“Reconsidering Quality: Cosmopolitan Audiences as Markers of Quality” at AEJMC 2020

Ryan will be presenting on television “quality” at AEJMC on August 5, 2020. This talk argues that shows that travel transnationally serve as markers of quality for internet-distributed television services.

Conference Presentation: Streaming Film and TV Services and Independent Film at FlowTV Roundtables

Earlier this year, I presented a paper about digital television portals and independent media producers at the regional Big 10 Mini Conference. After receiving some useful feedback from the mini-conference, I re-worked some of the paper and will be discussing at the national FlowTV Roundtables in Austin, TX September 27-29. “The Growing Intersection of the

Conference Presentation: Travel Influencers and Ethics of Authenticity

Social media personalities, bloggers, and other influencers have been questioned for their ethics because of fears associated with influencers marketing products without telling their audiences. Joe Sinkwitz has an accessible summary of the concerns around influencers’ lack of disclosure. My research group on influencers within the travel industry sought to explore how these workers understood

Conference Presentation: Netflix and Independent Media Producers

I will be presenting my paper “’They can now be seen’: Netflix and the cost of transnational audiences for independent film producers” at the University of Wisconsin for the annual Big 10 Mini Conference. This paper explores Netflix’s (and partially Amazon’s) 2016 and 2017 presence at major independent film festivals. By acquiring films at these festivals,

Conference Presentation: Bridging the Gap

Brian Ekdale, Melissa Tully, Mariah Wellman, and I launched a research group during my first semester at the University of Iowa. We blended our interest in production, global media, travel, blogging, and social media to start an on-going project that explores how travel influencers and destination marketing organizations work together, which includes questions about the

Conference Presentation: Nostalgia, Transmedia Storytelling, and Kingdom Hearts

There are few stories I enjoy more in the world than the Kingdom Hearts franchise. The games have always been fun, the stories have grown increasingly complex, and I really appreciate how much Square Enix and Disney mess with fans by seemingly releasing each game on a new video game system (the games have now

Conference Recap: AEJMC

The Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication met for their annual national conference in Chicago last week. It was my first time attending the conference, and I was thankful to receive feedback on my two presentations, connect/reconnect with friends and colleagues, and spend some time exploring Chicago.

Conference Presentation: Identity and Labels in Grandfamilies

Dr. Jessica Freeman and I were awarded top paper in the Aging and Communication division of the National Communication Association. We will be presenting our paper, “Grandma or Mommy: Familial Labeling as Constructs of Identity in Grandfamilies,” in November at the NCA National Convention in Dallas, TX. 

Conference Presentation: Transmedia Storytelling and Niche Markets

As part of my ongoing research on Netflix, I wrote a paper looking at the relationship between Netflix’s transmedia shows and marketing to niche audiences. My paper, “Appealing to Niche Markets: A Typology of Transmedia Storytelling for Digital Television” was accepted to the 2017 Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication conference in Chicago

Conference Presentation: Binge-Watching: The Emergence of Instant Gratification Television Culture

My paper “Binge-Watching: The Emergence of Instant Gratification Television Culture” was accepted into the 2015 Southwest Popular Culture Association regional conference as part of a panel entitled “What hath Netflix Wrought? Television in the New Digital Media Era.” This exploratory study explored how binge-watching has been described in the television industry and past academic research.