The Handbook Of Media Audiences

This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the complexity and diversity of audience studies in the advent of digital media. Details the study of audiences and how it is changing in relation to digital media Recognizes and appreciates valuable traditional approaches and identifies how they can be applied to, and evolve with, the changing media world Offers diverse perspectives from which being an audience, theorizing audiences, researching audiences, and doing audience research are approached today Argues that the field works best by identifying particular 'audience problems' and applying the best theories and research methods available to solving them Includes contributions from some of the most outstanding international scholars in the field

Why is talk about television forbidden at certain schools? Why does a mother feel guilty about watching Star Trek in front of her four-year-old child? Why would retired men turn to daytime soap operas for entertainment? Cliches about television mask the complexity of our relationship to media technologies. Through case studies, the author explains what audience research tells us about the uses of technologies in the domestic sphere and the classroom, the relationship between gender and genre, and the varied interpretation of media technologies and media forms. Television and New Media Audiences reviews the most important research on television audiences and recommends the use of ethnographic, longitudinal methods for the study of media consumption and computer use at home as well as in the workplace. The book discusses reactions of audiences to many internationally known television programmes including The Flintstones, The Jetsons, Street Fighter, Mighty Morphin Power Rangers, X-Men, Sesame Street, Dallas, Star Trek, The Cosby Show, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, National Geographic, etc.

Visit the Understanding Media series microsite. â¬SThis book provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of research and debate about media audiences, written by some of the leading scholars in the field. It covers a wide range of media genres, from TV news to soaps and reality shows, as well as addressing broader issues, for example to do with globalisation, the social contexts of media use and the power of the media. This is a state-of-the-art textbook, which provides students with the critical tools they need in order to evaluate existing research, and to undertake their own.⬠David Buckingham, Institute of Education, Londonâ¬SThe book is important for the broad understanding of media audiences it provides, and for the richness of the learning experience available through the activities and reading extracts that guide the student experience. It is an excellent introduction to the history and traditions of audience research.⬠Virginia Nightingale, University of Western Syney, AustraliaThis book offers an engaging and accessible introduction to key debates in audience studies, drawing on a range of historical, contemporary and cross-cultural case studies. The book includes chapters on: different approaches to researching audiences and how they link to policy and political agendas; how media technologies shape our sensory and social experience; how the media address us as media publics and affect democratic processes; what ethnographic approaches tell us about audiences in different parts of the world; how new forms of interactivity and mobility shift the relations of power between media consumers and producers.The authors take students through these and other topics, using readings from key research and providing carefully designed student activities. Case studies range from the sensational experiences of early twentieth-century film audiences to the activities of reality TV viewers, from the audiences for Indian religious epics to Israeli news viewersâ¬" interpretations of news about Palestine.

“a simple yet excellent overview of the multilayered path of audience research, tracing its evolution over the last century…” European Journal of Communication *How has the concept of 'the audience' changed over the past 50 years? *How do audiences become producers and not just consumers of media texts? *How are new media affecting the ways in which audiences are researched? The audience has been a central concept in both in media and cultural studies for some considerable time, not least because there seems little point exploring forms of increasingly global communication in terms of their content if the targets of media messages are not also the focus of study. This book ranges across a wide literature, taking both a chronological as well as thematic approach, in order to explore the ways in which the audience, as an analytical concept has changed, as well as examining the relationships which audiences have with texts and the ways in which they exert their power as consumers. We also look at the political economy of audiences and the ways in which they are 'delivered' to advertisers as well as attending to the ratings war being waged by broadcasters and the development of narrowcasting and niche audiences. Finally, the book looks ahead to the future of audience research, suggesting that new genres such as 'reality TV' and new ICTs such as the internet, are already revolutionising the way in which research with audiences is taking place in the 21st century, not least because of the level of interactivity enabled by new media.

Bringing together the perspectives of more than 40 internationally acclaimed authors, The Handbook of Global Media Research explores competing methodologies in the dynamic field of transnational media and communications, providing valuable insight into research practice in a globalized media landscape. Provides a framework for the critical debate of comparative media research Posits transnational media research as reflective of advanced globalization processes, and explores its roles and responsibilities Articulates the key themes and competing methodological approaches in a dynamic and developing field Showcases the perspectives and ideas of 30 leading internationally acclaimed scholars Offers a platform for the discussion of crucial issues from a variety of theoretical, methodical and practical viewpoints

Using examples from the US, Europe and Asia,this collection presentsempirical studies of print, recorded music, movies, radio, television and the Internetto reveal both how media structure public spheresand how people use media to participate in the public sphere.

The relationship between the media and its audiences has always been a topic of research and debate. Media Audiences provides a comprehensive and succinct overview of the field of audience studies from the time of the printing press to an era characterized by online digital connectivity. Written in an engaging and accessible style, this book offers a wealth of personal insight into the experience of undertaking audience research in order to illustrate the key methodological issues and challenges in the field. Addressing such topics as technologies, content and the people who are the subjects of audience research, the author challenges readers to think about the value of such research for themselves and for society at large. Comprehensive yet concise, this is essential reading for students of Media with an interest in audience studies.