The summer 2023 issue of the Journal of Cinema and Media Studies (62.4) is officially out! Even though Liz Ellcessor and I took over as co-editors back in November 2022, this is the first issue that is fully “ours” – which means that we saw all the pieces through developmental editing and production. As such, it has an opening “welcome” essay from Liz and myself, which we titled “Studying Media Now.”
I’m really fond of this piece because it’s bold, polemical, hopeful, and definitely runs the risk of stepping on some toes (in a good way). Liz and I both come to our roles as editors from non-traditional media studies backgrounds, and it’s exciting to get to challenge the norms of the field. Here are some bits I particularly enjoy:
“Media studies is changing… We are committed to making JCMS an ongoing force for shaking up media studies as we (think we) know it today and as we will know it in the future. If you are reading this now, know that a shift has come, and it will keep coming. If you are reading this long after publication of the issue, take this as an indication of a sea change that we embrace yet which extends far beyond us….. Whatever anyone may say, the media studies of today is ours. The media studies of today is yours.”
