Dancing in the Dark-Social Media Tactics in the News Industry

The news media ecosystem has expanded over the years leading up to today’s society to include advertisers, newspapers and other media houses, content producers, along with new players like social media platforms to together form a value packed mix of services for end-users to embrace. The shift from being a dominant platform owner concerning the printed paper, often with its own distribution network, presents the newspaper with many challenges when transforming into, or entering other platform owners’ ecosystems. While previous research has mainly focused on the newspaper industry’s development of strategies for embracing social media into their ecosystem, this study investigates newspaper workers’ social media usage for the purpose of attracting attention and generating value. The study of newspaper workers’ practices shows that, moving into digital platforms controlled by other dominant actors in the ecosystem, workers enact a tactical approach. Two tactics are identified: adaption and exploitation. The paper contributes with empirical insights into how newspaper workers develop practices to embrace social media that goes beyond previous research on social media strategy. We also apply the theory of everyday tactics developed by Michel de Certeau as a scaffold to theorize newspaper positioning in the rapidly changing news media landscape

An Uncommon Alliance: Finding Empowerment for Exotic Dancers through Labor Unions

This article explores the life of exotic dancers and their legal status in the employment context. The author highlights the stigma associated with exotic dancing as well as the legal and social barriers that confront these dancers as employees in their attempt to unionize. Specifically, this article addresses the implications of unionizing exotic dance clubs and the organizing efforts to do so in California

The Erotic and the Vulgar: Visual Culture and Organized Labor's Critique of U.S. Hegemony in Occupied Japan

This essay engages the colonial legacy of postwar Japan by arguing that the political cartoons produced as part of the postwar Japanese labor movement’s critique of U.S. cultural hegemony illustrate how gendered discourses underpinned, and sometimes undermined, the ideologies formally represented by visual artists and the organizations that funded them. A significant component of organized labor’s propaganda rested on a corpus of visual media that depicted women as icons of Japanese national culture. Japan’s most militant labor unions were propagating anti-imperialist discourses that invoked an engendered/endangered nation that accentuated the importance of union roles for men by subordinating, then eliminating, union roles for women

Live Music Venue Marketing in a Post-COVID Northwest Arkansas

What does a medium sized music venue, nearing its centennial in a college town, do when its doors have closed for the first time since a short 2004 renovation, due to the novel Coronavirus Pandemic? George’s Majestic Lounge, the historic live music venue located in the heart of downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas, ceased operation for 134 days, its longest ever closure, and emerged into a climate massively different from what it had entered the pandemic in (Drury, et al. 2021). This venue has stood the test of time; opened in 1927 by George Pappas, it has remained in its railroad-adjacent position on Dickson Street, surviving nearly a century of global events. The venue closed again in March 2020, and unlike many other businesses, specifically live music venues, would successfully emerge out of the height of the pandemic, finding itself in a new world (Hunt & Seman, 2020). Directly related to, and within these global & national events, came an intense shift in the area George’s calls home; Northwest Arkansas has seen a recent population spike-trend comparable to that of Austin, Texas & Nashville, Tennessee (Wood, 2020); and with the University of Arkansas’ largest ever freshman class, the university’s already Vatican-like impact on the region only increased (Thomas, 2021). Just north of Fayetteville, Bentonville has continued to expand in population & relevancy, as have the majority of cities of the region. With this influx of newcomers & students, population growth & urban expansion, George’s had the opportunity to take a massive leap forward, or risk possible stagnation. George’s Majestic Lounge originally opened as a bar & grille, but over the past ninety- five years has shifted into one of the region’s premier live music venues, earning recent accolades such as Idle Magazine’s Black Apple Award for best indie music venue & Wedding Rule’s #1 venue in Northwest Arkansas, all while also hosting private events alongside its 1 regular concert schedule. Management has been successful in embracing this concept of change, and continued with their openness to adaptation as they emerged from their recent hiatus. Being a public gathering space, revenue streams are limited to those of a bar, concert- hall, and the like; however, there is a vast amount of dynamic income forms in this industry (Hill, O’Sullivan & O’Sullivan, 2012) – private events bookings, merchandise sales, etc. The goal of heightening these elements is highly attainable and can be achieved through a successful marketing overhaul – social media tactics could be more effective in engaging segments, sponsor & partnerships could reach new groups, and internal operations could stand to see some improvements. However, all of this must be executed with great care, as not to tarnish the legacy brand, but to build upon it, as done in years past, so that George’s Majestic Lounge can continue to thrive in a post-pandemic Northwest Arkansas. The purpose of this research is to assess what elements of marketing, specifically those showcased via social media, are most effective & should be pursued in order to engage its current customer base

