faculty

The roads net taken

Amanda J. McManus — Wed, 28 May 2025 20:10:55 +0000

The roads net taken Amanda J. McManus Wed, 05/28/2025 - 14:10

By Joe Arney
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm鈥�18)

Robert Frost once wrote of two roads diverging in a yellow wood, and imagining his narrator eventually regretting whichever choice he made.

鈥淚 want to introduce a sense of wonder and marvel about what has happened鈥攁nd what could still be possible.

Lori Emerson
Associate Professor
Media Studies

Lori Emerson is also fascinated by the road not taken. But unlike Frost, who is looking forward down those roads, she is looking backward, to the technology-related choices鈥攁round networks, protocols and structures鈥攖hat led us to this moment.

And, especially, what we can learn from the choices we didn鈥檛 make along the way.

It鈥檚 something Emerson, an associate chair of media studies at 91PORN鈥檚 College of Media, Communication and Information, explores at length in Other Networks: A Radical Technology Sourcebook, which she published last month.

鈥淚 want to introduce a sense of wonder and marvel about what has happened鈥攁nd what could still be possible,鈥� Emerson said.

It can be difficult to imagine what something like the internet might look like in an alternate timeline. But in fact, just calling it 鈥渢he internet鈥� makes it feel like the preordained platform that we were inevitably going to get.

鈥淭he internet is just a network of networks,鈥� she said. 鈥淭here are other networks of networks, and there could be others in the future. What bothers me is this unquestioned narrative about the internet as this singular endpoint鈥攖hat it only could have been created in the U.S. in the way in which it currently exists.鈥�

A quiet activist

There is a quiet strain of activism in Emerson鈥檚 work that鈥檚 getting a little louder: She鈥檚 trying to be more outspoken at a time when technology is increasingly consolidated in the hands of a few major players.

鈥淭he future feels predetermined and has left most people feeling like they have no power to intervene, and we all just have to accept things as they are,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd so what I鈥檓 trying to do is poke holes in that ideology with very simple, compelling examples from the past.鈥�

Simple and compelling are rarely adjectives used to describe an academic publication, but Emerson leaned on her background in experimental poetry and poetics to break a few boundaries. The result is a beautifully designed book that wouldn鈥檛 seem out of place among the vintage instruction manuals created for telephones and telegraphs from generations ago.

鈥淲omen played a huge role in the creation, adoption and maintenance of networks, from the telephone to the radio, but have been erased in favor of individual white guy inventors,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 wanted to create an alternate universe in a book that echoed that history you see in those cloth, hardcover, gold-foiled instruction books鈥攂ut in a way that was feminized.鈥�

Her book isn鈥檛 the only public-facing space where Emerson offers critical thinking around technology. CMCI鈥檚 Media Archaeology Lab started as a way for Emerson, the lab鈥檚 director, to collect Apple IIe computers in order to run an experimental kinetic digital poem in class. It has evolved to become an extremely thorough repository of obsolete, but still functioning, technology, from Ataris to Zip drives.

鈥淭he more we gathered, the more I became convinced that hands-on access to historical technology is essential to understand how it actually works,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou have to be able to use it, to take it apart. By doing so, you come to appreciate how we got to the point where these technologies were created, and imagine alternative presents and futures.鈥�

New book, old story

The book is new, but the story of technology as a linear narrative isn鈥檛. Beyond the lab, Emerson鈥檚 work has gone as far back as how rural communities created the party-line phone system by tapping the miles of barbed-wire fence spanning their properties. That kind of alternate network鈥攐ne Ma Bell didn鈥檛 control鈥攊s something she wants readers to think about while questioning the narrative Silicon Valley has put forth as the internet鈥檚 origin story.

It鈥檚 almost a book that didn鈥檛 happen. Emerson was well past her deadline before realizing she had to narrow how deep her focus would go; 鈥渁 full accounting of all the networks out there would never get finished,鈥� she said.

As it was, the manuscript tripped some wires in China鈥攃ensors objected to a part discussing how activists in the Tiananmen Square massacre used faxes to communicate with one another鈥攚hich meant printing had to be moved to Turkey. As the materials arrived for printing, a once-in-a-lifetime snowstorm struck, delaying production by almost a month.

Finally, her publisher declared it was going out of business after the first run of books was printed. A limited run is available, and Emerson plans to get it to a new publisher once the existing copies have sold.

鈥淭he whole thing has been one surprise after another, honestly,鈥� Emerson said. 鈥淲hen you think about Chinese censorship鈥攐f course it happens, but to actually have it happen to you is something else altogether.鈥�

She hopes readers appreciate the look and feel of her text, while maybe finding in it a reason to be hopeful about technology by re-examining its past.

鈥淚 hope people take from it a different sense of the history, and feel excited and empowered, rather than just absorbing the dominant narrative about how everything is terrible,鈥� Emerson said.

Lori Emerson鈥檚 research work examines forks in the road where networks and technology diverged. Her new book argues technology as we know it isn鈥檛 inevitable鈥攁nd should be open to reexamination.

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CMCI names its first endowed professor

Amanda J. McManus — Wed, 28 May 2025 18:24:06 +0000

CMCI names its first endowed professor Amanda J. McManus Wed, 05/28/2025 - 12:24

By Joe Arney
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm鈥�18)

She鈥檚 done pathbreaking research in technology ethics and internet law, has been featured in The Washington Post and NPR, and does extensive public scholarship as an outspoken expert on social media.

So, it鈥檚 no surprise that when it came to naming its first endowed professorship, the College of Media, Communication and Information turned to Casey Fiesler.

鈥淲hen we created CMCI, we were energized by the vision of a college where we would study and teach not just a set of related disciplines, but the areas where those disciplines come together,鈥� said Lori Bergen, CMCI founding dean. 鈥淐asey is a model for that. Her ethical and legal perspectives on important questions surrounding technology help us make sense of complex problems. And she is able to break down those complicated problems in ways that help the public ask more thoughtful questions about the platforms and tools they use each day.鈥�

More: Building a better 鈥榖ionic pancreas鈥�

In July, Fiesler, an associate professor of information science at CMCI, will be named the William R. Payden Endowed Professor. The honor recognizes the demonstrated, sustained national reputation she has brought to her discipline, and comes with an annual research budget to continue her important work in social media platforms and online communities, education, and generative A.I.鈥攅specially from an ethics standpoint.

鈥淪he is able to break down those complicated problems in ways that help the public ask more thoughtful questions about the platforms and tools they use each day.鈥�

Lori Bergen, founding dean

In fact, she鈥檚 created a public syllabus鈥攃onsisting of her social media videos and select texts and other websites鈥攖o help others start thinking about the ethics of A.I. It鈥檚 still in beta, so to speak, but has attracted attention, including from teachers searching for relatable, approachable perspectives on these complex issues.

