Critical Perspectives On Media Power And Change

This book aims to feed into the critical debates about media, power and change through the respectful inclusion of a wide variety of critical approaches and traditions. This diversity is simultaneously structured and balanced by a deeply shared set of concerns, that are mobilised to defend core societal values including social justice, equality, fairness, care for the other and humanity. Critical Perspectives on Media, Power and Change raises questions about how the omnipresent media can contribute to the materialisation of these core values, and how it sometimes works against them. Rethinking social change, mediatisation and regulations are thus significant issues – explicitly addressed in this book. In addition the authors show how the role of the critical media and communication scholar merits and requires (self-)reflection; critical voices matter, but they also face structural limitations. This book was originally published as two special issues of Javnost – The Public.

This innovative book explores think tanks from the perspective of critical policy studies, showcasing how knowledge, power and politics intersect with the ways in which think tanks intervene in public policy.

Within contemporary culture, ‘leadership’ is seen in ways that appeal to celebrated societal values and norms. As a result, it is becoming difficult to use the language of leadership without at the same time assuming its essentially positive, intrinsically affirmative nature. Within organizations, routinely referring to bosses as ‘leaders’ has, therefore, become both a symptom and a cause of a deep, largely unexamined new conceptual architecture. This architecture underpins how we think about authority and power at work. Capitalism, and its turbo-charged offspring neo-liberalism, have effectively captured ‘leader’ and ‘leadership’ to serve their own purposes. In other words, organizational leadership today is so often a particular kind of insidious conservativism dressed up in radical adjectives. This book makes visible the work that the language of leadership does in perpetuating fictions that are useful for bosses of work organizations. We do this so that we – and anyone who shares similar discomforts – can make a start in unravelling the fiction. We contend that even if our views are contrary to the vast and powerful leadership industry, our basic arguments rest on things that are plain and evident for all to see. Critical Perspectives on Leadership: The Language of Corporate Power will be key reading for students, academics and practitioners in the disciplines of Leadership, Organizational Studies, Critical Management Studies, Sociology and the related disciplines.

Critical Media Studies is a state of the art introduction to media studies that demonstrates how to think critically about the power and influence of the media. Provides extensive case study material, including exercises and “media labs” in each chapter to encourage student participation Draws on examples from print, broadcast, and new media, including advertising, music, film, television, video games, and the internet Accompanied by a website with supplementary material, additional case studies, test banks, PowerPoint slides, and a guide for professors

Media and Society is a lively, illustrated introduction to the role that mass media--and the messages and texts they carry--play in our lives and our society. Arthur Asa Berger explores the time we spend with media, media aesthetics, ethics, audiences, media effects, technologies, violence and sexuality in media, and ownership. Media and Society helps us understand the relationship between consumers and media--the books, television, radio, magazines, web sites, video games, newspapers, movies, and other mass media we encounter every day. --Publisher.

Given the prominence of the electronic media in the 21st century, it is crucial that both media professionals and consumers know how to decipher and evaluate media content, the assumptions on which that content is based, and the constraints to which it is subject. Electronic Media Criticismoffers a variety of critical approaches to audio and video discourse. Rather than restricting itself to one perspective, the book applies key aesthetic, sociological, philosophical, psychological, structural, and economic principles to arrive at a comprehensive evaluation of both programming and advertising content. Maintaining the approach of the original volume, this second edition includes: * updated chapters to reflect the current media world, including sample reviews and illustrations, * material pertaining to "new media"--because the book is process-oriented rather than medium-oriented, Internet referents are interspersed in discussion of the various critical perspectives, * two additional scripts for critical analysis--an episode of The Simpsonsand an installment of the dark Canadian comedy The Newsroom,and * new exercises for further practice in applying critical procedures. Orlik interweaves the insights of industry and academic authorities, recognizing that both orientations are essential in the development of a valid and viable critical outlook. Written for media students and practitioners, all readers of this volume will gain feasible and flexible tools for focused and rational analysis of electronic media products, as well as improved understanding of the role and essential ingredients of criticism itself.

'Clearly written, with careful signposting of relevant debates, this reader in the critical tradition is a model of an introductory cultural and media studies text... the writing is accessible, the concepts and arguments are sophisticated, and the tone is one of committed engagement' - Media International Australia

Health communication is key to promoting good population and individual health outcomes. As the field has developed, there is a growing need for a critical appraisal of the ideologies and theories underpinning health communication in order to ensure effective practice. This book clearly situates health communication within its social context. It provides a critical overview of three key disciplinary areas – education, psychology and communication. Drawing on international examples throughout, the book challenges the underlying assumptions that drive the design and delivery of health promotion interventions. The authors argue that health communication is inherently political and pay close attention to issues of power, ethics and inequality throughout the text. This book will be valuable for those students at all levels who require a critical perspective, as well as practitioners in health communication and health promotion. With reference to detailed examples and annotated suggestions for further reading, the book is an accessible resource for analysing contemporary health communication.