Media/Society: Technology, Industries, Content, and Users

by David R. Croteau, William D. Hoynes

Overview

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

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781506315355
Publisher:	SAGE Publications
Publication date:	08/02/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	NOOK Book
Pages:	488
Sales rank:	1,047,578
File size:	7 MB

About the Author

David Croteau taught about the sociology of media as an Associate Professor (retired) in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Virginia Commonwealth University. He is the author of Politics and the Class Divide: Working People and the Middle-Class Left and co-author, with William Hoynes, of Experience Sociology.

William Hoynes is Professor of Sociology and former Director of the Media Studies Program at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he teaches courses on media, culture, and social theory. He is the author of Public Television for Sale: Media, the Market, and the Public Sphere and co-author, with David Croteau, of Experience Sociology.

Table of Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
PART I. INTRODUCTION
Chapter 1. Media/Society in a Digital World
The Importance of Media
Models of Communication Media
A Sociology of Media
A Model of Media and the Social World
Applying the Model: Civil Rights in Two Media Eras
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
PART II. TECHNOLOGY
Chapter 2. The Evolution of Media Technology
The History of Media Technology
Technological Determinism and Social Constructionism
From Print to the Internet
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
PART III. INDUSTRY
Chapter 3. The Economics of the Media Industry
Media Companies in the Internet Era
Changing Patterns of Ownership
Consequences of Conglomeration and Integration
The Effects of Concentration
The Impact of Advertising
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Chapter 4. Political Influence on Media
Media and Democracy
Free Speech to Free Markets: The Evolution of U.S. Regulatory Policy
Regulation in International Perspective
Competing Interests and the Regulation Debate
Regulating Ownership
Regulating Content
Regulating Access and Distribution
Informal Political, Social, and Economic Pressure
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Chapter 5. Media Organizations and Professionals
The Limits of Economic and Political Constraints
Decision Making for Profit: Imitation, Hits, and Stars
The Organization of Media Work
Occupational Roles and Professional Socialization
Norms on the Internet, New Media, and New Organizations
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
PART IV. CONTENT
Chapter 6. Media and Ideology
What Is Ideology?
Theoretical Roots of Ideological Analysis
News Media and the Limits of Debate
Movies, the Military, and Masculinity
Television, Popularity, and Ideology
Rap Music as Ideological Critique?
Advertising and Consumer Culture
Advertising and the Globalization of Culture
Internet Ideology
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Chapter 7. Social Inequality and Media Representation
Comparing Media Content and the “Real” World
The Significance of Content
Race, Ethnicity, and Media Content: Inclusion, Roles, and Control
Gender and Media Content
Class and the Media
Sexual Orientation: Out of the Closet and into the Media
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
PART V. USERS
Chapter 8. Audiences and Creators
The Active Audience: Balancing Agency and Structure
Decoding Meanings and Social Position
The Pleasures of Media: Celebrity Games
The Social Context of Media Use
The Limits of Interpretation
From Active Audience to Resistant Actors
Content Creation and Distribution
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
Chapter 9. Media Influence
Learning from Media Effects Research
Early Works: Establishing the Agenda
Mitigating Media Effects
Highlighting Media Influence
Mediatization
The Mediatization of Politics
Digital Dilemmas: Online Media Influence
Conclusion
Discussion Questions
PART VI. AFTERWORD
Chapter 10. Globalization and the Future of Media
What Is Globalization?
The Global Media Industry
Interpreting Global Media Content
Regulating Global Media
Global Media Users: Limits of the “Global Village”
The Ubiquity of Change and the Future of Media
Discussion Questions
References
Index
About the Authors

Editorial Reviews

The best text to help students understand the often-complicated, ever-changing relationship between media and society.”

Seong-Jae Min

I have finally found a textbook that places media research in a historical perspective and that also includes a comprehensive section on the media and its relationship to ideology, politics, and culture.”

Jane Bloodworth Rowe

Media/Society gives students a comprehensive picture of the present-day media, media-related issues, and the future. Current controversial issues like electronic surveillance, privacy and national security, and political influence on the media have been carefully explained by the authors.”

Abhijit Sen

It comes at the sociology of media from every angle, providing in-depth discussion of how media are shaped, consumed, and disseminated.”

Stephen Hagan

The book provides a sound analysis of the contemporary issues in media representations and conceptual approaches to the understanding of media and media technology.”

Ola Ogunyemi

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