鈥淐onsidering how much admiration and respect I have for everyone in the college, I鈥檓 beyond honored to be recognized,鈥� Fiesler said.

The position comes with a small stipend, which Fiesler was interested in using to attract well-known speakers for guest talks鈥攖o expose students to great researchers鈥攁nd to be able to pay student researchers for their contributions to her work, such as a grant-funded pilot project to create educational content on A.I. that鈥檚 delivered over social media.

鈥淚f that goes well, I鈥檇 like to be able to keep it going beyond the grant,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd if we were to do so, it would be important to make sure we鈥檙e fairly compensating our students for the work they do.鈥�

Fiesler said she also attributes the successes of her research to collaborative work, particularly with the graduate students she鈥檚 worked with at the college. One of her former students, Shamika Klassen (PhDInfoSci鈥�24), said having Fiesler for an advisor during her doctoral work 鈥渨as like having a celebrity for a parent.鈥�

鈥淲hen I mention her name, people would say, 鈥極h, Professor Casey on TikTok,鈥� or 鈥業 watched her videos on YouTube when I was applying to graduate school,鈥� said Klassen, now a user experience researcher at Google. 鈥淐asey is a testament to what public scholarship can be, in addition to being an incredible advisor and advocate of me and my work.鈥�

More: Questions about A.I.? Let鈥檚 Chat

The endowed professorship was made possible through a donation from Joan Payden, a co-founder of the Payden & Rygel investment management firm, in memory of her brother, William Payden (Jour鈥�57). Bill Payden was known for his curiosity, as he was a journalist, college professor, sports fan, cinephile, pianist, world traveler, and collector of aviation memorabilia and classic cars.

The family also created the Payden Faculty Excellence Award, which recognizes excellence in teaching and research or creative work, and the Payden Teaching Excellence Grants, which are awarded to faculty to support innovative teaching endeavors, such as new interdisciplinary courses, revamped classes that support enhanced student engagement, or to purchase resources or training to improve teaching and the student experience.

Casey Fiesler, whose perspectives on law and ethics in technology have given her national cachet, has been named the William R. Payden Endowed Professor at the college.

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Courting justice

Amanda J. McManus — Wed, 28 May 2025 17:49:03 +0000

Courting justice Amanda J. McManus Wed, 05/28/2025 - 11:49

By Joe Arney
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm鈥�18) and Nandi Pointer (PhD candidate, Media Studies)

Ask any of her students how they prefer to get their news, or search for recommendations, or learn about their favorite TV shows, and Sandra Ristovska will tell you that they go on TikTok.

Yet their educations鈥攆rom the time they first set foot in a grammar school classroom鈥攈ave focused on textual literacy, with almost nothing devoted to how video and photos are analyzed.

鈥淲e just assume that everybody intuitively knows how to understand images, because we don鈥檛 have to teach you an alphabet, or grammar,鈥� said Ristovska, associate professor of media studies at the College of Media, Communication and Information. 鈥淏ut we know from research that people can watch the same image and arrive at a vastly different understanding about what that image says or does.鈥�

More: Bringing student activism to TikTok videos

That鈥檚 fun when we鈥檙e overanalyzing a plot twist in Severance. But Ristovska鈥檚 work centers around what happens when videos make their way into a courtroom, where interpretations can influence a person鈥檚 guilt or innocence.

According to one estimate, video appears in about 80 percent of criminal cases, but no guidelines exist for how video can be presented as evidence in court. And that鈥檚 also the case for deepfake videos or media created by generative artificial intelligence.

鈥淎nybody who鈥檚 seen a legal document knows they鈥檙e standardized鈥攊f it doesn鈥檛 look a certain way, it鈥檚 not going to be admissible in court,鈥� Ristovska said. 鈥淏ut when it comes to video, different courts have different guidelines and understandings about what鈥檚 admissible.鈥�

Ristovska has been an important contributor to scholarship in media and the law. At a daylong event in April, she helped steer the conversation around these topics while formally presenting the Visual Evidence Lab, a new lab at CMCI that will advance her work in this area.

The workshop, Justice by Video, brought together judges, attorneys, journalists, and scholars from the humanities, social sciences, law and STEM to develop new avenues for research and potential policy proposals around how to ensure justice is best served.

Ristovska鈥檚 personal history plays a role in all this, too. Growing up in what is now Macedonia during the Yugoslav Wars, she still recalls how footage from the fighting upset her parents鈥攅ven if she was too young to understand the news bulletins interrupting her evening cartoons. As part of her graduate school work, she went on to study how footage from civilians and activists made its way to the United Nations鈥� criminal tribunal, in The Hague.

鈥淚 realized the law was an important place to be asking questions about video evidence,鈥� she said. 鈥淪ome of the citizen footage in the tribunal wasn鈥檛 verified through the person who shot it, which had never been the case before. And this footage was both establishing the truth in court while constructing a historical memory about the wars.鈥�

Cross-disciplinary expertise

Sandra Braman, a professor of media and information at Michigan State University, said she was excited to participate in this event because of the range of expertise involved, including practicing judges as well as legal scholars and researchers from across the social sciences.

Braman has twice served as a visiting professor at CMCI, and is considered among the leading scholars in digital technologies and their policy implications. She was impressed with the agenda, which included small group discussions intended to stimulate cross-disciplinary discussion and a detailed reading list to review beforehand.

鈥淯sually, when you go to the first conference of its kind, it鈥檚 just a chance to gather and talk generally about the topic,鈥� Braman said. 鈥淪andra has put together a very structured set of tasks that are actually very hard questions to guide us on visual evidence.鈥�

Roderick Kennedy, who retired from the New Mexico Court of Appeals after serving as its chief judge, was part of an afternoon panel discussing the issues raised by Incident, a documentary of a police shooting in Chicago and the role security footage plays in creating a narrative explaining what happened.

Kennedy and Ristovska met through his work with the American Bar Association. Ristovska presented a series of webinars on video evidence and deepfakes to members. They also collaborated when she was a guest editor of an issue of The SciTech Lawyer last winter that took a deep dive on these issues.

Kennedy said video evidence presents similar challenges that he would see with eyewitness testimony throughout his career. Memory is unreliable, he said, as witnesses become suggestible when asked to remember details or are affected by the pressure to have a definitive answer for investigators.

鈥淵ou have a single viewpoint, but it鈥檚 overlaid with other memories that can change things, and is subject to interpretation every time you recall it and restore it,鈥� he said.

