Dr. Kim Bissell and Dr. M.K. Alsip, as well as several graduate students from the University of Alabama, were among the presenters at the annual conference for the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. Two ICIR papers were presented. Below the Yellow Line: Competitor Discourse in NBC’s The Biggest Loser (Eric Dunning--former ICIR Fellow, M.K. Alsip, Kim Bissell) was part of a top paper panel for the Cultural and Critical Studies Division. This critical discourse analysis qualitatively explored the messages that competitors in this popular weight loss show are sending to viewers at home. Growing Up Biased: An Analysis of Character Body Shape in Popular Children’s Programming (M.K. Alsip, Kim Bissell) was presented in a peer-to-peer session for the Entertainment Studies Interest Group. This content analysis examined the body shape of characters in children’s programming intended for viewers aged 2 to 18.
