James Curran

Jean Seaton

Widely regarded as the standard book on the British Media, this authoritative introduction to the history, sociology, theory and politics of media and communications studies has been substantially revised and updated to bring it up to date with developments in the media industry. Its three new chapters describe the battle for the soul of the internet, the impact of the internet on society and the rise of new media in Britain. In addition it examines the recuperation of the BBC, how international and European regulation is changing the British media and why Britain has the least trusted press in Europe.

The Press, Broadcasting, and New Media in Britain

Power Without Responsibility

De-Westernizing Media Studies (Communication and Society)

Misunderstanding the Internet

Michael Gurevitch

An original contribution to media studies. Beautifully organized, well written and incisive.

Mass Media and Society

Tamar Liebes

Media, Ritual and Identity examines the role of the media in society; its complex influence on democratic processes and its participation in the construction and affirmation of different social identities. It draws extensively upon cultural anthropology and combines a commanding overview of contemporary media debates with a series of fascinating case studies ranging from political ritual on television to broadcasting in the third world.

Media, Ritual and Identity

David Hesmondhalgh

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.

Media and Society

Tony Bennett

Janet Wollacott

This book discusses two related themes concerning the role and processes of mass communication in society. The first deals with questions regarding the power of the media: how should it be defined? how is it wielded and by whom? are previous approaches and answers to such questions adequate? The second theme revolves around the divisions between the liberal pluralist and Marxist approaches to the analysis of the nature of the media. These divisions have, in recent years, been fundamental to the debate concerning the understanding of the role of mass communication, and the examination of them in this book will challenge the reader to look more closely at a number of assumptions that have long been taken for granted.

Culture, Society and the Media

Julian Petley

Ivor Gaber

Culture Wars investigates the relationship between the media and politics in Britain today. It focusses on how significant sections of the national press have represented and distorted the policies of the Labour Party, and particularly its left, from the Thatcher era up to and including Ed Miliband’s and Jeremy Corbyn’s leaderships. Revised and updated, including five brand new chapters, this second edition shows how press hostility to the left, particularly newspaper coverage of its policies on race, gender and sexuality, has morphed into a more generalised campaign against ‘political correctness’, the ‘liberal elite’ and the so-called ‘enemies of the people’. Combining fine-grained case studies with authoritative overviews of recent British political and media history, Culture Wars demonstrates how much of the press have routinely attacked Labour and, in so doing, have abused their political power, distorted public debate, and negatively impacted the news agendas of public service broadcasters. The book also raises the intriguing question of whether the rise of social media, and the success of its initial exploitation by Corbyn supporters, followed by Labour as a whole in the 2017 General Election, represent a major shift in the balance of power between Labour and the media, and in particular the right-wing press. Culture Wars will be of considerable interest to students and researchers in the fields of media, politics and contemporary British history, and will also attract those with a more general interest in current affairs in the UK.

The Media and the British Left

Culture Wars

The fifth edition of this highly-respected collection of media and communication essays contains insightful analyses from leading international academics in the field on a wide range of key topics ranging from new media to film studies.

Once hailed as the 'Bradman of Rugby', David Campese thrilled spectators both in Australia and overseas with his footloose, crazy-brave style of free running. This book tells the story of his rise from humble beginnings to the very top of a global sport. Once hailed as the 'Bradman of Rugby', David Campese thrilled spectators both in Australia and overseas with his footloose, crazy-brave style of free running. This book tells the story of his rise from humble beginnings to the very top of a global sport. As a rugby player, David Campese seemed to operate on pure instinct, one that left many a defender clutching for him in vain, stranded in the slipstream of his audacity. He followed no straight path, observed no convention, and in so doing brought a whole swag of new supporters to the game. Hailed as the 'Bradman of Rugby' by former Wallaby coach Alan Jones, and the 'Pele' of Rugby by others, Campese was a match-winner. True, he could lose the odd game as well, but this was part of his unique allure- Campese took crowds to the edge of their seats ... and their patience. The refrain 'I saw Campese play' now speaks to much more than wistful reminiscences about a player widely regarded as the most entertaining ever to play the game of Rugby Union. It has come to represent a state of chronic disbelief that the Wallaby ascendancy of Campese's era - the style, panache, and winning ways of the Australian team in the 1980s and 1990s - has now been squandered by Rugby's continuing struggle to adapting to the coming of professionalism. Campese occupies a unique intersection in the sport's history- one of its last amateurs, and one of its first professionals. The rigid, robotic game of today appears incapable of accommodating a player of his dash and daring, or of replicating his teams' successes.

