Introduction to Mass Communication

This text encourages students to take more active roles as media consumers and gives them a deeper understanding of the role that the media play in both shaping and reflecting culture. Through this cultural perspective, students learn that audience members are as much a part of the mass communication process as are the media producers, technologies, and industries. This was the first university-level text to make media literacy central to its approach; building on this tested emphasis, the new edition features a new chapter on the convergence of videogames with other media technologies, up-to-date coverage of media's role in the War in Iraq, and coverage of new technologies such as WiFi, VoIP, and blogs.The previous edition's first two chapters have been combined into one, which seamlessly links the relationships among media, culture, and media literacy. A new chapter on videogames (Chapter 9) discusses at length their increasingly important role in how people spend their media time and entertainment money. New "Concentration, Conglomeration, and Democracy" boxes appear throughout the text. Chapter 14, "Media Freedom, Regulations, and Ethics," now includes coverage of anonymous sources and the war in Iraq--with discussions of the outing of Valerie Plame as well as Judith Miller's New York Times stories on weapons of mass destruction. Emphasis on developing media literacy. Chapter 1 details the elements of media literacy, and this emphasis is woven throughout the text. Each chapter from Chapter 2 to 15 contains a section, specific to that chapterĹźs medium or issue, on developing media literacy skills. Cultural perspective. The text argues that the media are "central to the creation and maintenance of our various cultures,Ĺź and that, by taking a more active role in the mass communication process, media audiences can help to shape the cultures that, in turn, shape them. Learning aids. The text offers chapter reviews, critical thinking questions at the end of each chapter, print and website references, chapter objectives, key terms presented in boldface throughout the text, pictorial timelines introducing each chapter, a glossary, and a companion online study guide. A chapter on global media. This final chapter discusses Marshall McLuhanĹźs and William GibsonĹźs ideas about the "global village" and media as extensions of our senses. It examines our changing media and the economic, political, and cultural environments that have arisen due to the changes in global communication technology.A chapter on cable. The extensive coverage of cable highlights this medium's new role in the delivery of all media to consumers' homes. Linking theory and effects. Mass communication theories and the effects of mass media are addressed in the same chapter, highlighting the relationship between how we think and what we think about media's impact. "Living Media Literacy" boxes. Brief chapter-ending essays suggest ways in which students can put what they have learned into practice, becoming active media consumers. Chapter 15, "Global Media," now includes a discussion of television as a tool for social change. Chapter 2, "Books," now discusses ethical issues raised by the war on terror and the invasion and occupation of Iraq, including the impact of the Patriot Act. The chapter addressing the Internet (10) now includes a discussion on battling Spam, as well as coverage of new online political organizations such as MoveOn.org.