Alisa Perren

If you really want to get rich, start thinking of a use for these data center buildings after the AI bubble bursts.

AI can’t do archival research. So. There.

My department @utexasrtf.bsky.social is hiring a TT faculty member in media studies. We are looking for faculty who conduct broad-based research in the following areas: media history and industries associated with film, television, and/or digital media.

More here: apply.interfolio.com/171261

The US could see a 30-40% decline in new international student enrollment, resulting in nearly $7 billion in lost revenue and more than 60,000 fewer American jobs. https://www.nafsa.org/fall-2025-international-student-enrollment-outlook-and-economic-impact

This timeline is spurring my desire to get that article about the growing points of intersection of unscripted TV and creator culture written...

unusual whales Subscribe @unusual_whales Bots now account for over half of global internet traffic, per FORTUNE 9:17 AM • 7/31/25 • 365K Views

The Dead Internet Theory is coming close to fruition.

I spent seven years writing a book on this and she just… said it in three succinct paragraphs to politico.

Always 20 years of Greys Anatomy. Or 25 of Survivor ;)

It's called doing all the administrative and committee work that continues to grow because there are fewer and fewer of you to do it

POLITICO compiled a list of all the Washington Post staffers who have left in the past eight months. It’s at least a hundred names, many of them among the biggest names in journalism. This is the fastest erosion of a major outlet ever.

The rise of the English major: BlackRock COO wants to recruit liberal arts analysts that 'have nothing to do with finance or technology' As AI rises, so does the demand for critical thinkers.

E.g. Recently the CEO of Blackrock said he didn’t want finance or comp sci majors. He wanted history majors and English majors. Goldman Sachs agreed. / 3 fortune.com/2024/05/17/b...

I hate this place

How to turn off Google’s AI Overviews in web searches If you find Google's AI Overview more irritating than helpful, here's now to turn it off in Chrome.

This actually works:

www.engadget.com/big-tech/how...

I'll bet you dollars to donuts these are embedded and operational by default, and either impossible to deactivate or the opt-out is buried behind like 8 or 9 clicks in the instructor options.

See @emilynussbaum.bsky.social Cue the Sun a.co/d/1OMdp4d

Is it me or does it feel like staffing everywhere is at 2021/threadbare levels?

As more becomes known about individuals more and more data about learner journeys and the alignment of courses to skills and skills to careers, Instructure will become increasingly capable of providing optimal pathways for students. Moreover, by combining learning management system, student work repository, transcripts, and credentialling services through the integration of products such as Portfolium, Parchment, Scribbles, and Concentric Sky, Instructure will be able to provide students and prospective employers with deep longitudinal insight into capabilities and qualifications. Rather than just being able to provide information about course outcomes, as with the traditional transcript, Insturcture could make available the entire student data set leading to that outcome. This would make it possible to distinguish between the student earning a “B” in a course who started rough but was a solid “A” for the last month of the course, and the “B” student who started strong but grew progressively weaker as the course progressed. One struggles to diferentiate between such students when reviewing traditional academic records, but it will become clear as more data is available.

As the data set grows, developing AI-enhanced interfaces into the data will become increasingly important to help viewers find precisely what they are looking for. One can easily imagine a world where the degrees become less valuable than the incremental steps recorded en route to the degree. This would move the ultimate stamp of approval on the finished product (students) from the supplier’s (university) quality control staff (faculty, registrar) to that of the buyer (potential employer), who could use the AI to make find exactly what they are looking for independent of the grades assigned. As this happens, students may find themselves with many more choices on how to meet a prospective employer’s requirements than simply going to a name-brand university and majoring in a pre-approved subject. The ultimate democratization of education may reside not in its universal availability but in its deinstitutionalization. If this comes to pass, we may find that the fabric of our lives is Canvas.

Out of curiosity I wanted to know how the massive LMS Instructure (company that runs Canvas) is using the massive amounts of data it collects on students.

Oh.
(This article is nominally not a press release?)
www.forbes.com/sites/rayrav...

Also, sign up for PBS Passport! You pay what you want, money goes to your local station, and you get access to tons more great programming on-demand. help.pbs.org/support/solu...

This article drives home the financial precarity of creative work, even among artists who have had their measure of fame.

www.rollingstone.com/music/music-...

Enjoyed participating in the conversation with Michael Garcia and Maddie Bilder, who breakdown what is like to run a production company and discuss why Noah Hawley chose to relocate his company from LA to Texas.

soundcloud.com/rtfmic

Very important data about the loss of local journalist in the U.S.: muckrack.com/research/loc...

In 2002: we had about 40 journalists per 100,000 residents on average

Now: it's about 8 per 100,000.

Blind Melon No Rain makes my spirit drain from me 🤢

The Political Economy of AI: A Syllabus As I’ve noted occasionally before, one of the most potentially useful things that academics do is preparing syllabi, and hence organizing information about the world.

The draft syllabus for my fall course on the political economy of AI. One missing reading that I need: something good and comprehensive (academic, policy report or serious longform journalism) on how the AI labs raise money. www.programmablemutter.com/p/the-politi...

RTFMIC Conversations with professionals throughout the entertainment industry. Created as part of a course in the Department of Radio Television and Film in the Moody College of Communication at the Universi

Then check out our earlier podcasts on Texas-based development, production, distribution, live events, & experiential entertainment here! soundcloud.com/rtfmic

cc @utexasrtf.bsky.social @texasmoody.bsky.social

cc UT Austin Department of Radio-Television-Film Moody College of Communication

Our fifth and final podcast from the Texas Entertainment & Media Industries symposium is now live! Check out this interview with a key figure who has shaped the Texas media industry ecosystem, Elizabeth Avellan, in conversation with RTF chair @cindymccreery.bsky.social!

But Taylor Swift has released 11 albums (so far) this century. So how do I pick? 🤣

This is what so many of us learned a decade ago and why so many of your favorite creators don't spend their days shilling their wares. Social media is the center of the conversation but absolute dogshit at selling books, movies, or anything that involves leaving social media to consume.

FWT Publication Freelance Rates Database

Freelancing writers, this is gold:

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

the Cal State system accepts 96% of in-state applicants and enrolls more than 408,000 undergrads (nearly 7x the ivy league)

www.calstate.edu/csu-system/n...