Wessels, Emanuelle2011-01-182011-01-182010-09https://hdl.handle.net/11299/98895University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. September 2010. Major: Communication Studies. Advisor: Ronald Walter Greene. 1 computer file (PDF); iii, 195 pages.This dissertation examines the politics of ethical witnessing in three genres of convergent media that overtly or allegorically address the events of September 11th. These include a conspiracy theory documentary, the Hollywood monster movie Cloverfield, and the documentary film Control Room. Using a combination of psychoanalytic film and political theory, ethical philosophy, and scholarship on mediated networks and media convergence; I argue, through these case studies, that the ways in which films today interact with participatory media such as websites and video playlists carry particular implications for the ethical and political aspects of how spectators are positioned to watch, interact with, and "talk back" to the media they consume.en-US9/11EthicsMediaNetworkPoliticsWitnessingCommunication StudiesThesis or Dissertation