Matthew P. McAllister
@matthewpmcallister.bsky.social
Teaches about media stuff in college. Studies the political economy of media and commercial culture. He/him
This is a monumental work that is so relevant to media policy and our current journalism environment. Congratulations, Dr. @sydneyforde.bsky.social!
Bellisario Grad Ed@bellisariograded.bsky.social · last wk.CONGRATULATIONS to PhD alum @sydneyforde.bsky.social, whose dissertation, "Failing to Preserve, or Preserving Failure? Journalism Antitrust Exemption Acts and the Democratic State," received the @aejmc.bsky.social Cultural Critical Studies Division (CCSD) Dissertation Award!
I wrote something on CBS radio news which, until it goes silent on Friday, was a reminder of an era when American media was expected to serve the public interest As goes CBS Radio News, so goes the idea that news media should serve the public interest theconversation.com/as-goes-cbs-...
As goes CBS Radio News, so goes the idea that news media should serve the public interest
There was once a bipartisan consensus that media power had to be regulated if democracy were to survive.
theconversation.com
Yesterday, a new generation of civil rights activists marched from Selma to Montgomery to fight for voting rights. As states across the country try to make it harder for citizens to be heard, we need to learn the lessons of those who came before us and refuse to take our democracy for granted.
Thousands attend protests in Selma and Montgomery for voting rights | Alabama Reflector
Speakers at the All Roads Lead to the South events urge people to mobilize to oppose redistricting efforts by Legislatures in the south.
alabamareflector.com
So very sorry to hear of the passing of Dr. John A. Lent, the founding editor & editor in chief of IJoCA, a labor of love that showcased often-marginalized comics-studies scholarship. He was also very generous in his reviews of my work, both in critical advertising studies & in comics studies.
Cartoonists Rights@cartoonistsrights.org · 3mo agoWe are deeply saddened to learn of the passing of John A. Lent, world-renowned cartooning scholar & author, founder of the International Journal of Comic Art & long-time board member at Cartoonists Rights. Loved ones and colleagues had been preparing to mark his 90th birthday later this year. 1/3
On the latest episode of Unruly Subjects with @chenjerai.bsky.social, the host (and PhD alum) talks with labor leaders, including Communication faculty and AAUP President Todd Wolfson. www.linkedin.com/posts/chenje...
NEW EPISODE IN YOUR FEED!! Here at Unruly Subjects you know we’re celebrating May Day ✊🏻✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 So this week, we’re featuring two interviews that help us think through this critical question: What… | C...
NEW EPISODE IN YOUR FEED!! Here at Unruly Subjects you know we’re celebrating May Day ✊🏻✊🏽✊🏾✊🏿 So this week, we’re featuring two interviews that help us think through this critical question: What does...
linkedin.com
The latest episode of News Over Noise features hosts @mattjord.bsky.social and @corybarker.bsky.social in conversation with Dr. Barbie Zelizer, the Raymond Williams Professor of Communication at UPenn, on "Ghosts in the Machine:; How the Cold War Broke the News." www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbb0...
Ghosts in the Machine: How the Cold War Broke the News | News Over Noise
YouTube video by wpsu
youtube.com
The latest ep of the podcast Unruly Subjects with [alum] @chenjerai.bsky.social, "Creating Conditions for Black Mothers to Thrive," features Malajah Rigsby, a new mother, & her doula Shantice Edwards AND psychotherapist Saadiqa Kumanyika (also a Penn State alum!). podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/c...
Creating Conditions for Black Mothers to Thrive
Podcast Episode · Unruly Subjects · April 16 · 1h 20m
podcasts.apple.com
Presenting at #SCMS26 for the first time! If anyone is interested in seeing Abby and I talk about Netflix's Love on the Spectrum, we're on Saturday 2:15-4:00 @abbysimmerman.bsky.social
Another conference that I came back to Bluesky for and this time it is for my first #scms26. I had a great time yesterday presenting my work on meme-inspired micro-transactions in video games and chairing the panel! Thanks to all who attended, really enjoyed all the presentations and discussion!
In the subject "Communication & Media Studies," Penn State ranks #29 in the London-based QS World University Rankings, and #12 in the US. The #29 ranking places Comm/Media as the sixth highest subject at Penn State in these rankings. www.topuniversities.com/university-s...
QS World University Rankings for Communication & Media Studies 2026
Discover the world's top universities for Communication & Media Studies 2026. Explore the QS World University Rankings by Subject in various disciplines.
topuniversities.com
PhD alum Chongdae Park has translated into Korean the great work Big Media, Big Money by late faculty Ron Bettig and Jeanne Hall.
I spoke with CBC about the FCC, Brendan Carr and CBS' decision not to broadcast Colbert's interview with U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico. TL:DR: The FCC is making decisions that are motivated by the very partisan ideology the warned broadcasters about.
