Finance and Pornography at the SEC: A Media Studies Approach

Abstract

This short piece examines investigations into the use of workplace computers to access pornographic material at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) of the United States. Rather than focus on the individual or institutional morality of these activities, it examines what thinking about the role played by media in these violations of SEC policy tell us about the changing nature of institutional power and labour in the contemporary moment. Looking at practices of media use and the legal frameworks that structured the porn scandal at the SEC, it concludes by suggesting that media-oriented approach to the economy raises many possibilities for critique and engagement.