Overview
Media Studies: A Reader provides a thorough introduction to the full range of theoretical perspectives on the mass media from the past thirty years. Ranging from the arguments between the American mass communication tradition and the Europe-centered Frankfurt School of the 1940s, to the analyses of communication technologies by Marshall McLuhan and Raymond Williams in the 1960s, Media Studies: A Reader maps the mass media field, its varied and often conflicting histories, and its current debates.
Sixty-five articles provide comprehensive coverage of all the main theorists and approaches. The first half, Studying the Media, explores in detail three core elements of media studies: production and regulation of mass media; media texts; and reception and consumption of media. The second half brings together concrete examples of how theoretical debates can be realized in a series of case studies on soap operas, the news, and advertising.
A general introduction and introductions to each section summarize and contextualize the debates.
Contributors include: Theodor W. Adorno, Marshal McLuhan, Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Annette Kuhn, Jürgen Habermas, John Fiske, Richard Dyer, Niki Strange, Danae Clark, Angela McRobbie, Bill Nichols, Lynne Joyrich, David Morley, Ien Ang, Janice Radway, Henry Jenkins, Tania Modleski, Anne McClintock, Sadie Plant.
Synopsis
Marris (media studies, Sheffield Hallam U.) and Thornham (media and communication studies, U. of Sunderland) bring together 65 extracts from academic books and articles. The extracts cover a range of media studies outlining the debates that have taken place in Britain over the past 30 years. From the criticisms of American mass media by the Frankfurt school to the analyses of communication technologies by Marshall McLuhan and Raymond Williams, papers discuss the broad topics of the media and social power, production, textual structures, ideology and discourse, feminist readings, and postmodern television. Other articles concern case studies of soap opera, news, advertising, and new media. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR