College radio: managing the creative through software and policy, a case study

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Title College radio: managing the creative through software and policy, a case study
Publication Type thesis
School or College College of Humanities
Department Communication
Author O'brien, Erik Yde
Date 2015
Description This thesis addresses a gap in technological and managerial literature. Using Actor-Network Theory, Social Construction, and the Componential Theory of Creativity, I show how software is used to manage and construct creative workers. This case study looks specifically at college radio disc jockeys (DJs) at KUTE radio. The method is that of a qualitative research study, relying on observation, interviews, conversation, and by combing through archives at KUTE. In Chapter 1, I give a history of the organization and then outline archetypes of DJs found in both popular culture as well as within the organization. In Chapter 2, I show how these archetypes conflict with the newly implemented Digital Automated Delivery (DAD) radio automation and how, via a software studies perspective, the software changes the nature of work within the organization. In Chapter 3, I discuss how DAD accompanies new policies and how these policies affect DJs, the creative process, and the organization as a whole. The paper concludes that creative workers will be subject to job automation similar to the manufacturing jobs of the past, and demonstrates that this is problematic for both creative workers and the organizations that hire them. I then go on to suggest further areas of research that can build on this work.
Type Text
Publisher University of Utah
Subject Creative; Policy; Radio; Software; Work
Dissertation Name Master of Arts
Language eng
Rights Management ©Erik Yde O'Brien
Format application/pdf
Format Medium application/pdf
Format Extent 27,195 bytes
Identifier etd3/id/4057
ARK ark:/87278/s6wq3c5r
Setname ir_etd
ID 197607
Reference URL https://collections.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6wq3c5r
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