Media and Society

Description

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.

James Curran is Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK He is the author or editor of 21 books about the media, including Media and Power (2002), Media and Democracy (2011) and Misunderstanding the Internet (with Natalie Fenton and Des Freedman) (2016, 2nd ed.), all translated into multiple foreign languages, and Power Without Responsibility (with Jean Seaton) (2018, 8th ed.). Also widely translated, this book was described by the Times Higher as having 'cracked the canon', and by the Irish Times as a 'classic of media history and analysis'. David Hesmondhalgh is Professor of Media, Music and Culture in the School of Media and Communication at the University of Leeds, UK. He is the author of Why Music Matters (2013); Creative Labour: Media Work in Three Cultural Industries (2011, co-written with Sarah Baker); Culture, Economy and Politics: The Case of New Labour (2015, co-written with Kate Oakley, David Lee and Melissa Nisbett); and The Cultural Industries, now in its fourth edition (2019). He is also editor or co-editor of six other books on media, music and culture.

Now in its sixth edition, Media and Society is a book that keeps on giving. Thoroughly updated and expanded, Curran and Hesmondhalgh's new volume is a timely reminder that the role of the media in society is a topic of vital importance. Wide-ranging and clearly written, Media and Society remains an essential text for media and communications students and scholars alike. * Michael Bailey, Department of Sociology, University of Essex, UK * The sixth edition of Media and Society takes a place on the shelf beside its important predecessors. James Curran and David Hesmondhalgh have organized a collection of essays that address pressing questions about the state of media in a constantly-changing world, drawing on historical research to support new perspectives. * Linda Levitt, Associate Professor of Communication, Stephen F. Austin State University, USA * When a book hits its sixth edition, one knows it's a classic. Media and Society is that and more, providing sharp, insightful, not-to-be-missed analysis of the current state of the media and why it matters. * Barbie Zelizer, Raymond Williams Professor of Communication, Annenberg School, University of Pennsylvania, USA * As the field's most reliable guide, Media and Society has continued to foster vital debate, extend boundaries, and raise the horizon of vision in communications research. This classic, in all its six editions, deserves an enduring place in the literature. * Professor Chin-Chuan Lee, Yu Shan Chair Professor of Communication, National Chengchi University, Taiwan *