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Bon Appétit’s It’s Alive With Brad on YouTube: a Postmodern Turn in Digital Lifestyle Journalism

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Bon Appétit’s It’s Alive With Brad on YouTube: a Postmodern Turn in Digital Lifestyle Journalism

Matichard, Gabriel Charles Aimé (2022) Bon Appétit’s It’s Alive With Brad on YouTube: a Postmodern Turn in Digital Lifestyle Journalism. [Graduate Projects (Non-thesis)] (Unpublished)

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Abstract

From its humble beginnings as a free liquor store magazine, Bon Appétit has since grown into a major food and lifestyle brand, catering to a wider audience than the one originally envisioned by its parent company, Condé Nast. Bon Appétit has a YouTube channel, launched by Condé Nast in 2012. Its style revolves around informal food tutorials, led by hosts with a strong on-camera presence, such as Brad Leone, the focus of this study.

Through Bon Appétit’s YouTube channel, Condé Nast now addresses a different audience in a different manner, which results in a shift of tone as they transitioned online. Bon Appétit now sits at the intersection between digital and lifestyle journalism, and exemplifies a “postmodern turn” in journalism. YouTube as a postmodern digital space is one where amateurs brand themselves as professionals to appear legitimate, and professionals brand themselves as amateurs to appear relatable. By offering an informal creative space which was never intended to conform with traditional journalistic norms, YouTube now fills the needs of audiences and content creators alike (which significantly overlap), and has fostered the next era of lifestyle journalism.

Divisions:Concordia University > Faculty of Arts and Science > Journalism
Item Type:Graduate Projects (Non-thesis)
Authors:Matichard, Gabriel Charles Aimé
Institution:Concordia University
Degree Name:M.A.
Program:Digital Innovation in Journalism Studies
Date:8 December 2022
Keywords:Food journalism, Lifestyle journalism, Digital journalism, YouTube journalism, YouTube, Postmodernism, Digimodernism, Bon Appétit, Condé Nast
ID Code:991696
Deposited By: Gabriel Charles Aimé Matichard
Deposited On:05 Jun 2023 20:29
Last Modified:05 Jun 2023 20:29

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YouTube videos analyzed for this research:

Leone, Brad. “Brad Makes Pastrami | IT'S ALIVE | Bon Appétit.” YouTube, Bon Appétit, 4 Apr. 2022, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lOHWFDPPIdI.

Leone, Brad. “Brad Uses Moldy Rice (Koji) to Make Food Delicious | IT'S ALIVE | Bon Appétit.” YouTube, Bon Appétit, 26 Apr. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIqUT78mnvg.

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Leone, Brad. “Brad Makes Mistakes | It's Alive Camping Outtakes | Bon Appétit.” YouTube, Bon Appétit, 24 Aug. 2017, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOpqBWfCpCg&t=90s.
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