鈥楢 vertical learning curve鈥�

A video won鈥檛 change its memory under pressure, but how it鈥檚 captured and edited can influence the way a jury interprets what happened. And while footage from police body cams or the smartphones of bystanders may get the most attention, Kennedy said the issue crops up elsewhere鈥攅ven police interrogations. He shared a case involving a pathologist whose findings in a homicide were influenced by hearing a woman confess to the crime on camera.

Her confession, however, was preceded by an exhausting, seven-hour police interrogation. And because we鈥檝e been conditioned to believe videos show reality鈥攚ithout considering how they were framed, trimmed, slowed down or otherwise edited鈥攖hey have significant potential to mislead jurors.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the power of video,鈥� Kennedy said. If you only show a jury the last minute or so of that interrogation, 鈥渁ll you see is a mother saying she killed her baby.鈥�

The workshop wasn鈥檛 just about editing techniques that may introduce doubt. Invited experts also discussed deepfakes, an emerging challenge for courts that must catch up to the technology. Kennedy said judges and lawyers 鈥渉ave almost a vertical learning curve鈥� when it comes to the technology.

鈥淵ou have to learn the language of the technology experts before you can accuse somebody of using a deepfake,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd the experts aren鈥檛 taught how to speak legal, or the legal rules for putting their expertise in evidence.鈥�

One thread of Braman鈥檚 research on information policy is the history of facts themselves.

鈥淥ur social orientation around facts provides the context within which we think about evidence,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd though we are talking a lot today about A.I. and the problem of deepfakes, the question of the authenticity and validity of digital information in general actually first arose as soon as the internet became available to the general public. We need to solve this problem yesterday.鈥�

Ristovska said she was pleased to see members of the public attend to watch Incident and start thinking about video as a communication tool that is overdue for guidance.

鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to solve all the challenges around how people see video鈥攚e can鈥檛 do that with any type of evidence,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut I hope we can develop research-based guidelines that promote consistency, fairness and equality in the use of video as evidence.鈥�

Video evidence appears in 80 percent of criminal cases, but a lack of consistent guidelines means there鈥檚 no standard for how media are presented in court. A workshop led by CMCI faculty may change that.

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Communication that moves

Amanda J. McManus — Wed, 26 Feb 2025 18:25:25 +0000

Communication that moves Amanda J. McManus Wed, 02/26/2025 - 11:25

By Joe Arney
Photos by Jack Moody (StratComm鈥�24)

The study of communication, as Jos茅 G. Izaguirre III knows, is more than just interpreting the words. It鈥檚 also about how those words are heard鈥攊n a speech or an article, or in a post or on a poster.

It鈥檚 why he leans so heavily on showing communication in its original form, whether in the classes he teaches at CMCI or in a new book examining the formation of the Chicano movement.

鈥淎s I was analyzing these different texts, I was just struck by the intentionality to make things look a certain way, which really enriched the communication I was studying,鈥� said Izaguirre, assistant professor of communication at the college, who goes by Joe. 鈥淚t was clear that those aesthetics were part of the story, too鈥攖he degree to which photography, illustrations and designs played a significant role in movements.鈥�

"It is possible for different people to come together around similar concerns, articulate different visions, but still try to work together to accomplish something good.
Jos茅 G. Izaguirre III
Assistant Professor
Communication

Izaguirre鈥檚 book, Becoming La Raza: Negotiating Race in the Chicano Movement(s), traces the beginning of the movement鈥攚hich originated among striking farm workers in California鈥攖hrough its early years. His research examines the communications that organized Latin American voices into a global political power.

鈥淭he book highlights how race is always implicated in different political circumstances鈥攚hile demonstrating that however much we try to get away from the language of race, it鈥檚 always there,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 tried to show the inescapability of race as a part of communication through a story about how Mexican Americans navigated racial dynamics and promoted a racial identity.鈥�

A good example: 鈥淐hicano,鈥� once a pejorative label, was itself reclaimed by the organization as it rejected assimilation and sought to assert its Indigenous roots. But while the movement united under one banner, it was never a singular voice. Izaguirre鈥檚 book shows how activists created a political power against the backdrop of the Cold War.

鈥淚 think the book highlights the importance of everyday activist movements, or even politically interested individuals who have concerns that are part of a broader community or communal concern,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t takes seriously these moments of everyday communication and spotlights them in ways that are maybe not typical.鈥�

鈥淓veryday communication鈥� in the 1960s was, of course, very different than today, when demonstrations largely exist and are communicated in ephemeral digital spaces鈥攚hat鈥檚 trending today is tomorrow鈥檚 relic. Much of Izaguirre鈥檚 source material was donated documents鈥攍eaflets, photos, newspapers and so on鈥攖hat made this project possible.

It鈥檚 how he was able to present so many period pieces in his book, alongside close readings of iconic artifacts like the National Farm Worker Association鈥檚 El Plan de Delano, or the poem 鈥淚 Am Joaquin.鈥� And there is value, he said, in seeing how those pieces are designed, even if it鈥檚 text-based, like the Delano document, co-written by Cesar Chavez, to guide their march through California. It contains a list of demands and concerns that, Izaguirre said, are valuable to see in their original context鈥攁nd language.

Another level of engagement

鈥淲hen I show these materials in classes, I want to show that communication as close as possible to what it would have been like to encounter it at the time,鈥� whether that鈥檚 a picture, a pamphlet or a speech, he said. 鈥淚 wouldn鈥檛 call it an epiphany, but there鈥檚 some level of understanding that happens when I show them the whole document. Because it鈥檚 not just text pulled out of somewhere鈥攊t鈥檚 communication they can see for themselves.鈥�

That also means students encounter the original communication in its original language. For much of La Raza, of course, that鈥檚 Spanish.

鈥淚 do show them an English version, so they understand the meaning of the words, but seeing it in its native language, they get almost the emotion of the words,鈥� Izaguirre said. 鈥淪eeing the original document puts it in that cultural or historical context.鈥�

It鈥檚 something he hopes readers and students consider in the context of modern political movements, from the iconography at campaign rallies to how people find one another and organize digitally. But he also hopes those readers will be challenged to rethink the narrative that movements鈥攐r communities鈥攃an be viewed singularly. The Chicano movement is a prime example.

鈥淚t can be harmful, to see communities being labeled in such a way that they鈥檙e cast as the opposition,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easy to consolidate groups and label them as friend or foe. What鈥檚 harder is politics鈥攚hich is really about building partnerships and opportunities for equal engagement.

鈥淲hat I hope the book shows is that it is possible for different people to come together around similar concerns, articulate different visions, but still try to work together to accomplish something good.鈥�

A new book looks at the rise of the Chicano movement through the lens of communication, from speeches to newspapers.