Live Music Venue Marketing in a Post-COVID Northwest Arkansas

What does a medium sized music venue, nearing its centennial in a college town, do when its doors have closed for the first time since a short 2004 renovation, due to the novel Coronavirus Pandemic? George’s Majestic Lounge, the historic live music venue located in the heart of downtown Fayetteville, Arkansas, ceased operation for 134 days, its longest ever closure, and emerged into a climate massively different from what it had entered the pandemic in (Drury, et al. 2021). This venue has stood the test of time; opened in 1927 by George Pappas, it has remained in its railroad-adjacent position on Dickson Street, surviving nearly a century of global events. The venue closed again in March 2020, and unlike many other businesses, specifically live music venues, would successfully emerge out of the height of the pandemic, finding itself in a new world (Hunt & Seman, 2020). Directly related to, and within these global & national events, came an intense shift in the area George’s calls home; Northwest Arkansas has seen a recent population spike-trend comparable to that of Austin, Texas & Nashville, Tennessee (Wood, 2020); and with the University of Arkansas’ largest ever freshman class, the university’s already Vatican-like impact on the region only increased (Thomas, 2021). Just north of Fayetteville, Bentonville has continued to expand in population & relevancy, as have the majority of cities of the region. With this influx of newcomers & students, population growth & urban expansion, George’s had the opportunity to take a massive leap forward, or risk possible stagnation. George’s Majestic Lounge originally opened as a bar & grille, but over the past ninety- five years has shifted into one of the region’s premier live music venues, earning recent accolades such as Idle Magazine’s Black Apple Award for best indie music venue & Wedding Rule’s #1 venue in Northwest Arkansas, all while also hosting private events alongside its 1 regular concert schedule. Management has been successful in embracing this concept of change, and continued with their openness to adaptation as they emerged from their recent hiatus. Being a public gathering space, revenue streams are limited to those of a bar, concert- hall, and the like; however, there is a vast amount of dynamic income forms in this industry (Hill, O’Sullivan & O’Sullivan, 2012) – private events bookings, merchandise sales, etc. The goal of heightening these elements is highly attainable and can be achieved through a successful marketing overhaul – social media tactics could be more effective in engaging segments, sponsor & partnerships could reach new groups, and internal operations could stand to see some improvements. However, all of this must be executed with great care, as not to tarnish the legacy brand, but to build upon it, as done in years past, so that George’s Majestic Lounge can continue to thrive in a post-pandemic Northwest Arkansas. The purpose of this research is to assess what elements of marketing, specifically those showcased via social media, are most effective & should be pursued in order to engage its current customer base

‘It’s better than daytime television’: questioning the socio-spatial impacts of massage parlours on residential communities

It has been shown that street sex work is problematic for some communities, but there is less evidence of the effects of brothels. Emerging research also suggests that impact discourses outlined by residential communities and in regulatory policies should be critiqued, because they are often based on minority community voices, and limited tangible evidence is used to masquerade wider moral viewpoints about the place of sex work. Using a study of residents living in close proximity to brothels in Blackpool, this paper argues that impact is socially and spatially fluid. Impact needs to be evaluated in a more nuanced manner, which is considerate of the heterogeneity of (even one type of) sex work, and the community in question. Brothels in Blackpool had a variety of roles in the everyday socio-spatial fabric; thus also questioning the common assumption that sex work only impacts negatively on residential communities

The Scowl - v.79 - n.21 - Mar 26, 2015

The Cowl - student newspaper of Providence College. Vol 79 - No. 21 - March 26, 2015. 16 pages