LibGuides: Film, Television, and Popular Culture Studies: Media &amp; Pop Culture Studies on the web

What is "Pop Culture"?

What is Popular Culture?

Examples:

Comics - including manga, graphic novels, web comics, and interactive visual novels
"Fan Culture" -- how fans of a particular media work or genre organize, consume, or comment on the thing they are a fan of.
Film, Television, Streaming media, Podcasts, etc.
Fashion - especially newer or "fan-related" fashion cultures (e.g. "Cosplay" and etc.)
Popular Music (and its subgenres)
Sports
Video Games
...and so on. (These are just a few examples.)

Some tips to keep in mind:

"Pop Culture" can refer to many types of creative expression that MAY or MAY NOT be formally studied in other areas. Popular Culture studies are often also "multidisciplinary" -- which means they cover different subjects at once.
You will likely find useful resources not only in this guide, but in other research guides, reference works, and websites related to your topic.

Pop Culture Searching - Topic Keywords Example ("Cosplay")
Consider the table in the middle of this article which will show you an example set of keywords and subject terms related to researching "Cosplay" as a topic. Notice how the terms cover both culture and fashion / art topics.
Design & Media Arts Research Guide (UCLA Libraries)
The library resources in this guide are limited to UCLA students and faculty, but I recommend checking out the suggested subject terms in each sub-section for keyword ideas if you're having trouble finding sources.

Be prepared to dig around.

You can always ask a librarian for assistance -- we're happy to help! Check out the "Get Help" tab on this guide to see all the ways you can contact your librarians.

Searching online

Academic Popular Culture & Media Studies Online

Antenna
"Running from November 2009 to January 2016, Antenna was a...media and cultural studies blog committed to timely yet careful analysis of texts, news, and events from across the popular culture spectrum. The site regularly responded to new works and developments in television, film, music, gaming, digital video, the Internet, print, and the media industries." (UW- Madison)
Flow
"Flow is a monthly online journal of popular culture, television and media studies launched in October 2004" (Univ. of Texas at Austin)
in media res
An online publication for media and popular culture studies from NYU (not peer-reviewed).
Journal of Popular Culture
Available in print in Holman Library. Search the journal online with this link. Available in ProQuest until 2005.
Journal of Popular Film and Television
Articles focus on commercial cinema and television, theory/criticism, interviews, filmographies, bibliographies, stars, directors, producers, studios and networks. Most recent 18 months unavailable in full text from GRC (request via interlibrary loan).
PopMatters
"PopMatters is an international magazine of cultural criticism and analysis...with the mission to educate as well as entertain, our scope is broadly cast on all things pop culture and...bridges academic and popular writing"
Realscreen
An "international magazine devoted exclusively to the non-fiction film and television industries." Publishes 4 times a year.
ScreenSite: Film & Media Studies Journals List
An alphabetical list of 300+ film and media studies journals and blogs on the open web, maintained by Jeremy Butler, Univ. of Alabama.
Transformative Works and Culture
An open-source online peer-reviewed journal focusing on scholarship and commentary about fan-created work and fandom culture online (multidisciplinary).
UCLA Film & Television Studies: Digital Media (DIT)
"Studies the impact of digital media and technology on the traditional media industries. DIT combines academic research with critical media and technology industry analysis."

Google Web Search

Popular Culture Research Websites

News & Reviews

National Public Radio (NPR): Pop Culture Happy Hour
Pop culture news and analysis blog from NPR
Variety
Trade (industry) magazine covering news and business data for film, TV, digital (streaming), music, and theater.
Vulture (New York Magazine)
Pop culture news, reviews, and features from New York Magazine - has sections for TV, Music, Movies, Comedy, Books, and Streaming.

Anime, Comics, Donghua, Manga, etc.

Anime Character Database: Series Finder
A fan-run online database that allows you to search for anime series by tone, year, genre ('slice of life', 'mecha', etc), or medium (OVA, anime, donghua, etc).
Crunchyroll
Online anime and manga streaming, offers free accounts (with ads).
Comic Book Resources (CBR.com)
CBR.com includes comics industry news, editorials, watch lists, and community forums.

Fan Culture

Fanlore Wiki
An open-source, anyone-can-edit wiki on fandom, transformative works, and fan culture online.
Organization for Transformative Works
"The Organization for Transformative Works (OTW) is a nonprofit organization run by and for fans to provide access to and preserve the history of fanworks and fan cultures."

Fashion, Cosplay, Steampunk

Costume History - Cosplay & Steampunk
Research guide from Ohio Univ. Libraries.
We Wear Culture (Google Arts & Culture)
A portal that collects the stories and media behind fashion trends and movements.

Popular Music

Pitchfork
Music & album news, reviews, and commentary.
Rolling Stone

Video Games

Kotaku
Video gaming and pop culture blog covering news, reviews, and editorials (opinion pieces).
Polygon
Video game and pop culture news and features.