How Colbert went to war with CBS and the FCC | About That
Late Show host Stephen Colbert is accusing CBS of forbidding him to air his interview with James Talarico — a Democratic U.S. Senate candidate — citing Federal Communications Commission (FCC) rules ab...
cbc.ca
"We own it, we're ending it, and we don't want to talk to anyone who wants to buy it. Don't call us; we won't answer you." www.cbsnews.com/pittsburgh/n... That appears to be the current status of the Post-Gazette in Pittsburgh. Via @dankennedy.net
Efforts to keep Pittsburgh Post-Gazette operating appear to stall
In less than three months, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette is scheduled to close up shop and go out of business.
cbsnews.com
Sometimes I remember Reagan removing Jimmy Carter’s solar panels and I think we’ve been enduring this shit for way too many years.
It's Superbowl Sunday, the day when interests coalesce around a singular purpose
US journalism is demonstratively weaker now than even a year ago: public media federal funding rescinded; Pittsburgh Post-Gazette closing; billionaire-owner eroding news independence (WaPo, LA Times, CBS), & now massive WaPo layoffs. Those in power know that our watchdogs are less watchful.
Cops at her front door, holding a phone to her face, asking if that's her Facebook account. What the fuck are we doing here?
Outspoken™️@out5p0ken.bsky.social · 7mo agoA woman left a comment on Facebook criticizing the Mayor of Miami Beach,. The Mayor of Miami Beach then sent the cops to her home.
If you're wondering what Jeff Bezos, the owner of the Washington Post, has said publicly in response to the FBI's raid of a Washington Post reporter's home last week, the answer is nothing.
We can hope that a new civic-minded nonprofit or low-profit local media institution emerges in Pittsburgh until we arrive at a more structural approach -- ideally a reinvented and greatly expanded public media system -- that can deal with the news deserts problem across the country.
Victor Pickard@victorpickard.bsky.social · 7mo agoDid a quick Q&A about the imminent closure of my hometown newspaper for the @us.theconversation.com
I mean, if we're talking about the red meat in the era of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, sure. A diseased product sold by hucksters that wreaks havoc and even causes death, forcing the federal government to step in with harsh regulations? Yeah, man, that works.
Wolfgang Blau@wblau.bsky.social · 8mo ago“AI” is the new “red meat”.
This message could/should be extended to a wide range of academic fields and areas of study. My field, communication, has too often dismissed media ownership concentration as a serious concern.
Pepper Culpepper@pculpepper.bsky.social · 8mo agoPolitical scientists should pay attention to concentration of media ownership as a key challenge for democracy.
Read the full report from @victorpickard.bsky.social, @bilalb.bsky.social and @shahrzadshams.bsky.social of @rooseveltinstitute.org called "The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis." HERE: rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...
The Political Economy of the US Media System: Excavating the Roots of the Present Crisis - Roosevelt Institute
Bilal Baydoun, Shahrzad Shams, and Victor Pickard trace the roots of the US media crisis to decades of deregulation and commercial capture, outlining how consolidation, news deserts, and platform domi...
rooseveltinstitute.org
Since owner Jeff Bezos overhauled the Post's editorial board earlier this year, it has been very good at cranking out billionaire-friendly propaganda. It is quite bad at everything else.
The Washington Post Editorial Board Is Spectacularly Awful at Legal Analysis
Since Bezos overhauled the board earlier this year, it has been very good at cranking out billionaire-friendly propaganda. It is quite bad at everything else.
ballsandstrikes.org
advertisers also wanted nothing to do with bari's gibberish, relegating it to being aired alongside ads for the chia pet like some dogshit 3am infomercial
Nobody (Including Advertisers) Cared About Bari Weiss’ New CBS ‘Town Hall’
We’ve already explored at length how Bari Weiss was hired by the billionaire Ellison family to make CBS even more friendly to billionaires and authoritarians after their embarrassing capitula…
techdirt.com
I was privileged to appear on “Democracy Works” to discuss the Trump admin compact w/universities, the growing “diploma divide” in the U.S. electorate, and why higher ed matters to democracy. Thanks to the terrific folks at the Penn State McCourtney Institute. #EduSky radio.wpsu.org/opinion/2025...
Democracy Works: Troubling times for higher education and democracy
We end this season where we started — a conversation about higher education and democracy.
radio.wpsu.org
Congrats, Mina!
Bellisario Grad Ed@bellisariograded.bsky.social · 8mo agoCONGRATS to PhD candidate Wilhelmina Antwi, who defended her dissertation proposal today. With co-advisors Lee Ahern and Juliet Pinto, and committee members @chrisskurka.bsky.social, @matthewpmcallister.bsky.social, and Sinfree Makoni (PSU's Director of African Studies).
One of my favorite things to do in class is ask my students to rank our screened materials at the end of the semester. The results are not often surprising, but they're still interesting/instructive. The results from my 200-level Film History & Theory course this semester.
