Michael Serazio
Biographic Data
| ID | 3449031 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Michael Serazio |
| GIVEN NAMES | Michael |
| FAMILY NAME | Serazio |
| SIGNATURE | SERAZIO M |
| AFFILIATIONS | Boston College |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3613-7282 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 92 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Getting NIL for Unpaid Labor: Self-Branding U.S. “Student-Athletes” in the Influencer Marketplace
For decades, the NCAA and its member schools profited richly from sports while denying student-athletes “employee” status and a direct compensation share in generating that value. Since 2019, state-level reforms pertaining to student-athletes’ use of their own name, image, and likeness, alongside a landmark Supreme Court decision, radically transformed the collegiate commercial landscape and burgeoned influencer-style, social media endorsement op…
The “Reality” of Campaign Production Strategy: What We Talk About When We Talk About Political Authenticity
The irreverent life and uncompromising death of Deadspin: Sports blogging as punk journalism
When its entire staff resigned in protest of management meddling in 2019, Deadspin had become one of the most influential institutions in American sports journalism. This critical essay examines the blog’s legacy through the unique lens of punk philosophy, drawing upon coverage by and about the site, as well as in-depth interviews with sports media professionals (including those among Deadspin’s leadership). Punk theory helps explain how and why …
How news went guerrilla marketing: A history, logic, and critique of brand journalism
For decades, product placement and branded content have invaded more entertainment-oriented media forms; today, the rise of brand journalism (i.e. native advertising and content marketing) suggests that advertisers are now targeting news as a genre for commercial schemes. This article examines that practice through a critical analysis of advertising industry discourse including 28 in-depth interviews with brand journalism practitioners in the Uni…
The Power of Sports: Media and Spectacle in American Culture
A provocative, must-read investigation that both appreciates the importance of—and punctures the hype around—big-time contemporary American athletics In an increasingly secular, fragmented, and distracted culture, nothing brings Americans together quite like sports. On Sundays in September, more families worship at the altar of the NFL than at any church. This appeal, which cuts across all demographic and ideological lines, makes sports perhaps t…
Weaponized Patriotism and Racial Subtext in Kaepernick’s Aftermath: The Anti-politics of American Sports Fandom
The history of sports culture and fandom has long been as reactionary as it has been hospitable to progressive politics. As the most conspicuous recent example, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s U.S. anthem protest generated intense controversy with many critics claiming that sports and politics should, generally, not mix—a condemnation that ignores that context’s already pervasive militaristic nationalism. This article offers the first national…
Making (Branded) News: The Corporate Co-optation of Online Journalism Production
As traditional news outlets decline and corporations cultivate publisher ambitions, brand journalism (i.e., native advertising and content marketing) has grown robustly. This paper examines and critiques the various ways in which those corporations have adopted and mirror news production practices, given the “techno-logics” of convergence culture and the political economy pressures of our media era. The research draws upon 28 in-depth interviews …
The other ‘fake’ news: Professional ideals and objectivity ambitions in brand journalism
The recent ascendance of brand journalism – whereby corporations employ news-like labor and means to court consumers and cultivate consciousness – raises serious concerns about the church–state boundary, as well as other long-standing press ideals such as objectivity and social responsibility. This article examines the fate of those practices and ambitions, as articulated by the professionals involved in the production of this quasi-reportorial, …
Sports Fandom and Political Attitudes
A majority of Americans identify as sports fans, and sports broadcasts attract substantially larger audiences than news on both broadcast and cable television. But despite the outsize role of sports in American life, we know little about how—or whether—sports fandom is related to political attitudes. This paper draws on a representative survey to examine (1) the association between sports fandom and political opinions; and (2) opposition to the "…
Branding politics: Emotion, authenticity, and the marketing culture of American political communication
This article examines and critiques the logic and practices of branding that inform contemporary American political campaigns within the context of ethical surplus, sign value versus use value, emotion and reason, and the tension of authenticity and cynicism. The original research is based upon 38 one-on-one, in-depth interviews with political consultants, including media strategists, communication directors, and advertising producers who are inv…
The New Media Designs of Political Consultants: Campaign Production in a Fragmented Era
New media technologies have been lauded for their potential in de-monopolizing gatekeeper power and rejuvenating democracy. This research inquires into how those changes in the media environment are affecting (and being affected by) consultants involved in the production of political communication. Drawing on dozens of in-depth interviews with these elite operatives, this study highlights how strategies are developed, practices are executed, and …
Selling (Digital) Millennials: The Social Construction and Technological Bias of a Consumer Generation
