Full Description
This text offers a clear and succinct overview of a central debate in the study of the media, drawing together a wide range of theoretical and research-based material from both sides of the Atlantic. Written with a light touch and taking a level-headed approach to competing theories and claims, it is accessibly organised around the three central processes in mass communication - production, representation and reception - and provides comprehensive coverage of all the main topics relevant to the thorny issue of media power.
Contents
Preface- IntroductionQuestions.- The Media as Definers of Social Reality.- Whose Frames?.- The Production of Media Messages: What Sets the Media Agenda?.- Changing Media Agendas, Widening Public Access?.- Innocent Entertainment? The Sociological Study of Television Fiction.- Media Audiences: Couch Potatoes or Armchair Intellectuals?.- Conclusion: The Future for Media Sociology?.- Bibliography.- Index.