The Last of the Dream Sellers

Campese

Natalie Fenton

Des Freedman

The growth of the internet has been spectacular. There are now more than 3 billion internet users across the globe, some 40 per cent of the world’s population. The internet’s meteoric rise is a phenomenon of enormous significance for the economic, political and social life of contemporary societies. However, much popular and academic writing about the internet continues to take a celebratory view, assuming that the internet’s potential will be realised in essentially positive and transformative ways. This was especially true in the euphoric moment of the mid-1990s, when many commentators wrote about the internet with awe and wonderment. While this moment may be over, its underlying technocentrism – the belief that technology determines outcomes – lingers on and, with it, a failure to understand the internet in its social, economic and political contexts. Misunderstanding the Internet is a short introduction, encompassing the history, sociology, politics and economics of the internet and its impact on society. This expanded and updated second edition is a polemical, sociologically and historically informed guide to the key claims that have been made about the online world. It aims to challenge both popular myths and existing academic orthodoxies that surround the internet.

A peace march in Londonderry erupt?s in mayhem on Assumption Day, 1970?, and the embattled Royal Ulster Constabulary summons Chief Inspector Jack Hamilton?. ?In the aftermath? he ?sees curls of auburn hair gently wav?ing in the drainage water between riot-damaged cars. He discover?s a young lady who arrived to her death fashionably dressed. Her glazed eyes look curiously skyward and her mouth ?is slightly open, as if she forgot a question. The victim in this march threatens an unstable truce?. Can the inspector find her killer before tensions burst between a Protestant militia and a Catholic rebellion willing to tear Northern Ireland apart???

Assumption Day

Myung-Jin Park

De-Westernizing Media Studies brings together leading media critics from around the world to address central questions in the study of the media. How do the media connect to power in society? Who and what influence the media? How is globalization changing both society and the media?

De-Westernizing Media Studies

Stuart Ward

The Unknown Nation is an illuminating history of Australia's putative 'search' for national identity. James Curran and Stuart Ward document how the receding ties of empire and Britishness posed an unprecedented dilemma as Australians lost their traditional ways of defining themselves as a people. With the sudden disappearance in the 1960s and 1970s of the familiar coordinates of the British world, Australians were cast into the realm of the unknown. The task of remodelling the national image touched every aspect of Australian life where identifiably British ideas, habits and symbols--from foreign relations to the national anthem--had grown obsolete. But how to celebrate Australia's past achievements and present aspirations became a source of public controversy as community leaders struggled to find the appropriate language and rhetoric to invoke a new era.

Australia After Empire

The Unknown Nation

Nick Couldry

Professor of Communications James Curran

In this book, media scholars and political scientists develop a broad comparative framework for analysing alternative media in various countries. Topics include independent media centres, gay online networks, feminist film and alternative web discussion forums.

Alternative Media in a Networked World

Contesting Media Power

Media and Democracy addresses key topics and themes in relation to democratic theory, media and technology, comparative media studies, media and history, and the evolution of media research. For example: How does TV entertainment contribute to the democratic life of society? Why are Americans less informed about politics and international affairs than Europeans? How should new communications technology and globalisation change our understanding of the democratic role of the media? What does the rise of international ezines reveal about the limits of the internet? What is the future of journalism? Does advertising influence the media? Is American media independence from government a myth? How have the media influenced the development of modern society? Professor Curran’s response to these questions provides both a clear introduction to media research, written for university undergraduates studying in different countries, and an innovative analysis written by one of the field’s leading scholars.

Media and Democracy

David Morley

Containing new thinking and original surveys, Media & Cultural Theory brings together leading international scholars to address key issues and debates within media and cultural studies. Through the use of contemporary media and film texts such as Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Lord of the Rings trilogy, and using case studies of the USA and the UK after September 11th, James Curran and David Morley examine central topics including: media representations of the new woman in contemporary society the creation of self in lifestyle media the nature of globalization the rise of digital actors and media. Ideal as a course reader, with each essay covering a different major area or advance in original research, Media & Cultural Theory is global in its reach. Through its engagement with broad questions, it is an invaluable book that can be applied to the studies of media and cultural studies students the English-speaking world over.

James Curran

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