In a new essay, @aca-laurel.bsky.social examines the role of the fanboy auteur in HBO's backstage comedy "The Franchise," which satirizes Hollywood's superhero industrial complex. Read: www.flowjournal.org/2025/07/fanb...

Flow is experiencing some unexpected back end issues which have resulted in the site currently being down. We are doing our best to get this resolved as quickly as possible. Thanks to those who have already reached out!!

In "Welcome to Wrexham and Representations of Management in Football (Soccer) as a Product of the “Media Sports Cultural Complex”" Andrew Stubbs-Lacy explores representation & construction of management in football with a focus on Welcome to Wrexham. Read: tinyurl.com/4z7wkuk8

Dr. Roderik Smits explores various factors affecting what constitutes “fair pay” in the film and television industries. Read it here: tinyurl.com/mrn5wv9v

Next up: @geraldsim.bsky.social critiques Big Tech’s lobbying strategies against antitrust legislation, arguing that companies use technoliberal narratives, racialized imagery & nationalist rhetoric, such as the “China Argument,” to manipulate public opinion and more. tinyurl.com/ycka7652

Instead of advertising’s integration of AI media technologies as driven by natural market tendencies, @matthewcrain.bsky.social argues its from systemic commodification & political-economic forces, as analyzed through the Political Economy of Media & Communications framework. tinyurl.com/3yajfcmb

Dr. Newman explores the use of camera looks in sitcoms like Abbott Elementary as a comedic device. Establishing direct connection with the audience, blending traditions of comedic performance that invite viewer participation & emotional response. Read it here: tinyurl.com/4vp8uakv

🥳New Flow?! With Michael Z. Newman, @geraldsim.bsky.social ,
@matthewcrain.bsky.social , Roderik Smits, & Andrew Stubbs-Lacy! Topics include: camera looks in sitcoms, advertising’s integration of AI, Big Tech’s lobbying efforts, "fair pay” in media industries, & Welcome to Wrexham! flowjournal.org

In "Streaming Power" @swapnilrai.bsky.social explores how streaming giants like Netflix and Amazon shape diplomacy, narratives, and policy, positioning themselves as cultural power brokers beyond national borders in an era of digital media dominance.

Read it here: tinyurl.com/4buzdchw !

In "Work Songs: Tiny Desk Concerts Reimagines Music Video and Public Radio" @ericdharvey.com examines the shifts in live music consumption with a focus on the evolution of NPR’s Tiny Desk Concerts.

Read it here: tinyurl.com/ybzmk46h !

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kes2...

Time to celebrate! New flow with work by @ericdharvey.com
and @swapnilrai.bsky.social! Topics include: NPR's Tiny Desk Concert and live music consumption & how streaming platforms like Netflix and Amazon are positioning themselves as global cultural power brokers.
flowjournal.org

Kiah Bennett examines the production culture from the perspective of across-the-line workers at the entry level in "Across-the-Line: The Invisible Labor and Cultural Mechanics of Hollywood’s Entry-Level Workforce." Read it here: tinyurl.com/8v2w8cd8 !

In "Just Pretend: Elvis Girlies, Social Media and Embodied Play" Eleanor Patterson explores how Elvis Girlies “play around” with history.

Read it here: tinyurl.com/mrx3k83k

In this column, Ben Rogerson offers a textual and industrial analysis of the self-reflexive Disney+/Pixar series Dream Productions and the animation unit’s short-lived approach to streaming series. Read it here: tinyurl.com/2s4c4xke

In "The Return of Global Sisterhood? The Transnational Journey of the 4B Movement on TikTok" @jinsookkim.bsky.social explores the 4B movement as a transnational form of feminism that has been cultivated through digital platforms. Read it here: tinyurl.com/3c322z8y!

🚨 New Flow with @jinsookkim.bsky.social, Kiah Bennett, Ben Rogerson & Eleanor Patterson! Topics include: the transnational 4B movement, Pixar's series Dream Productions, Elvis Girlies playing with history, & production culture of Hollywood's entry-level workforce! flowjournal.org

New Over*Flow! Kathryn Hartzell examines AI Olympic Ads from Summer '24, identifying a dissonance in the ads' narratives that highlight tensions around AI's relationship to creativity, concerns over increased precarity in media industries & more. Read at tinyurl.com/mr2rzzeh

Excited to join BlueSky and share the newest issue of Flow! Featuring work by Andrew deWaard, Jacqueline Johnson, Eric Harvey, & Juan Llamas-Rodriguez. Topics include: Louise Linton, contemporary music stardom, Queen Charlotte's wigs, and subway flood videos. Read it here: flowjournal.org