Hello! I am an Assistant Professor of New Media Journalism in the Department of Communication at Bradley University. Before Bradley, I completed my Ph.D. in the Department of Communication & Culture at Indiana University.
I am currently writing a book tentatively called Social TV: Multiscreen Culture and Branded Content, which reveals how the US television industry promised—and failed to deliver—a social revolution in the 2010s.
My research focuses media industries convergences, particularly legacy media institutions’ use of ‘new’ technology in content strategies. I have published work in Television & New Media, The Popular Culture Studies Journal, From Networks to Netflix: A Guide to Changing Channels (2018, Routledge), and Participations: Journal of Audience & Reception Studies (forthcoming). I am also the co-editor of three collections, including The Age of Netflix: Critical Essays on Streaming Media, Digital Delivery, and Instant Access, which is slated for Korean translation in the near future.
I’ve worked as a freelance culture writer since 2010 with bylines in TV Guide, Complex, Vox, among others. I also produced and co-hosted TV.com/CBS Interactive’s Totally Tubular podcast.
View my latest CV.
You can email me at cabarker [at] bradley [dot] edu or barkerc65 [at] gmail [dot] com.
