Lightnews — Scholar-powered news

Eric Deggans @edeggans.bsky.social · 10d

Since President Trump resurfaced talk of a "100% tariff" on foreign made movies - once again, without details on stuff like who would pay - I'm resurfacing what I wrote in May when he first posted about it. Media must curb hyping his vague announcements: https://loom.ly/_nTJx-E

Trump, movie tariffs and the news media: Why do we keep falling for this?

Journalists should resist rampant speculation when it's not attached to a tangible policy

ericdeggans.substack.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · 21d

Deeply fascinating exploration of how Angel is doing the business of movie and series making in radically different ways. themediaodyssey.transistor.fm/episodes/how...

The Media Odyssey | HOW ANGEL IS REVOLUTIONIZING ENTERTAINMENT

After raising $55M in commitments in just 18 days, Angel is ringing the bell on Wall Street and the three founding brothers come on this special episode of The Media Odyssey Podcast for the first t...

themediaodyssey.transistor.fm

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · 27d

LOL--my kind of quiz!
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09...

Who said it: Lachlan Murdoch or Succession's Kendall Roy?

As Lachlan Murdoch's ascension to the head of the family business is cemented, can you tell his quotes apart from Succession's self-proclaimed "eldest boy", Kendall Roy?

www.abc.net.au

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · 28d

I was thinking that might be the case ;) Only 4 of the eps are available here, but solid resource. Happy to Zoom, late afternoon US works, or I could record a Zoom with you to use. Explaining 'mass media' to those who never really experienced it has been a fascinating challenge

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · 28d

Enjoyed talking with Gareth King for his podcast series digging into the internet's role in how we live now. Love the podcast form for being able to talk through things that don't have easy answers. Has the internet ruined Broadcast Television? www.ruinedbytheinternet.com/has-the-inte...

Has the internet ruined Broadcast Television? - Amanda Lotz

Has the internet ruined Broadcast Television? By replacing linear, scheduled programming with huge libraries of on-demand content, have the business models and powe…

www.ruinedbytheinternet.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · 28d

There's a good episode in the Dark Side of the 90s doco series (on Hulu) that helps make it accessible to those who didn't live it (Hi Amanda!). Sounds like a great course

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · 29d

I can't overstate how important this article was to my academic start. It will continue to stand as a crucial part of the foundation of television studies and feminist media studies. Go with our great gratitude Lauren www.jstor.org/stable/1225298

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Michael Socolow @michaelsocolow.bsky.social · Sep 6

For 16 consecutive weeks [all summer], David Muir's "World News Tonight" has been by far the most-watched show on *all* U.S. TV. (~8 million viewers).

More than any primetime entertainment, more than any sports broadcast, much more than anything on cable.

www.adweek.com/tvnewser/wee...

Week of August 25 Evening News Ratings: ABC News and CBS News See Gains Before Holiday Weekend

CBS Evening News experienced double-digit growth of over 20% in the demo.

www.adweek.com

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Leon Scarillaro 👻 @barilleon.com · Sep 1

When you're working on a solo project and you lose so much momentum that everything grinds to a screeching halt, what you are suffering from is a lack-of-feedback loop. It's time to show what you have to someone who is not you.

Is what I'm doing worth it? Is it good? Entertaining? GO FIND OUT!

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Well, that's a cost
www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08...

A quarter of your water. Could this be the true cost of AI?

Australia is being flagged as a hub for data centres but there are concerns the nation is not ready to deal with the amount of water they need to function.

www.abc.net.au

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 27

In a world where many people are using many different media technologies and services daily, and those technologies and services each offer widely ranging content, maybe we need to organize media use by WHY people use rather than what or how if we want to begin to understand that use.

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 27

Pleased to have a collaboration with Jonathan Gray and Catherine Johnson now in print. A conceptual article drawn from conversations since 2020ish as we each investigated television/video (defined broadly) in US, UK, and Australia respectively.
journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

Rethinking watching: A viewer-centred approach to understanding the changing audience experience - Amanda D. Lotz, Catherine Johnson, Jonathan Gray, 2025

Audience research is widely regarded as a crucial area of media scholarship and needed to understand the role of media in society. Significant changes in how an...

journals.sagepub.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 22

@hcrichardson.bsky.social offers a masterclass here; 100+ yrs of US history to explain the current moment in 13 min. Her daily missives have become core to my media diet. A gift to sanity and the fight for democracy. Strongly recommend! open.substack.com/pub/heatherc...

August 20, 2025

A newsletter about the history behind today's politics.

open.substack.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 19

US TV friends-I think Hal and Harper may only be on Mubi for you, but it offers some of the most beautiful & haunting character study. Risky choices and rewarding; strongly recommend finding. (Great no matter where you are, just unusual I find a US show before my US feed) #tv #streaming

ABC News (Unofficial) @abc-news.bsky.social · Jun 27

Weird, sad and funny dramedy starring Mark Ruffalo may stay with you forever: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-06-27/hal-and-harper-mark-ruffalo-what-to-watch-this-weekend-raygun/105454566

Weird, sad and funny dramedy starring Mark Ruffalo may stay with you forever

Five shows to watch this weekend, starting with a sad dramedy that looks at what happens when children are parentified and takes a page from the Nathan Fielder playbook.

www.abc.net.au

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 18

It used to be that the citation data was mostly correct, now more than half of the books have publication dates off by a decade-if search surfaces books at all; and why are the chapters of my new monograph listed as separate publications? Just a few small nice things instead of plagiarism robots😔?

