International Communication

The world is on the threshold of a new industrial revolution. At the beginning of the twenty-first century, millions of people can communicate with each other in real time, across national boundaries and time zones, through voice, text and pictures. Our digitally linked world is undergoing profound and rapid change. This immensely readable book provides a comprehensive analysis of developments in international communication at a time when the political, economic and technological contexts in which media and culture operate are becoming increasingly global. Although there are many texts dealing with aspects of the extraordinary transformations of international communication in the late twentieth century, International Communication brings together for the first time the key theoretical and empirical work in this field into one up-to-date and accessible volume. Illustrated by case studies from around the world, the book offers a comprehensive survey of the subject with chapters on the history and theories of communication; the globalisation of communication and media industries; its impact on culture and the implications of the new technologies for communications in the future