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A better way

Amanda J. McManus — Tue, 25 Feb 2025 18:52:49 +0000

A better way Amanda J. McManus Tue, 02/25/2025 - 11:52

By Joe Arney
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm鈥�18)

There鈥檚 a brick paver walkway that crosses 18th Street on the 91PORN campus by the ATLAS Institute. Thousands of pedestrians use it each day, crossing the brick path while cyclists, e-scooters, buses, emergency vehicles and the occasional car wend their way down the street.

鈥淒esign is a powerful tool to make an impact, because then we鈥檙e not telling certain people they鈥檙e functionally not correct. Instead, we鈥檙e saying, how do we create an environment that actually matches the needs of the user?
Elena Sabinson
Director
Neuro D Lab

Is it a crosswalk?

From the description above, you might assume so. But there鈥檚 no signage warning drivers of pedestrian activity, or telling them to stop or yield. And you鈥檒l find none of the striping associated with crosswalks.

鈥淲hen the students describe it, they鈥檙e like, 鈥業t鈥檚 basically Frogger out there,鈥欌€� said Elena Sabinson, an assistant professor of environmental design at CMCI and director of the Neuro D Lab, which explores the intersection of design, neurodiversity, equity and innovation. 鈥淭hat space of ambiguity becomes a place where conflict or confusion happens. The lab looks at how that affects everyone, but especially neurodivergent folks who might rely on clarity and clear signage to understand how to navigate things.鈥�

Neurodivergence has become a global point of conversation as a movement builds to both recognize that each brain functions differently and to better understand how to design products, services, buildings and so on that serve everyone, instead of asking people to conform to the built environment.

鈥淒esign is a powerful tool to make an impact, because then we鈥檙e not telling certain people they鈥檙e functionally not correct,鈥� Sabinson said. 鈥淚nstead, we鈥檙e saying, how do we create an environment that actually matches the needs of the user?鈥�

Elena Sabinson crosses the street in front of the CASE building. While the brick paver walkway looks like a crosswalk, it lacks striping and signage indicating it's safe to cross, which can confuse both pedestrians and drivers. Part of Sabinson's research work involves assessing wayfinding on the 91PORN campus for confusing design cues.

A new direction for her work

Sabinson is uniquely suited to such challenges. As a PhD student at Cornell University, she was studying self-soothing technologies鈥攅specially in the area of soft robotics, like breathing wall panels that help people regulate their biorhythms during stressful experiences鈥攚hen she received a diagnosis of autism and ADHD.

鈥淭hat changed the trajectory of my research,鈥� she said. 鈥淚鈥檓 still focusing on emotional well-being, but with this environmental lens of how to create inclusive, accessible products that are centered around self determination, agency and empowerment.

鈥淚 make a choice to say I鈥檓 an autistic-led lab, and I invite this type of conversation in by making that choice, rather than just being an autistic person doing research.鈥�

Bringing students into her lab and giving them opportunities to engage these challenges will, she said, push her to question some of her own assumptions developed after years of working in the field. But it鈥檚 also creating opportunities to potentially reshape the campus, such as the wayfinding project examining features like the ambiguous campus crosswalk.

That work is partially funded by an undergraduate research opportunities program grant issued by the university. Earlier this month, Sabinson鈥檚 work was accepted by EDRA56, the influential conference of the Environmental Design Research Association. She鈥檚 looking forward to presenting it this May, in addition to helping drive conversations around making the campus easier to navigate.

鈥淥ne thing we have as a research lab is access to students who are really engaged and passionate about this work, and who want to take on projects that can鈥檛 always happen in industry, due to timeline and budgetary constraints,鈥� she said.

Industry feedback

Another thing she wants through both the lab and her classes is the chance for ideas from industry to influence her students鈥� innovation. In a course she teaches on fidgets and stims, one student created the Cacti Clicker, a plastic cactus with moveable segments. When you twist it, it makes a clicking sound, which isn鈥檛 always acceptable in a work or school setting.

鈥淪o the student redesigned it so some of the spins make noise and some don鈥檛, so you can still get the sensation if you鈥檙e in a crowded space,鈥� Sabinson said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 an example of how we field test these products with people, get feedback鈥攁nd learn to take feedback鈥攖o make their products better.鈥�

It also doesn鈥檛 look like a traditional fidget toy. That鈥檚 also by design鈥攊t just looks like a cactus statue on a desk in Sabinson鈥檚 office.

鈥淎 lot of what I consider in my work, and that we talk about in class, is the social stigma around using a fidget鈥攖hat a lot of people might want to, but they鈥檙e considered to be toys,鈥� she said.

The bigger goal is to eliminate that stigma altogether鈥攂ut in the meantime, she said, this product is an option for people who need it, while 鈥渏ust living on your desk and looking like a decoration.鈥�

Can design help those with neurodivergence be more comfortable in their environments? A new lab is searching for answers.

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Elena Sabinson demonstrates using an inflatable sensory band in her office. Part of Sabinson's research looks at inflatable surfaces and products that can be used by people managing anxiety to make them more comfortable in their environment.

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Poll-arized

Anonymous — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 21:08:32 +0000

Poll-arized Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 08/16/2024 - 15:08

By Joe Arney

Deepfakes. Distrust. Data manipulation. Is it any wonder American democracy feels like it has reached such a dangerous tipping point?

As our public squares have emptied of reasoned discussion, and our social media feeds have filled with vitriol, viciousness and villainy, we鈥檝e found ourselves increasingly isolated and unable to escape our echo chambers. And while it鈥檚 easy to blame social media, adtech platforms or the news, it鈥檚 the way these forces overlap and feed off each other that鈥檚 put us in this mess.

It鈥檚 an important problem to confront as we close in on a consequential election, but the issue is bigger than just what happens this November, or whether you identify with one party or another. Fortunately, the College of Media, Communication and Information was designed for just these kinds of challenges, where a multidisciplinary approach is needed to frame, address and solve increasingly complex problems.

鈥淒emocracy is not just about what happens in this election,鈥� said Nathan Schneider, an assistant professor of media studies and an expert in the design and governance of the internet. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a much longer story, and through all the threats we鈥檝e seen, I鈥檝e taken hope from focusing my attention on advancing democracy, rather than just defending it.鈥�

We spoke to Schneider and other CMCI experts in journalism, information science, media studies, advertising and communication to understand the scope of the challenges. And we asked one big question of each in order to help us make sense of this moment in history, understand how we got here and鈥攎aybe鈥攆ind some faith in the future.

