Media And Society

Media and Society: A Critical Perspective is a lively, illustrated introduction to the role that the mass media play in our lives, our society, and American culture. Featuring updated examples and expanded material on media theories, ideology, and new technology, the third edition helps students understand their relationship with the media they encounter daily.

Media and Society is an established textbook, popular worldwide for its insightful and accessible essays from leading international academics on the most pertinent issues in the media field today. With this updated edition, David Hesmondhalgh joins James Curran and a team of leading international scholars to speak to current issues relating to media and gender, media and democracy, sociology of news, the global internet, the political impact of the media, popular culture, the effects of digitisation on media industries, media and emotion, and other vital topics. The media are in a state of ferment, and are undergoing far-reaching change. The sixth edition tries to make sense of the media's transformation, and its wider implications. Purely descriptive accounts date fast, so the emphasis has been on identifying the central issues and problems arising from media change, and on evaluating its wider consequences. What is judged to be the staple elements of the field has evolved over time, as well as becoming more international in orientation. Yet the overriding aim of the book - to be useful to students - has remained constant. This text is an essential resource for all media, communication and film studies students who want to broaden their knowledge and understanding of how the media operates and affects society across the globe.

Examines the role of the media in contemporary society and analyses representations of the world found in photographs, advertisements, film, television and language. Presents theoretical approaches derived from media and cultural studies, including structuralist, Marxist, feminist and Jungian perspectives.

"This text engages students in the social media phenomenon, exploring how fundamental changes in mass media influence every level of societal communication. With the explosion of social media and big data, students must become conscious of media's positive and negative influences on their lives"--

This book introduces undergraduates to critical perspectives on the relationship between media and society, and to ideas about the production of meaning through media. The opening chapters provide a foundation to understanding the triangular relationship between media businesses (institutions) and texts and audiences. Succeeding chapters look at specialist areas such as popular music, news, new technologies, advertising and globalization. .There is a development and application of ideas about such key terms as representation, difference, discourse and ideology. The student reader is encouraged to take on different views around issues relating to questions of media power, media influence, audience consumption. There is an emphasis on applying ideas to media practices and media texts. There is engagement with debates around such topics as public service broadcasting and the public sphere. Students are introduced to a range of key thinkers and their ideas as concepts, issues and debates are introduced..The reader is engaged through key questions, case studies, illustrations and diagrams, as well as a clearly argued text bedded in examples. .This book is already used both as a foundation at level 1 for degree courses in media studies, as a key text for general media modules at different levels, and as a key text at various levels in respect of specific chapters supporting specific modules and their topics..

Providing a framework for understanding the relationship between media and society, this updated Sixth Edition of Media/Society helps you develop the skills you need to critically evaluate both conventional wisdom and your own assumptions about the social role of the media. Authors David Croteau and William Hoynes retain the book’s basic sociological framework but now include additional discussions of new studies and up-to-date material on today’s rapidly changing media landscape. Now featuring streamlined content and a more engaging narrative, this edition offers expanded discussions of the “new media” world, including digitization, the internet, the spread of mobile media devices, the role of user-generated content, the potential social impact of new media on society, and new media’s effect on traditional media outlets

What does it mean to live in a digital society? Does social media empower political activism? How do we form and express our identity in a digital age? Do algorithms and search engine results have a social role? How have software and hardware transformed how we interact with each other? In the early 21st century, digital media and the social have become irreversibly intertwined. In this cutting-edge introduction, Simon Lindgren explores what it means to live in a digital society. With succinct explanations of the key concepts, debates and theories you need to know, this is a must-have resource for students exploring digital media, social media, media and society, data and society, and the internet. “An engaging story of the meaning digital media have in societies. The writing is relatable, with diverse and comprehensive references to theories. Above all, this is a fun book on what a contemporary digital society looks like!” - Professor Zizi Papacharissi, University of Illinois at Chicago Simon Lindgren is Professor of Sociology at Umeå University in Sweden. He is also the director of DIGSUM, an interdisciplinary academic research centre studying the social dimensions of digital technology.

Examining the role of the media in contemporary society, this text presents theoretical approaches and includes many examples, definitions, issues, questions and explanations to aid students' understanding.