This article investigates marketers’ new media strategies targeting the millennial generation. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with industry professionals and an assortment of business discourses, I find that this consumer demographic is routinely conceptualized as “digital natives” who exhibit a “networked hypersociality” and a “participatory exhibitionism.” A variety of innovative promotional tactics are being used to solicit self-expression a…
The Elementary Forms of Sports Fandom: A Durkheimian Exploration of Team Myths, Kinship, and Totemic Rituals
This essay explores sports fandom through a Durkheimian theoretical framework that foregrounds the totemic link between civic collective and team symbol. Specifically, I analyze the myths, kinship, and rituals of Philadelphia Phillies fans during their historic 2008 World Series victory in the U.S.’ professional baseball league using a limited participant observation of beliefs and behaviors on display at public events and articulated through the…
The art of producing consumers: A critical textual analysis of post-communist Polish advertising
This article offers a critical textual analysis of hundreds of advertisements that appeared in Polish magazines at a pivotal historical juncture: following the collapse of communism and at the rise of a capitalist market economy in the early 1990s. It draws out from the visual and rhetorical data emblematic themes and sociocultural undercurrents concerning entrepreneurial opportunism and financial reassurance, status envy and post-rationing exces…
Ethos Groceries and Countercultural Appetites: Consuming Memory in Whole Foods' Brand Utopia
The essay discusses the role of the Whole Foods supermarket chain in the rise of ethical food consumption ideology in the U.S., specifically focusing on the way the grocery chain has appropriated this counter-cultural ideal as a means to increase profit. The increased popularity of the store among U.S. baby boomers is extensively analyzed. Broadly, the author is concerned with the ways in which such health food stores connect consumer culture wit…
Shooting for Fame: Spectacular Youth, Web 2.0 Dystopia, and the Celebrity Anarchy of Generation Mash-Up
In this essay, I argue that the stories from Columbine and Virginia Tech in the U.S. and Jokela High School in Finland betray a disconcerting dystopia of user-generated content gone wrong at a moment of much Web 2.0 hype. I use their actions and the subsequent reaction as case-study portals into an era of celebrity anarchy and narcissistic youth. I then contextualize these youth shooters within a generational context of purported narcissism-sugge…
The Apolitical Irony of Generation Mash‐Up: A Cultural Case Study in Popular Music
The mash‐up remix rose to prominence in the early 2000s, spawning fans, amateur participants, and a small social movement. This paper culturally analyzes the influences on and implications of the mash‐up phenomenon. By conducting a close reading of press articles and several interviews and textually analyzing some of the most popular and critically acclaimed tracks, I argue that the mash‐up is a response to larger technological, institutional, an…
Sports Fandom and Political Attitudes
A majority of Americans identify as sports fans, and sports broadcasts attract substantially larger audiences than news on both broadcast and cable television. But despite the outsize role of sports in American life, we know little about how—or whether—sports fandom is related to political attitudes. This paper draws on a representative survey to examine (1) the association between sports fandom and political opinions; and (2) opposition to the "…
Branding politics: Emotion, authenticity, and the marketing culture of American political communication
This article examines and critiques the logic and practices of branding that inform contemporary American political campaigns within the context of ethical surplus, sign value versus use value, emotion and reason, and the tension of authenticity and cynicism. The original research is based upon 38 one-on-one, in-depth interviews with political consultants, including media strategists, communication directors, and advertising producers who are inv…
Weaponized Patriotism and Racial Subtext in Kaepernick’s Aftermath: The Anti-politics of American Sports Fandom
The history of sports culture and fandom has long been as reactionary as it has been hospitable to progressive politics. As the most conspicuous recent example, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s U.S. anthem protest generated intense controversy with many critics claiming that sports and politics should, generally, not mix—a condemnation that ignores that context’s already pervasive militaristic nationalism. This article offers the first national…
The other ‘fake’ news: Professional ideals and objectivity ambitions in brand journalism
The recent ascendance of brand journalism – whereby corporations employ news-like labor and means to court consumers and cultivate consciousness – raises serious concerns about the church–state boundary, as well as other long-standing press ideals such as objectivity and social responsibility. This article examines the fate of those practices and ambitions, as articulated by the professionals involved in the production of this quasi-reportorial, …
Making (Branded) News: The Corporate Co-optation of Online Journalism Production
As traditional news outlets decline and corporations cultivate publisher ambitions, brand journalism (i.e., native advertising and content marketing) has grown robustly. This paper examines and critiques the various ways in which those corporations have adopted and mirror news production practices, given the “techno-logics” of convergence culture and the political economy pressures of our media era. The research draws upon 28 in-depth interviews …
The Elementary Forms of Sports Fandom: A Durkheimian Exploration of Team Myths, Kinship, and Totemic Rituals