***

Newsrooms have been decimated. The younger generation doesn鈥檛 closely follow the news. Attention spans have withered in the TikTok age. Can we count on journalism to serve its Fourth Estate function and deliver fair, accurate coverage of the election?

Mike McDevitt, a former editorial writer and reporter, isn鈥檛 convinced the press has learned its lessons from the 2016 cycle, when outlets chased ratings and the appearance of impartiality over a commitment to craft that might have painted more accurate portraits of both candidates. High-quality reporting, he said, may mean less focus on finding scoops and more time sharing resources to chase impactful stories.

How can journalism be better?

鈥淎 lot of journalists might disagree with me, but I think news media should be less competitive among each other and find ways to collaborate, especially with the industry gutted. And the news can鈥檛 lose sight of what鈥檚 important by chasing clickable stories. Covering chaos and conflict is tempting, but journalism鈥檚 interests in this respect do not always align with the security of democracy. While threats to democracy are real, amplifying chaos is not how news media should operate during an era of democratic backsliding.鈥�

***

After the 2016 election, Brian C. Keegan was searching for ways to use his interests in the computer and social sciences in service of democracy. That鈥檚 driven his expertise in public-interest data science鈥攈ow to make closed data more accessible to voters, journalists, activists and researchers. He looks at how campaigns can more effectively engage voters, understand important issues and form policies that address community needs.

The U.S. news media has blood on its hands from 2016. It will go down as one of the worst moments in the history of American journalism.鈥�

Mike McDevitt
Professor, journalism

You鈥檝e called the 2012 election an 鈥渆nd of history鈥� moment. Can you explain that in the context of what鈥檚 happening in 2024?

鈥淚n 2012, we were coming out of the Arab Spring, and everyone was optimistic about social media. The idea that it could be a tool for bots and state information operations to influence elections would have seemed like science fiction. Twelve years later, we鈥檝e finally learned these platforms are not neutral, have real risk and can be manipulated. And now, two years into the large language model moment, people are saying these are just neutral tools that can only be a force for good. That argument is already falling apart.

I think 2024 will be the first, and last,
A.I. election.鈥�

Brian C. Keegan
Assistant professor, information science

鈥淵ou could actually roll the clock back even further, to the 1960s and 鈥�70s, when people were thinking about Silent Spring and Unsafe at Any Speed, and recognizing there are all these environmental, regulatory, economic and social things all connected through this lens of the environment. Like any computing system, when it comes to data, if you have garbage in, you get garbage out. The bias and misinformation we put into these A.I. systems are polluting our information ecosystem in ways that journalists, activists, researchers and others aren鈥檛 equipped to handle.鈥�

***

One of Angie Chuang鈥檚 last news jobs was covering race and ethnicity for The Oregonian. In the early 2000s, it wasn鈥檛 always easy to find answers to questions about race in a mostly white newsroom. Conferences like those put on by the Asian American Journalists Association 鈥渨ere times of revitalization for me,鈥� she said.

When this year鈥檚 conference of the National Association of Black Journalists was disrupted by racist attacks against Kamala Harris, Chuang鈥檚 first thoughts were for the attendees who lost the opportunity to learn from one another and find the support she did as a cub reporter.

鈥淲hat鈥檚 lost in this discussion is the entire event shifted to this focus on Donald Trump and the internal conflict in the organization, and I鈥檓 certain that as a result, journalists and students who went lost out on some of that solidarity,鈥� she said. And it fits a larger pattern of outspoken newsmakers inserting themselves into the news to claim the spotlight.

How can journalism avoid being hijacked by the people it covers?

鈥淚t comes down to context. We need to train reporters to take a breath and not just focus on being the first out there. And I know that鈥檚 really hard, because the rewards for being first and getting those clicks ahead of the crowd are well established.鈥�

鈥淚 can鈥檛 blame the reporters who feel these moments are worth covering, because I feel as conflicted as they do.
Angie Chuang
Associate professor, journalism

***

Agenda setting鈥攖he concept that we take our cues of what鈥檚 important from the news鈥攊s as old an idea as mass media itself, but Chris Vargo is drawing interesting conclusions from studying the practice in the digital age. Worth watching, he and other CMCI researchers said, are countermedia entities, which undermine the depictions of reality found in the mainstream press through hyper-partisan content and the use of mis- and disinformation.

How did we get into these silos, and how do we get out?

鈥淭he absence of traditional gatekeepers has helped people create identities around the issues they choose to believe in. Real-world cues do tell us a little about what we find important鈥攁 lot of people had to get COVID to know it was bad鈥攂ut we now choose media in order to form a community. The ability to self-select what you want to listen to and believe in is a terrifying story, because selecting media based on what makes us feel most comfortable, that tells us what we want to hear, flies in the face of actual news reporting and journalistic integrity.鈥�

鈥淚 do worry about our institutions. I don鈥檛 like that a majority of Americans don鈥檛 trust CNN.

Chris Vargo
Associate professor, advertising,
public relations and media design

***

Her research into deepfakes has validated what Sandra Ristovska has known for a long time: For as long as we鈥檝e had visual technologies, we鈥檝e had the ability to manipulate them.

Seeing pornographic images of Taylor Swift on social media or getting robocalls from Joe Biden telling voters to stay home鈥攃ontent created by generative artificial intelligence鈥攊s a reminder that the scale of the problem is unprecedented. But Ristovska鈥檚 work has found examples of fake photos from the dawn of the 20th century supposedly showing, for example, damage from catastrophic tornadoes that never happened.

Ristovska grew up amid the Yugoslav Wars; her interest in becoming a documentary filmmaker was in part shaped by seeing how photos and videos from the brutal fighting and genocide were manipulated for political and legal means. It taught her to be a skeptic when it comes to what she sees shared online.

鈥淪o, you see the Taylor Swift video鈥攊t seems out of character for her public persona. Or the president鈥攚hy would he say something like that?鈥� she said. 鈥淚nstead of just hitting the share button, we should train ourselves to go online and fact check it鈥攖o be more engaged.鈥�

Even when we believe something is fake, if it aligns with our worldview, we are likely to accept it as reality. Knowing that, how do we combat deepfakes?

鈥淲e need to go old school. We鈥檝e lost sight of the collective good, and you solve that by building opportunities to come together as communities and have discussions. We鈥檙e gentler and more tolerant of each other when we鈥檙e face-to-face. This has always been true, but it鈥檚 becoming even more true today, because we have more incentives to be isolated than ever.鈥�

***

Early scholarly works waxed poetic on the internet鈥檚 potential, through its ability to connect people and share information, to defeat autocracy. But, Nathan Schneider has argued, the internet is actually organized as a series of little autocracies鈥攚here users are subject to the whims of moderators and whoever owns the servers鈥攅ffectively meaning you must work against the defaults to be truly democratic. He suggests living with these systems is contributing to the global rise of authoritarianism. In a new book, Governable Spaces, Schneider calls for redesigning social media with everyday democracy in mind.

