New Communications Environments

This multi-disciplinary book develops three intertwined themes: the perspective of situated action from cognitive science, a model of social context as a framework for inspiring artifact use and starting from it, and the individual and organizational impact of the new electronic environments of communication. Using plenty of up-to-date references from different scientific disciplines such as HCI, computer-mediated communication, cognitive sciences, social psychology, cultural anthropology and research in decision making, the book challenges older models of communication as information transfer and discusses the new communication environments.

Technical foundations of modern communication. Computer technology primer. The magic light: fiber optic systems. The cable and telephone industries and your home.

Media Studies examines the new and rapidly developing field of media studies to discover what insights it has to offer students and general readers as they negotiate their way through the new - and thoroughly saturated - media environment. Explores how recent changes in our media affect the way we watch older media like television, movies, and radio, and offer up rich new interactive media, like video games and the internet The perfect introduction to the field of media studies Chronicles the recent dramatic changes in communication technologies, arguing that most of life itself is now experienced as 'mediated' Discusses the development of cable and satellite television, VCRs, DVDs, the internet and personal computers Emphasizes the broader political, social, and economic context within which these important new technologies have developed

Perhaps just as perplexing as the biggest issues at the core of Earth science is the nature of communicating about nature itself. New Trends in Earth-Science Outreach and Engagement: The Nature of Communication examines the processes of communication necessary in bridging the chasm between climate change and natural hazard knowledge and public opinion and policy. At this junction of science and society, 17 chapters take a proactive and prescriptive approach to communicating with the public, the media, and policy makers about the importance of Earth science in everyday life. Book chapters come from some 40 authors who are geophysical scientists, social scientists, educators, scholars, and professionals in the field. Bringing diverse perspectives, these authors hail from universities, and research institutes, government agencies, non-profit associations, and corporations. They represent multiple disciplines, including geosciences, education, climate science education, environmental communication, and public policy. They come from across the United States and around the world. Arranged into five sections, the book looks at geosciences communication in terms of: 1) Education 2) Risk management 3) Public discourse 4) Engaging the public 5) New media From case studies and best practices to field work and innovations, experts deliver pragmatic solutions and delve into significant theories, including diffusion, argumentation, and constructivism, to name a few. Intended for environmental professionals, researchers, and educators in the geophysical and social sciences, the book emphasizes communication principles and practices within an up-to-the-minute context of new environmental issues, new technologies, and a new focus on resiliency.

Altheide's new book advances the argument set in motion some years ago with "Media Logic "and continued in "Media Worlds in the Postjournalism Era: "that in our age, information technology and the communication environments it posits have affected the private and the social spheres of all our power relationships, redefining the ground rules for social life and concepts such as freedom and justice. Articulated through an interactionist and non-deterministic focus, "An Ecology of Communication "offers a distinctive perspective for understanding the impact of information technology, communication formats, and social activities in the new electronic environment. As more routines, rituals, and activities incorporate such technologies within their organizational cultures, new sorts of activities are added and previous ones are changed according to an underlying logic explored in these pages. Various chapters illustrate some of these altered and redefined organizational cultures: bureaucracy, the mass media, computer formats, war, surveillance, and testing, among others.

THE ESSENTIAL HANDBOOK FOR EFFECTIVELY COMMUNICATING ENVIRONMENTAL, SAFETY, AND HEALTH RISKS, FULLY REVISED AND UPDATED Now in its sixth edition, Risk Communication has proven to be a valuable resource for people who are tasked with the responsibility of understanding how to apply the most current approaches to care, consensus, and crisis communication. The sixth edition updates the text with fresh and illustrative examples, lessons learned, and recent research as well as provides advice and guidelines for communicating risk information in the United States and other countries. The authors help readers understand the basic theories and practices of risk communication and explain how to plan an effective strategy and put it into action. The book also contains information on evaluating risk communication efforts and explores how to communicate risk during and after an emergency. Risk Communication brings together in one resource proven scientific research with practical, hands-on guidance from practitioners with over 30 years of experience in the field. This important guide: Provides new examples of communication plans in government and industry, use of social media, dealing with "fake news," and new digital tools for stakeholder involvement and crisis communications Contains a new chapter on partnerships which covers topics such as assigning roles and expectations, ending partnerships, and more Presents real-world case studies with key lessons all risk communicators can apply. Written for engineers, scientists, professors and students, land use planners, public health practitioners, communication specialists, consultants, and regulators, the revised sixth edition of Risk Communication is the must-have guide for those who communicate risks.

A revolution has occurred during our lifetime in the collection, storage, and communication of information, a revolution whose full significance is scarcely understood even by those responsible for its development. At the core of this revolution, and its most visible component, is electronic data processing via the computer. The computer has shown an impressive ability to handle increasing complexity at greater speeds while decreasing its use of power, cost, and space. In this book, however, John McHale shows how the impact of the information revolution stretches far beyond these specific developments. It lies (1) in the expansion and interlinkage of computer-based systems and their extension into larger areas of automated control; (2) in the convergence and relationship of such systems with concurrently developing communications technologies; and (3) in the ways in which these combine together to create a radically new information environment, whose major impacts will be felt most critically within the next ten to twenty years. Mr McHale believes that the emergence of information and knowledge as our basic resources signifies profound consequences that will affect the structure of society itself and the institutional and value premises upon which it operates: The increased dependence upon information as key societal resource will move society, within the next ten to twenty years, from industrially based forms to post-industrial forms whose possible configurations of institutions, governance and value systems are still open to conjecture. In society in general, with the new social wealth generated by information and communications technologies, the whole character of the survival game is being changed. It is now more clearly a non-zero-sum game in which success or gain is predicated on all winning.

This volume interrogates the intertwining of the local and the digital in environmental communication. It starts by introducing a wave metaphor to tease out major shifts in the field, and situates the intersections of local places and digital networks in the beginning of a third wave. Investigations that feature the centrality of place and digital communication platforms show how we today, as researchers and practitioners, communicate the environment. Contributions identify the need for critical approaches that engage with the wider consequences of this changing media landscape, unpacking local and global tensions in environmental communication research. This empirical case study collection from different parts of the world shows that environmental activists and citizens creatively use digital technologies for campaign purposes. It identifies new environmental communication challenges and opportunities, as well as practices, of environmental activists, NGOs, citizens and local communities, in the fight for social and environmental justice.