This essay explores sports fandom through a Durkheimian theoretical framework that foregrounds the totemic link between civic collective and team symbol. Specifically, I analyze the myths, kinship, and rituals of Philadelphia Phillies fans during their historic 2008 World Series victory in the U.S.’ professional baseball league using a limited participant observation of beliefs and behaviors on display at public events and articulated through the…
Shooting for Fame: Spectacular Youth, Web 2.0 Dystopia, and the Celebrity Anarchy of Generation Mash-Up
In this essay, I argue that the stories from Columbine and Virginia Tech in the U.S. and Jokela High School in Finland betray a disconcerting dystopia of user-generated content gone wrong at a moment of much Web 2.0 hype. I use their actions and the subsequent reaction as case-study portals into an era of celebrity anarchy and narcissistic youth. I then contextualize these youth shooters within a generational context of purported narcissism-sugge…
The Apolitical Irony of Generation Mash‐Up: A Cultural Case Study in Popular Music
The mash‐up remix rose to prominence in the early 2000s, spawning fans, amateur participants, and a small social movement. This paper culturally analyzes the influences on and implications of the mash‐up phenomenon. By conducting a close reading of press articles and several interviews and textually analyzing some of the most popular and critically acclaimed tracks, I argue that the mash‐up is a response to larger technological, institutional, an…
Getting NIL for Unpaid Labor: Self-Branding U.S. “Student-Athletes” in the Influencer Marketplace
For decades, the NCAA and its member schools profited richly from sports while denying student-athletes “employee” status and a direct compensation share in generating that value. Since 2019, state-level reforms pertaining to student-athletes’ use of their own name, image, and likeness, alongside a landmark Supreme Court decision, radically transformed the collegiate commercial landscape and burgeoned influencer-style, social media endorsement op…
The “Reality” of Campaign Production Strategy: What We Talk About When We Talk About Political Authenticity
Selling (Digital) Millennials: The Social Construction and Technological Bias of a Consumer Generation
This article investigates marketers’ new media strategies targeting the millennial generation. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with industry professionals and an assortment of business discourses, I find that this consumer demographic is routinely conceptualized as “digital natives” who exhibit a “networked hypersociality” and a “participatory exhibitionism.” A variety of innovative promotional tactics are being used to solicit self-expression a…
Ethos Groceries and Countercultural Appetites: Consuming Memory in Whole Foods' Brand Utopia
The essay discusses the role of the Whole Foods supermarket chain in the rise of ethical food consumption ideology in the U.S., specifically focusing on the way the grocery chain has appropriated this counter-cultural ideal as a means to increase profit. The increased popularity of the store among U.S. baby boomers is extensively analyzed. Broadly, the author is concerned with the ways in which such health food stores connect consumer culture wit…
The Apolitical Irony of Generation Mash‐Up: A Cultural Case Study in Popular Music
The mash‐up remix rose to prominence in the early 2000s, spawning fans, amateur participants, and a small social movement. This paper culturally analyzes the influences on and implications of the mash‐up phenomenon. By conducting a close reading of press articles and several interviews and textually analyzing some of the most popular and critically acclaimed tracks, I argue that the mash‐up is a response to larger technological, institutional, an…
Shooting for Fame: Spectacular Youth, Web 2.0 Dystopia, and the Celebrity Anarchy of Generation Mash-Up
In this essay, I argue that the stories from Columbine and Virginia Tech in the U.S. and Jokela High School in Finland betray a disconcerting dystopia of user-generated content gone wrong at a moment of much Web 2.0 hype. I use their actions and the subsequent reaction as case-study portals into an era of celebrity anarchy and narcissistic youth. I then contextualize these youth shooters within a generational context of purported narcissism-sugge…
Ethos Groceries and Countercultural Appetites: Consuming Memory in Whole Foods' Brand Utopia
The essay discusses the role of the Whole Foods supermarket chain in the rise of ethical food consumption ideology in the U.S., specifically focusing on the way the grocery chain has appropriated this counter-cultural ideal as a means to increase profit. The increased popularity of the store among U.S. baby boomers is extensively analyzed. Broadly, the author is concerned with the ways in which such health food stores connect consumer culture wit…
The Elementary Forms of Sports Fandom: A Durkheimian Exploration of Team Myths, Kinship, and Totemic Rituals
This essay explores sports fandom through a Durkheimian theoretical framework that foregrounds the totemic link between civic collective and team symbol. Specifically, I analyze the myths, kinship, and rituals of Philadelphia Phillies fans during their historic 2008 World Series victory in the U.S.’ professional baseball league using a limited participant observation of beliefs and behaviors on display at public events and articulated through the…
The art of producing consumers: A critical textual analysis of post-communist Polish advertising
This article offers a critical textual analysis of hundreds of advertisements that appeared in Polish magazines at a pivotal historical juncture: following the collapse of communism and at the rise of a capitalist market economy in the early 1990s. It draws out from the visual and rhetorical data emblematic themes and sociocultural undercurrents concerning entrepreneurial opportunism and financial reassurance, status envy and post-rationing exces…
Selling (Digital) Millennials: The Social Construction and Technological Bias of a Consumer Generation