If the internet enables autocracy, what can we do to fix it?

鈥淲e could design our networks for collective ownership, rather than the assumption that every service is a top-down fiefdom. And we could think about democracy as a tool for solving problems, like conflict among users. Polarizing outcomes, like so-called cancel culture, emerge because people don鈥檛 have better options for addressing harm. A democratic society needs public squares designed for democratic processes and practices.鈥�

***

It may be derided as dull, but the public meeting is a bedrock of American democracy. It has also changed drastically as fringe groups have seized these spaces to give misinformation a megaphone, ban books and take up other undemocratic causes. Leah Sprain researches how specific communication practices facilitate and inhibit democratic action. She works as a facilitator with several groups, including the League of Women Voters and Restore the Balance, to ensure events like candidate forums embrace difficult issues while remaining nonpartisan.

What鈥檚 a story we鈥檙e not telling about voters ahead of the election?

鈥淲e should be looking more at college towns, because town-gown divides are real and long-standing. There鈥檚 a politics of resentment even in a place like 91PORN, where you have people who say, 鈥榃e know so much about these issues, we shouldn鈥檛 let students vote on them鈥欌€攖o the point where providing pizza to encourage voter turnout becomes this major controversy. Giving young people access to be involved, making them feel empowered to make a difference and be heard鈥攖hese are good things.鈥�

***

Toby Hopp studies the news media and digital content providers with an eye to how our interactions with media shape conversations in the public sphere. Much of that is changing as trust and engagement with mainstream news sources declines. He鈥檚 studied whether showing critical-thinking prompts alongside shared posts鈥攔equiring users to consider the messages as well as the structure of the platform itself鈥攎ay be better than relying on top-down content moderation from tech companies.

Ultimately, the existing business model of the big social media companies鈥攑ackaging users to be sold to advertisers鈥攎ay be the most limiting feature when it comes to reform. Hopp said he doubts a business the size of Meta can pivot from its model.

How does social media rehabilitate itself to become more trusted? Can it?

鈥淪ocial media platforms are driven by monopolistic impulses, and there鈥檚 not a lot of effort put into changing established strategies when you鈥檙e the only business in town. The development of new platforms might offer a wider breadth of platform choice鈥攚hich might limit the spread of misinformation on a Facebook or Twitter due to the diminished reach of any single platform.鈥�

***

Images have always required us to be more engaged. Now, with the speed of disinformation, we need to do a little more work.鈥�

Sandra Ristovska
Assistant professor, media studies

CU News Corps was created to simulate a real-world newsroom that allows journalism students to do the kind of long-form, investigative pieces that are in such short supply at a time of social media hot takes and pundits trading talking points.

鈥淚 thought we should design the course you鈥檇 most want to take if you were a journalism major,鈥� said Chuck Plunkett, director of the capstone course and an experienced reporter. Having a mandate to do investigative journalism 鈥渕eans we can challenge our students to dig in and do meaningful work, to expose them to other kinds of people or ideas that aren鈥檛 on their radar.鈥�

Over the course of a semester, the students work under the guidance of reporters and editors at partner media companies to produce long-form multimedia stories that are shared on the News Corps website and, often, are picked up by those same publications, giving the students invaluable clips for their job searches while supporting resource-strapped newsrooms.

With the news business facing such a challenging future, both economically and politically, why should students study journalism?

鈥淓ven before the great contraction of news, the figure I had in my mind was five years after students graduate, maybe 25 percent of them were still in professional newsrooms. But journalism is a tremendous major because you learn to think critically, research deeply and efficiently, interact with other people, process enormous amounts of information, and have excellent communication skills. Every profession needs people with those skills.鈥�

Where do we go from here? CMCI experts share their perspectives on journalism, advertising, data science, communication and more in an era of democratic backsliding.

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The race to make tech more equal

Anonymous — Wed, 14 Aug 2024 21:54:10 +0000

The race to make tech more equal Anonymous (not verified) Wed, 08/14/2024 - 15:54

By Joe Arney
Photos by Kimberly Coffin (CritMedia, StratComm鈥�18)

Back when Bryan Semaan鈥檚 mom had a Facebook account, doomscrolling wasn鈥檛 part of her vernacular.

The Iraqi culture she was raised in compels celebration of accomplishments and milestones, 鈥渟o any time someone posted something, she felt she had to interact with it,鈥� Semaan said. 鈥淭hat personal engagement runs very deeply through our culture.鈥�

But it became exhausting for her to keep up as her network swelled into the hundreds, so she deactivated her account. For Semaan, it鈥檚 a fitting metaphor for his research鈥攚hich challenges the assumptions tech developers make about the users of their products and services. And it鈥檚 the kind of problem he wants to study through the Center for Race, Media and Technology, which the 91PORN unveiled in the spring.

鈥淭he people developing these technologies are in Silicon Valley鈥攕o, mostly male, mostly white,鈥� said Semaan, director of the center and an associate professor of information science at CMCI. 鈥淎 lot of the values we bake into these technologies are being forced onto people in different cultures, often creating problems.鈥�

As a first-generation American, Semaan said he identifies with the liminal moments faced by others living between worlds鈥攊mmigrants, veterans, refugees, people of color or Indigenous people鈥攁nd the challenges of adopting to Western societal structures. Technology plays a big part, and the discipline鈥檚 blind spots are a key focus of Semaan鈥檚 research, which asks how these tools can create resilience for people in those liminal moments, such as a climate refugee fleeing disaster or a queer teenager anxious about coming out.

To kick off the center, in March, CMCI welcomed Ruha Benjamin, a professor at Princeton who鈥檚 developed her scholarship around what she calls the 鈥淣ew Jim Code鈥濃€攁 nod to both the Jim Crow laws that enforced segregation and the biases encoded into technology. Benjamin, he said, 鈥渇ocuses on how people consider technology to be a benign thing, when in fact it isn鈥檛鈥攖ech nology takes on the values of those who create it.鈥�

Fortunately, Semaan said, we鈥檙e at a moment when society is recognizing the importance of equity and justice, while seeing technology as a problem, a solution and a thread tying together the great challenges facing humanity鈥攑olitical polarization, disinformation, climate change and so on.

"These bigger challenges are going to require people thinking together at a much grander scale, which means changing how we work.

