New issue of Flow

The new issue of Flow: A Critical Forum on Television and Media Culture is out. It features columns by Jason Mittell, Nichola Dobson, Mark Andrejevic, John Corner, Amanda D. Lotz, and Michael Z. Newman.

Flow is published biweekly by the department of Radio, Television, and Film at the University of Texas at Austin. Some of you may know it featured our own Bill Herman (ASC PhD candidate) in a past issue writing on election fraud (The New "F" Word: Indexed Out of the Election Debate).

This issue's columns in brief:
"The Best of Television: The Inaugural Flow Critics' Poll" by Jason Mittell: Find out how Project Runway rates among academics!

"Wasn't that show cancelled? – The increasing DVD phenomenon" by Nichola Dobson: The expectation seems to be emerging that at the end of any series, or season, the show will be distributed and sold on DVD.

"Reality TV is Undemocratic" by Mark Andrejevic: The adjective, "democratic," like its somewhat more dramatic modern ancestor, "revolutionary," is rapidly becoming one of the more overused and under-defined terms in the promotional lexicon of the "interactive" era. In its broadest sense, the term is invoked to indicate that the public has been given a choice of some sort, or even more generally that it has been provided with the opportunity to "participate." Are these limited forms of engagement truly "democratic"?

"Television and the Practice of 'Criticism'" by John Corner: How contemplating criticism for television calls into question the very nature of criticism itself.

"Rethinking Meaning Making: Watching Serial TV on DVD" by Amanda D. Lotz: The rapid rise of TV on DVD prompts us to rethink and reexamine television audiences.

"lonelygirl15: The Pleasures and Perils of Participation" by Michael Z. Newman: The Internet has been the site of a zillion hoaxes, so what is so special about lonelygirl15?