinese college students about the risk of depression and the importance of providing social support to depressed individuals, a 2 (episodic vs. […]

Abstract: Cross-Cultural Journalism offers journalists and other communication professionals the conceptual framework and practical know-how they need to report and communicate effectively about difference. Built on the hands-on reporting style and curriculum pioneered by the University of Missouri, this introductory textbook teaches students how to write about and communicate with people of backgrounds that may […]

Abstract: Following DiGRA 2014, our Fishbowl was used by some members of the GamerGate movement as proof of the “nefarious” dealings within our academic community. Some have asked the question of whether our Fishbowl “The Playful is Political” should have been accepted, given the negative attention on DiGRA it engendered and ongoing ramifications of that attention […]