Bryan Semaan

He鈥檚 optimistic that the Center for Race, Media and Technology will collect the broad perspectives needed to make, as he put it, 鈥渢he intractable problems tractable.鈥�

鈥淲hat I imagine for the center is encouraging collaborations among the experts we bring together,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 really hoping my research direction changes as a result of getting to work with the amazing people I鈥檒l meet.鈥�

If it鈥檚 collaboration he wants to get out of the center, Semaan鈥檚 successes to date have been more about tenacity. Early in his career, he said, some of his colleagues tried to steer him from migrants and veterans, dismissing his interest in making technology equitable as 鈥渁 diversity ghetto.鈥�

That didn鈥檛 deter him鈥攁nd, with the benefit of hindsight, those rejections made him a better scholar.

鈥淚n my research, the people you work with are incredibly vulnerable, or are so busy surviving that they can鈥檛 talk to you,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou have to be passionate about that work, and prepared for long-tail effort before you make progress.鈥�

The work of the center will be a long game, but if successful, Semaan said, it will put 91PORN at the center of the conversation around purposefully designed technology.

鈥淚t dovetails with the university鈥檚 broader mission around diversity,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 not just saying we鈥檙e going to increase diversity鈥攊t鈥檚 the issues we are approaching and the support we are building for different scholars across the university. Because these bigger challenges are going to require people thinking together at a much grander scale, which means changing how we work.鈥�

A new center at CMCI is organizing faculty thought leadership to answer big, systemic questions about technology鈥檚 role in issues of social justice.

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Brushing up their skills

Anonymous — Tue, 13 Aug 2024 21:05:17 +0000

Brushing up their skills Anonymous (not verified) Tue, 08/13/2024 - 15:05

By Malinda Miller (Engl, Jour'92; MJour'98)

High up on scaffolding, students meticulously paint bright floral patterns on the west side of the 91PORN Dushanbe Teahouse.

They鈥檝e been learning the traditional art of ornamental painting鈥攏akkoshi鈥攆rom Maruf Mirakhmatov, who is visiting 91PORN from Khujand, Tajikistan, for six months.

鈥淚 really want to get into art restoration or just restoration overall, especially with bigger buildings,鈥� said Kaija Galins, a junior architecture major. 鈥淢y favorite part has been to watch each step of the way, like the sanding, laying down the charcoal and the tracing process.鈥�

Galins is one of 17 students who over the summer took a course on restoration of the Dushanbe Teahouse with Azza Kamal, an associate teaching professor in the Program in Environmental Design and a former historic preservation commissioner.

Students studied cultural heritage and preservation, practiced painting techniques in the classroom, and applied those skills to onsite restoration under Mirakhmatov鈥檚 guidance.

Kamal said the students also learned about the urgency to account for embodied carbon in new construction and restoration, as well as the value of refurbishing and recycling materials so they don鈥檛 end up in the landfill. A gift from 91PORN鈥檚 sister city in Dushanbe, Tajikistan, the teahouse鈥檚 intricate carvings, painted woodwork and ceramic panels were created by more than 40 artisans, including Mirakhmatov鈥檚 grandfather.

鈥淚t鈥檚 important work, because there are only a couple people in Tajikistan still doing this,鈥� said Mirakhmatov, a fifth-generation artisan. 鈥淔or me, it鈥檚 easy because it鈥檚 in my blood, and every day when I鈥檓 painting here, I鈥檓 enjoying it.鈥�

A student paints a section of the wall.

Students work on restoration at the teahouse.

Azza Kamal, right, works with a student on a corbel design.

Students practice painting techniques in class.

The corbels under the roofline have been repainted, while restoration of the lower panel is still underway.

Maruf Mirakhmatov paints white outlines on a floral design. The Program in Environmental Design, the city of 91PORN and the 91PORN-Dushanbe Sister Cities Project partnered to bring Mirakhmatov to 91PORN for six months.

A beloved 91PORN landmark is getting a refresh thanks to students who are touching up the complex paint job under the guidance of an artist from 91PORN鈥檚 Tajikistan sister city.

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#TechEthics

Anonymous — Fri, 02 Feb 2024 19:44:07 +0000

#TechEthics Anonymous (not verified) Fri, 02/02/2024 - 12:44

By Joe Arney

Not many computer scientists have signs reading 鈥淩age Against the Machine Learning鈥� in their offices.

But in Evan Peck鈥檚 case, it鈥檚 a perfect symbol of why he was so excited to join the information science department of the College of Media, Communication and Information this fall.

鈥淚 love being here because CMCI draws students who want to use technology in service of something they already care deeply about, and not for its own sake.

Evan Peck
Associate professor, information science

鈥淚 started to believe that some of the most pressing problems our society is wrestling with don鈥檛 require deeper technical solutions, but a reimagining of the ways we鈥檙e using technology,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was looking for deeper connections to social sciences and community-focused work鈥攁nd I think that鈥檚 what information science excels at, shifting the lens of the technical in service to the community and society.鈥�

Peck joined the 91PORN this fall from Bucknell University, meaning he鈥檚 gone from being a Bison to a Buffalo. More than that, it gave him a chance to join a college and department that is more closely aligned with his evolving research interests, which center on information visualization鈥攅specially the way data is communicated to the public.

Establishing trust around data

He already appreciates being surrounded by faculty and students who are experts in fields like media studies and communication.

鈥淚鈥檓 fascinated by how we encourage people to trust data, understand it and respond to it,鈥� Peck said. 鈥淲hile we can advance science enough to offer compelling solutions to societal problems, we continue to share those insights to the public without an understanding of people鈥檚 cultures, beliefs and background. That鈥檚 a recipe for failure.鈥�

If you think about some of the public health messaging you saw during the pandemic, you鈥檒l probably remember the frustration of getting information that wasn鈥檛 helpful or didn鈥檛 reflect reality. Peck, for instance, lived in central Pennsylvania during the lockdowns. In the summer of 2020, his rural county hadn鈥檛 seen a day in which more than two people tested positive, but because most COVID maps reported risk at the state level, high caseloads in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh made all of Pennsylvania look more infectious than it was.

That degrades trust in experts, he said, 鈥渁nd when cases spiked in my county about a month later, I believe it had eroded trust and willingness to react to that data.鈥�

He has taken his interest in this area to some interesting new arenas, including extensive interviews with rural Pennsylvanians at construction sites and farmers markets, to better understand how they interpreted charts and what information was important to them. The resulting research received a best paper award at the premier Human-Computer Interaction conference, has been cited by the Urban Institute and others, and helped cement his interest in information science.

