Journal of e-Media Studies

I've been working for a Dartmouth Film & Media studies professor, helping with his ongoing project, the Journal of e-Media Studies, by copyediting and web-enhancing. There are some really interesting pieces about Kindles, machinima, CSI/Law&Order victims, reporting on Katrina, self-reflexive television and other film/media-related subjects. The new issue was just published today!

Check it out:

http://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/xmlpage/4/issue

My favorite is the CSI/Law&Order article, "Two Versions of the Victim: Uncovering Contradictions in CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Through Textual Analysis" by Elke Weissmann. Some fascinating use of theory and observation applied to popular media:


http://journals.dartmouth.edu/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Journals.woa/2/xmlpage/4/article/341

Um...this "study" was sort of a waste of time.

On the Dartmouth homepage, along with articles about Jim Kim's first day as president (saw him speak on the Green yesterday and it was lovely!) is a sidebar listing an article that says: "Both Good and Bad movie characters who smoke influence teens to do the same."

Thanks, Dartmouth research! Who would've thought that smoking was made cool by the media? Glad money was spent on that one. Oh, and another thing: like, 5% of the Dartmouth student body actually smokes (I'm too lazy to verify that number). They should be posting articles like that on the NYU website. Or not publish it at all, and instead DO something if you don't want kids to smoke. Telling them that they are "influenced" won't help because students who smoke at the College already think of themselves as "different" and wouldn't admit to being followers.

What a balance, cigarette smoking: simultaneously following and diversifying.
I think the research group's take on the problem is intriguing, though: do good or bad guys influence people more?

Here's the link:

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~news/releases/2009/07/01.html