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 18

Have just devoured Jill Lepore's If Then – an amazing book and so well suited to the current moment. So many easter eggs for media/comm folks and an era of the academy now truly unimaginable. So envious of the bookcraft! Thanks @adrishaw.bsky.social for recommending wwnorton.com/books/978163...

If Then

From the best-selling author of <em>These Truths</em>, an “exhilarating” (<em>New York Times Book Review</em>) account of the Cold War origins of our data-mad era., If Then, How the Simulm...

wwnorton.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 13

The 1st section of Media 2025 highlights 4 developments that most adjusted media’s cultural role and industrial operation. They introduced exceptionally more choice and control that eradicated SCARCITY - the unacknowledged foundation of predigital media strategy. www.amandalotz.com/media-2025-2/

Media 2025 Explainer

Announcing Media 2025 – an experiment in digital-era publishing that is a cross-between a limited newsletter and a short book. It's 11 posts (10 paywalled – nearly 20,000 words) that provide state-of-...

www.amandalotz.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Aug 1

The Spotify gods smiled on me and offered up a song I haven't heard in a decade that instantly made me 17 again. Such visceral joy for a few minutes. Music can be amazing.

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Gil Durán @gilduran.com · Jul 21

Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship — & why most of Silicon Valley will quietly watch democracy burn.

My talk with @jonfortt.bsky.social (my DePauw classmate) about the dangerous coalition between the far right & the tech right. On @theverge.com's Decoder

www.theverge.com/decoder-podc...

Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship

Guest host Jon Fortt and The Nerd Reich author Gil Duran on the rise of tech authoritarianism.

www.theverge.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Jul 24

Fascinating if horrifying research and analysis of the ideas behind the tech $B's challenge to American ideals. Also reminded of the value my #DePauw education continues to deliver and unexpected relevance of PoliSci101. So grateful to have learned much I never expected would be so relevant.

Gil Durán @gilduran.com · Jul 21

Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship — & why most of Silicon Valley will quietly watch democracy burn.

My talk with @jonfortt.bsky.social (my DePauw classmate) about the dangerous coalition between the far right & the tech right. On @theverge.com's Decoder

www.theverge.com/decoder-podc...

Why tech billionaires want a dictatorship

Guest host Jon Fortt and The Nerd Reich author Gil Duran on the rise of tech authoritarianism.

www.theverge.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Jul 21

Thinking about #YouTube evokes the parable of the blind men and the elephant. The entity is vast and varied: how do we understand the whole or the parts in relation to the whole? This study provides needed insight…my thoughts on what it offers www.linkedin.com/pulse/youtub...

YouTube v 'Commercial YouTube'

I’ve been on the look for research like this for awhile – something aimed at comprehending YouTube as a whole. I’ve been frustrated for some time by the inability to appreciate YouTube at scale or its...

www.linkedin.com

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Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jul 16

Here's this week's Better Offline. I'm joined by @briankoppelman.bsky.social @mikedrucker.bsky.social and @cherlynn.bsky.social to talk about the tech industry, what AI can actually do, and what the world looks like in a year.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
linktr.ee/betteroffline

Radio Better Offline: Brian Koppelman, Cherlynn Low & Mike Drucker

Podcast Episode · Better Offline · 07/16/2025 · 1h 16m

podcasts.apple.com

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Amanda Lotz @drtvlotz.bsky.social · Jul 19

A great discussion including good spirited disagreement. I learn something every time I listen

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jul 16

Here's this week's Better Offline. I'm joined by @briankoppelman.bsky.social @mikedrucker.bsky.social and @cherlynn.bsky.social to talk about the tech industry, what AI can actually do, and what the world looks like in a year.

podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/r...
linktr.ee/betteroffline

Radio Better Offline: Brian Koppelman, Cherlynn Low & Mike Drucker

Podcast Episode · Better Offline · 07/16/2025 · 1h 16m

podcasts.apple.com

Ed Zitron @edzitron.com · Jul 1

Newsletter: The Shareholder Supremacy has eaten the world, turning the tech industry into the playground of do-nothing management dictators that see human beings as assets and the customer as subordinate to growth - all inspired by GE’s Jack Welch. www.wheresyoured.at/tss/

The Shareholder Supremacy

I promise you, everything that's happening makes sense. It all feels so chaotic, so utterly, offensively stupid, so disconnected from reality that it's hard to understand how Meta can run a terrible company with decaying services that's also wildly profitable, or how Meta, Microsoft and Google can proliferate unprofitable, unsustainable

www.wheresyoured.at

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Axel Bruns @snurb.info · Oct 15

I couldn’t really let last week’s #SocialMediaSummitNSWSA concernfest stand without comment, so I’ve just published a critique of the event and its one-sided concern-mongering in @crikey_news.bsky.social:

www.crikey.com.au/20...

Inside the moral panic at Australia's 'first of its kind' summit about kids on social media

'The science is settled,' the SA premier touted. Meanwhile, experts raised concerns offstage in private breakout discussions.

www.crikey.com.au

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Joy-Ann Reid @joyannreid.bsky.social · Nov 26

This really is the word of the year: enshittification... www.theguardian.com/science/2024...

‘What many of us feel’: why ‘enshittification’ is Macquarie Dictionary’s word of the year

The committee’s honourable mentions went to ‘right to disconnect’ and ‘rawdogging’

www.theguardian.com

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Polity @politybooks.bsky.social · Nov 29

‘Offering a broad yet detailed exploration, this truly original perspective is set to teach a new generation of students how to deal with unending industry upheaval.’
David Nieborg on 'Media Industries in the Digital Age’ by @drtvlotz.bsky.social & Timothy Havens

www.politybooks.com/bookdetail?b...

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