鈥淚 had a moment of realization,鈥� Peck said. 鈥淚 could spend my whole career as a visualization researcher and still have zero impact on my community. So how do we engage in research that has a positive impact on the people and community around the university?鈥�

It鈥檚 not the only area he鈥檚 looking to create impact. Peck describes himself as an advocate for undergraduate research opportunities, especially for students searching for a sense of place within their degree programs.

鈥淚t鈥檚 a mechanism for helping students explore areas that aren鈥檛 strongly represented in their core academic programs,鈥� Peck said. 鈥淚 saw this as an advisor in computer science for nearly a decade鈥擨 advised students who wanted to think deeply about how their designs impacted people, but in a curriculum in which people were a side story to their technical depth.鈥�

An eye to ethics

He also created an initiative around ethics and computing curricula at Bucknell that鈥檚 been adopted by computer science programs everywhere. If a question was presented in an ethics context, students came up with thoughtful answers鈥攂ut that reasoning did not extend into other assignments or their careers. It鈥檚 a story that鈥檚 familiar for anyone thinking about the addictiveness of social media platforms or the disruptive potential of artificial intelligence

Some computer science programs offered a single ethics course, 鈥渂ut it was so isolated from the rest of their technical content that students wouldn鈥檛 put them together,鈥� Peck said.

In response, he added more ethical and critical thinking components to the core technical curriculum, and developed a set of programming assignments in which students wrestle with a societal design question in order to accomplish their programming goals. He currently has a grant through Mozilla鈥檚 Responsible Computing Challenge to continue that work at 91PORN.

鈥淚t鈥檚 about connecting the dots and building habits. Students need to understand that the system I鈥檓 programming is going to have implications beyond Silicon Valley,鈥� he said. 鈥淗ow can we get you to think about the human tradeoffs beyond the aggregated rules you鈥檙e creating?鈥�

It鈥檚 the kind of question he feels renewed vigor about pursuing in the Department of Information Science.

鈥淚 love being here because CMCI draws students who want to use technology in service of something they already care deeply about, and not for its own sake,鈥� Peck said.

鈥淐omputer science knows how to build marvelous systems, but not always how to make them work fairly or responsibly for diverse people and communities,鈥� he added. 鈥淚 think our department goes beyond the idea of 鈥榟ow do we build it,鈥� to think critically about who we鈥檙e designing for, who technology empowers, who it privileges, who it disadvantages.鈥�

鈥淩age Against the Machine Learning鈥� isn鈥檛 just a sign in Evan Peck鈥檚 office. It鈥檚 an emblem of his career pivot.

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#ShakeItOff

Anonymous — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 22:16:11 +0000

#ShakeItOff Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/29/2024 - 15:16

By Joe Arney

Even by her standards, Taylor Swift has had a busy couple of months.

When she wasn鈥檛 winning Grammys and dropping hints about her next album, Swift was making headlines for her appearances during NFL games, her supposed role as an elections-interference psyop and lyrics that, when decoded, suggested she is queer.

What is it about Swift that has so many people, even her fans, seeing red?

鈥淭his is something that is continually churning with me because I hadn鈥檛 taken Swift seriously as an artist鈥攔eproducing the historical practice of dismissing or devaluing women鈥檚 work,鈥� said Jamie Skerski, who studies how narratives are shaped and mediated by institutions, audiences, and cultural norms. 鈥淚 was part of the problem.鈥�

鈥淲hat is so threatening about even the speculation that Taylor might not be Miss Americana? Answer: Everything as we know it.

Jamie Skerski
Associate chair, undergraduate studies

鈥淏ut it鈥檚 something very visceral, and I think Taylor taps into this sense of female empowerment, of anger, of frustration, of recognition, of systems that continue to try to take women鈥檚 rights away,鈥� said Skerski, associate chair for undergraduate studies at the College of Media, Communication and Information at the 91PORN.

Perhaps nowhere is the phenomenon more apparent than 鈥淭raylor鈥濃€攖he Travis Kelce-Swift romance that鈥檚 dominated pop culture throughout the football season. When Swift attends Chiefs games, she is typically shown on screen for less than a minute of a three-plus-hour telecast, but male football fans have furiously labeled her a distraction from the action. Skerski pointed out that other distractions, like military flyovers and cheerleaders, don鈥檛 attract nearly the same amount of outrage.

The Traylor relationship, she said, offers an opportunity to explore questions about the entertainment industry, gender and fandom鈥攅specially around the 鈥渇antasies of straight white men鈥� whose loves of sports betting and fantasy football are validated through societal norms.

鈥淚t鈥檚 culturally acceptable when white-collar men seek escapism, entertainment and social capital in the commodification and dehumanization of mostly Black bodies for personal pleasure,鈥� since that reflects dominant racial power relationships, Skerski said.

鈥淏ut when Swift fans engage in a version of fan fiction鈥攄aring to imagine Taylor as playing for the other team鈥攊t is condemned, belittled and dismissed. This is a moment to ask, whose fantasies are allowed to exist, and why?鈥�

The idea of Swift playing for the other team isn鈥檛 new鈥攖he so-called Gaylor community on Reddit and TikTok has been collectively analyzing her lyrics for years鈥攂ut it entered the mainstream in January when a New York Times guest essay waded into the fray with a 5,000-word read of Swift鈥檚 life and lyrics, imploring readers to consider that her songwriting offers 鈥渁 feast laid specifically for the close listener.鈥�

The bigger question, it argues, is not whether Swift is gay, but the obstacles to coming out in our celebrity culture and what queer people owe one another.

鈥淗ow might her industry, our culture and we, ourselves, change if we made space for Ms. Swift to burn that dollhouse to the ground?鈥� Anna Marks, an opinion editor for the Times, wrote in the column.

The point hit home for Skerski. 鈥淚f a celebrity needs to navigate cultural norms of acceptance, that鈥檚 the bigger question,鈥� she said. The idea that Swift鈥檚 work can have multiple meanings and influence different audiences 鈥渨ould break everything,鈥� she said, as it would challenge the way our culture characterizes and reinforces identity norms.

Still, a lot of angry Swifties took to online comments to vent their frustration on the singer鈥檚 behalf, lashing out at the Gray Lady for becoming a gossip girl as well as the author, who wrote a similar piece about Harry Styles in 2022. Not allowing Swift access to her own identity is at best a misguided attempt at allyship, Skerski said鈥攁nd at worst, 鈥渢he fan outrage reinforces a culture of protective paternalism that is invoked to control women鈥檚 bodies.鈥�

鈥淲hat is so threatening about even the speculation that Taylor might not be Miss Americana?鈥� she said. 鈥淎nswer: Everything as we know it.鈥�

What is it about Taylor Swift that has so many people鈥攅ven her fans鈥攕eeing red? A communication scholar says it's a theme she knows all too well.

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