Prof. Kevin Howley Presenting at Communication Conference in The Netherlands

November 25, 2009, Greencastle, Ind. — Kevin Howley, associate professor of communication at DePauw University, is among the presenters at a conference in the Netherlands this week. Dr. Howley will discuss "Harry Shearer's Le Show: The Cultural Politics of Infotainment" at "Media, Communication and the Spectacle," which is taking place at Erasmus University Rotterdam, November 26-27.

"This paper aims to make a contribution to ongoing debates regarding infotainment and the increasingly prominent role it plays in American culture and politics," says the professor. "Specifically, I analyze Harry Shearer’s Le Show with an eye toward developing a more sophisticated understanding of, and appreciation for, the politics enacted within and through infotainment programming.  Throughout, I contend that in a sly, engaging and altogether accessible fashion, Le Show underscores the failure of conventional journalism to provide the public with news and information, opinion and analysis, that are essential to a functioning democracy.  In this way, Le Show not only illuminates the 'democratic deficit' (Hackett & Carroll, 2006) of the mainstream press but also represents an innovative approach to journalistic practice.  In short, I argue that Le Show is emblematic of the cultural politics of infotainment."

Learn more about the conference by clicking here.

Kevin Howley is the editor of the recently published textbook, Understanding Community Media, and authored Community Media: People, Places, and Communication Technologies.

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