Can You Hear Us Now: Inclusivity in the Media

This episode will discuss the 2023 Barbie movie. The team members explore how the public felt, the themes found in the film, and how we believe the movie could have been better or more inclusive. This episode is an overall critique the film from different perspectives since it was so popular amongst young adults and was featured heavily in the media.

This episode explores the disparities and discrimination within healthcare. We aim to show how unequal the American healthcare system is in terms of who gets treated and how, as well as accessibility. Our guest, Dr. Nori Comello, discusses how health can be framed to represent different identities better.

This episode will focus on the authentic representation of different groups, what this looks like for different social communities, and what this means for the people that identify as members of those communities in the entertainment industry as a whole (fashion and workplace). Our team spoke to Clay Morris, the Editor-in-Chief of Coulture Magazine, a fashion and lifestyle magazine at UNC-Chapel Hill. He is also the DEI Co-Chair at The Daily Tar Heel for two years. We also spoke to Olivia Rojas, a senior in the Hussman School of Journalism and Media studying Advertising and Public Relations; English and Comparative Literature. She interned at Digitas as a Data Analysis fellow, through the MAIP program.

This episode will detail the pros and cons of Cancel Culture. Our team has a discussion with UNC senior, Kene Uwajeh, who is a Black content creator and dives into her experiences as a creator; the good, the bad, the ugly and most importantly, how she has dealt with cancel culture. We also discuss the unfairness that is shown to people of color in the media industry, focusing on how certain actions are called out for some people, but not others, by bringing up prominent and recent examples in the community, specifically the Black community. We also shed light on how cancel culture can be turned more into a positive than negative and the necessary benefits of it in the media world.

This episode will take a deep dive into a few different popular media tropes/stereotypes, where they come from, and the harm that they do. Media tropes don't just come out of nowhere, so we want to explore some of them and their origins, give examples, and discuss them further than they are often discussed. Our team speaks to Dr. Antonia Randolph and Professor Rick Warner about the use of tropes in media and when these tropes can become harmful stereotypes. We also discuss ways to combat a reliance on negative stereotypes, including ways to ensure positive representation and the increase in diversity both behind and in front of the camera.

In June 2022, the Supreme Court overruled the landmark decision of Roe versus Wade. This decision eliminates the federal jurisdiction granting access and privacy to reproductive healthcare. Power is left entirely to state representatives to generate their legislatures deciding if they will permit limited, or any, reproductive access at all. This episode explores how this ruling will affect women and childbearing individuals in the United States. Leo Eckstein, a young female professional living in Austin, Texas, joins our podcast, elaborating on how the media has been affected from her lens following the overturn of Roe versus Wade. We also discuss elements of her personal life that may or may not have changed: her professional environment, daily tasks and hobbies, and medical experiences as a young woman living in Texas.

This podcast is an explores the ways men receive messages saying they have to be manly enough, where those messages come from, and how we see it manifest in our society today. UNC student Zach Turnage offers perspectives on what it’s like to be a man on a daily basis, including the judgment he has faced for showing emotion from peers and the role of female figures in his life. UNC Women and Gender Studies Professor and development psychologist Dr. Nicole Else-Quest offers insight on how gender differences develop in childhood, including along racial and ethnic lines. She also described how we can work to combat the negative stereotypes girls and women face in STEM fields and the power of representation in the film industry.

In the media, African American female collegiate athletes are underrepresented among their peers. This episode will examine the perspective and role of black women in college sports and sports administration, as well as their trials and triumphs. Our panel includes Dr. Deborah Stroman, Marlynn R. Jones, and Abbey Forbes. Their expertise in the industry provides insight into the shortcomings of Title IX for black athletes, their thoughts on the Rachel Richardson case, and their advice to young athletes hoping to pursue a career in athletics.

This episode gives voice to non-traditional minority students who have returned to college, an often overlooked group for various reasons, including nationality, gender, race, ethnicity, age, socioeconomic background, etc. People from this group experience marginalization from broader society, and in many cases, at institutions of higher learning, and have decided to reenroll in school despite being of advanced ages compared to their counterparts. They offer unique and colorful experiences through a different lens that traditional students do not possess and often dismiss. This episode serves as a platform to amplify their voice and explore their lives before returning to school, examine why now is the time for them to return to school, and discuss their experiences since returning and their post-graduation aspirations. Through hearing their stories, these students have an opportunity to be heard, and listeners will learn more about individuals who are often unseen

This episode explores the mental health of students on UNC's campus. Mental health challenges on campus come in various forms, such as ADHD, depression, anxiety, grief, and more. We look at how mental health is stigmatized and why it is vital to change these perceptions. An issue that hits very close to home for UNC students is the suicide tragedies that happened last year and how the university responded. Ending on a positive note, we discuss how students have banded together to combat the causes of these tragedies and turn our focus to the future of mental health at UNC by examining the impact of the university's response.

In the past twenty years, we have seen a revolution of mass media in the United States. People used to only see celebrities on screens, on stage, or maybe at an award show. Today, fans are able to track every move of their favorite celebrities, and subsequently criticize every move. While the media has always discussed an actress's appearance or who she is dating, this new level of access has put the lives of female celebrities under a microscope. In this episode, we will meet with Professor Jules Dixon, a former PR practitioner who has worked with numerous high-profile celebrities. In our discussion, we hope to shed some light on the reality of being a female celebrity in the digital age, and how PR professionals are adapting to this change.

Guest Liv Reilly discusses why representation matters in children’s movies, specifically Disney/Pixar movies. Reilly also describes how people find identity and inspiration from popular movies and how live-action reproductions should reflect the growing and changing era in which it is produced.