An assessment of the “cord-cutting” trends in the video business, a survey examining relationships between Facebook use and sleep patterns, and an analysis of music streaming and piracy were the topics of the three winning entries of this year’s Media Management Association (MMA) Awards.
“A committee of three [School of Communication] faculty in the area of Media Management judged each of the submissions along common metrics, such as writing, analysis, and thoroughness. The awards were distributed based on these total scores,” said Dr. Michel Dupagne, professor and faculty advisor for the Media Management Association.
Francesca Schirripa, majoring in media management and minoring in marketing and motion pictures, won first place for her paper, Cord Cutting: A Digital Revolution of Media Consumption. The paper examines trends of how Americans watch television, addressing the declining numbers of pay TV subscriptions and the growth of online content providers.
“[Schirripa’s] topic is quite relevant for the media industry because it focuses on cord cutting and its impact on the multichannel video business,” said Dupagne. Cord cutting, which refers to the cancellation of pay TV subscription and substitution of content primarily over the Internet, has grown noticeably over the last few years.
The second-place paper, Relationships between Facebook Use and Sleep Patterns Among College Students, was authored by Madison Brown, majoring in broadcast journalism and motion pictures, Isabella Cueto, majoring in journalism and theater arts, Kamila M. Knaudt, majoring in journalism and minoring in modern languages and anthropology, and Jessica Vishny, majoring in media management and minoring in psychology. The students conducted a survey to test four hypotheses concerning college students’ Facebook use and their sleep quality.
Alexa Koch, majoring in media management and minoring in music business and entertainment industries, analyzed the possible link between music streaming and piracy, earning her third place in the MMA Awards competition. Her paper was titled The Digitalization of Music: To Stream, To Spend, or To Steal?.
All winners received a plaque at the 68th Annual Student Media Awards in May 2017. To read more about the Media Management Association Awards please visit http://com.miami.edu/projects/media-management-association-awards-2017.
The Media Management Association (MMA) is a student-run University of Miami association that encourages students to expand their knowledge of the media industry through interactions with media professionals. A primary function of the organization is to invite local, regional, or even national speakers to share their insights about different aspects of the media business with the MMA members. Speakers have included TV sales managers, programming executives, and media entrepreneurs. MMA officers are elected every fall to lead the organization. There are no dues to become an MMA member, and all events are free. Students interested in joining the MMA should send an e-mail to Dr. Michel Dupagne, dupagnem@miami.edu.
