Continuum of Crisis: Media, Race and Capital

In an age of relentless innovation, capitalism remains the constant force shaping media environments. The threats facing today’s media ecosystem may appear novel, but they are rooted in longstanding issues reframed by the actors, technologies and events of today. Positioned at the intersection of critical race studies and the political economy of communication, this symposium bridges generations of scholarship to develop historically grounded approaches to moving our media systems out of crisis.

We invite participants to consider how both emerging and legacy media technologies are molded by capitalist institutions and entrenched systems of racialized power. Bringing together media practitioners and scholars across career stages, each panel spotlights the continuum that drives today’s mediated crises. What does a historical lens reveal about the challenges we face now? How might we confront racial and political‑economic conditions that are produced through — and intensified by — media and technology? Join us as we work collectively to imagine more just media futures.

This symposium is organized collaboratively by the MIC Center and the Center for Media at Risk's doctoral fellows Anjali DasSarma, Anna Murphy, Bianca Perez, Christine Phan, and Lauren Tokos.

Agenda: https://www.asc.upenn.edu/news-events/events/continuum-crisis-media-race-and-capital