Flow is a critical forum for television and media culture, which features short topical columns by leading media scholars intended to provoke on-line discussion. Additionally, the journal welcomes one-shot columns from other interested parties wishing to contribute different perspectives on the contemporary media climate. The flow web address is http://www.flowtv.org

The journal is updated every two weeks, allowing columnists to engage with emerging televisual issues far more quickly than in other traditional academic outlets. Flow’s mission is to provide a space where researchers, teachers, students, and the public can read about and discuss the changing landscape of
contemporary media at the speed that media move. It is organized around short, topical columns written by respected media scholars on a bi-weekly schedule. These columns invite response from the critical community by asking provocative questions that are significant to the study and experience of media. Visitors are welcome to use Flow as a community forum, a site of pedagogical engagement and classroom discussion or a space for philosophical debate about our daily experiences of media.

These columns will engage with current television programs and viewing practices while posing critical questions about representation (race, gender, class, sexuality, etc), reception (fandom, international audiences, etc.), industry practice (network branding, product placement, scheduling, etc), technology (interactive television, internet/ television convergence, etc), and modes of address (genres, narrative conventions, etc).

In addition, each issue will feature a guest column from a leading scholar in media studies (guest columnists include Henry Jenkins, Horace Newcomb, Sharon Strover, Michele Hilmes, Toby Miller, Shanti Kumar, Tara McPherson, Laurie Ouellette, James Hay, and Will Brooker), as well as an ever-expanding set of resources including syllabi, bibliographies, links, and news. There are also opportunities for any interested parties to contribute one-shot columns on specific topics.

Flow is a project of the Department of Radio-TV-Film at the University of Texas at Austin, and is coordinated and edited by graduate students in the Department of Radio-Television-Film. Flow is sponsored by the UT RTF Department and the University of Texas Press.