This article investigates marketers’ new media strategies targeting the millennial generation. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with industry professionals and an assortment of business discourses, I find that this consumer demographic is routinely conceptualized as “digital natives” who exhibit a “networked hypersociality” and a “participatory exhibitionism.” A variety of innovative promotional tactics are being used to solicit self-expression a…
The New Media Designs of Political Consultants: Campaign Production in a Fragmented Era
New media technologies have been lauded for their potential in de-monopolizing gatekeeper power and rejuvenating democracy. This research inquires into how those changes in the media environment are affecting (and being affected by) consultants involved in the production of political communication. Drawing on dozens of in-depth interviews with these elite operatives, this study highlights how strategies are developed, practices are executed, and …
Branding politics: Emotion, authenticity, and the marketing culture of American political communication
This article examines and critiques the logic and practices of branding that inform contemporary American political campaigns within the context of ethical surplus, sign value versus use value, emotion and reason, and the tension of authenticity and cynicism. The original research is based upon 38 one-on-one, in-depth interviews with political consultants, including media strategists, communication directors, and advertising producers who are inv…
Sports Fandom and Political Attitudes
A majority of Americans identify as sports fans, and sports broadcasts attract substantially larger audiences than news on both broadcast and cable television. But despite the outsize role of sports in American life, we know little about how—or whether—sports fandom is related to political attitudes. This paper draws on a representative survey to examine (1) the association between sports fandom and political opinions; and (2) opposition to the "…
Weaponized Patriotism and Racial Subtext in Kaepernick’s Aftermath: The Anti-politics of American Sports Fandom
The history of sports culture and fandom has long been as reactionary as it has been hospitable to progressive politics. As the most conspicuous recent example, NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick’s U.S. anthem protest generated intense controversy with many critics claiming that sports and politics should, generally, not mix—a condemnation that ignores that context’s already pervasive militaristic nationalism. This article offers the first national…
Making (Branded) News: The Corporate Co-optation of Online Journalism Production
As traditional news outlets decline and corporations cultivate publisher ambitions, brand journalism (i.e., native advertising and content marketing) has grown robustly. This paper examines and critiques the various ways in which those corporations have adopted and mirror news production practices, given the “techno-logics” of convergence culture and the political economy pressures of our media era. The research draws upon 28 in-depth interviews …
The other ‘fake’ news: Professional ideals and objectivity ambitions in brand journalism
The recent ascendance of brand journalism – whereby corporations employ news-like labor and means to court consumers and cultivate consciousness – raises serious concerns about the church–state boundary, as well as other long-standing press ideals such as objectivity and social responsibility. This article examines the fate of those practices and ambitions, as articulated by the professionals involved in the production of this quasi-reportorial, …
The Power of Sports: Media and Spectacle in American Culture
A provocative, must-read investigation that both appreciates the importance of—and punctures the hype around—big-time contemporary American athletics In an increasingly secular, fragmented, and distracted culture, nothing brings Americans together quite like sports. On Sundays in September, more families worship at the altar of the NFL than at any church. This appeal, which cuts across all demographic and ideological lines, makes sports perhaps t…
How news went guerrilla marketing: A history, logic, and critique of brand journalism
For decades, product placement and branded content have invaded more entertainment-oriented media forms; today, the rise of brand journalism (i.e. native advertising and content marketing) suggests that advertisers are now targeting news as a genre for commercial schemes. This article examines that practice through a critical analysis of advertising industry discourse including 28 in-depth interviews with brand journalism practitioners in the Uni…
The irreverent life and uncompromising death of Deadspin: Sports blogging as punk journalism
When its entire staff resigned in protest of management meddling in 2019, Deadspin had become one of the most influential institutions in American sports journalism. This critical essay examines the blog’s legacy through the unique lens of punk philosophy, drawing upon coverage by and about the site, as well as in-depth interviews with sports media professionals (including those among Deadspin’s leadership). Punk theory helps explain how and why …
Getting NIL for Unpaid Labor: Self-Branding U.S. “Student-Athletes” in the Influencer Marketplace
For decades, the NCAA and its member schools profited richly from sports while denying student-athletes “employee” status and a direct compensation share in generating that value. Since 2019, state-level reforms pertaining to student-athletes’ use of their own name, image, and likeness, alongside a landmark Supreme Court decision, radically transformed the collegiate commercial landscape and burgeoned influencer-style, social media endorsement op…
The “Reality” of Campaign Production Strategy: What We Talk About When We Talk About Political Authenticity
Sociology (15 works) · Political science (14 works) · Law (11 works) · Law (10 works) · Media studies (10 works) · Politics (10 works) · Advertising (8 works) · Business (8 works) · Gender, Feminism, and Media (8 works) · Media Studies and Communication (8 works)