Colin Sparks – författare

Looks at how the media can inform the general public about the world at a time when public service broadcasting is under attack and the popular press plays to the market with an output of sensationalism.

Several of the most important and influential political economists of communication working today explore a rich mix of topics and issues that link work, policy studies, and research and theory about the public sphere to the heritage of political economy. Familiar but still exceedingly important topics in critical political economy studies are well represented here: market structures and media concentration, regulation and policy, technological impacts on particular media sectors, information poverty, and media access. The book also features new topics for political economy study, including racism in audience research, the value and need for feminist approaches to political economy studies, and the relationship between the discourse of media finance and the behavior of markets.

Colin Sparks provides a challenging reassessment of the impact of the collapse of communism on the media systems of Eastern Europe. He analyzes both the changes themselves and their implications for the ways in which we think about the mass media, while also demonstrating that most of the orthodox accounts of the end of communism are seriously flawed. There are much greater continuities between the old system and the new than are captured by the theories that argue that there has been a radical and fundamental change.

Instead of marking the end of critical inquiry or the end of history, as some have suggested, Sparks argues that the collapse of the communist systems demonstrates how very limited and frequently incorrect the main ways of discussing the mass media are. He concludes with a provocative discussion of the ways in which we need to modify our thinking in the light of these developments.

Colin Sparks provides a challenging reassessment of the impact of the collapse of communism on the media systems of Eastern Europe. He analyzes both the changes themselves and their implications for the ways in which we think about the mass media, while also demonstrating that most of the orthodox accounts of the end of communism are seriously flawed. There are much greater continuities between the old system and the new than are captured by the theories that argue that there has been a radical and fundamental change.

Instead of marking the end of critical inquiry or the end of history, as some have suggested, Sparks argues that the collapse of the communist systems demonstrates how very limited and frequently incorrect the main ways of discussing the mass media are. He concludes with a provocative discussion of the ways in which we need to modify our thinking in the light of these developments.

Globalization, Development and the Mass Media gives a comprehensive and critical account of the theoretical changes in communication studies from the early theories of development communication through to the contemporary critiques of globalization.

It examines two main currents of thought. Firstly, the ways in which the media can be used to effect change and development. It traces the evolution of thinking from attempts to spread 'modernity' by way of using the media through to alternative perspectives based on encouraging participation in development communication. Secondly, the elaboration of the theory of media imperialism, the criticisms that it provoked and its replacement as the dominant theory of international communication by globalization.

 

Globalization, Development and the Mass Media gives a comprehensive and critical account of the theoretical changes in communication studies from the early theories of development communication through to the contemporary critiques of globalization.

It examines two main currents of thought. Firstly, the ways in which the media can be used to effect change and development. It traces the evolution of thinking from attempts to spread 'modernity' by way of using the media through to alternative perspectives based on encouraging participation in development communication. Secondly, the elaboration of the theory of media imperialism, the criticisms that it provoked and its replacement as the dominant theory of international communication by globalization.

 

This broad-ranging book presents an introduction to the issues and debates which are currently central to media studies, drawn from major articles published in the journal Media, Culture & Society in the period 1985 - 1991.

The first part outlines and surveys some key theoretical developments in media studies such as the increased use of feminist and cultural studies approaches to the media and the development of the postmodernism debate. The second part addresses the key area of recent research around the audience; the last section addresses the public sphere. Drawing together key work from the breadth of current critical media research, Culture and Power is an invaluable student textbook and a complement to the library of the individual researcher.

In counterpoint to conventional examinations of images of journalism which tend to concentrate on its informational role in the political process, this book provides a lively analysis of journalism in its other guise - as entertainment.

In a series of interrelated studies, the authors examine the theoretical problems in assessing popular journalism and consider common examples of its manifestations - its relationship to media stars, the coverage of sport, and the presentation of news in a `popular' form.

Media, Culture & Society has pioneered a unique approach to media analysis. Since 1979, it has published some of the finest theoretical and historical work in communication and cultural studies from Britain and Europe. The articles in this reader are grouped in three parts, representing a selection of the best work. Each part is preceded by an introductory essay which helps students understand the issues presented, and places the theoretical contributions in context.

Coverage of the Clinton-Lewinsky saga followed in a long trail of media exposures of the more personal details of the lives of public figures. Many commentators have seen stories like this, and TV shows like Jerry Springer's, as evidence of a decline in the standards of the mass media. This increasing interest in private lives and the falling off of coverage of serious news is often described as “tabloidization.” The essays in this book are the first serious scholarly studies of what is going on and what its implications are. Reality, it turns out, is much more complex than some of the laments suggest. As the contributors show, this is not just a U.S. problem but is repeated in country after country, and it is not certain that the media anywhere are getting more tabloid. What is more, there is no consensus about whether tabloidization is just “dumbing down” or whether it is a necessary tactic for the mass media to engage with new audiences who do not have the news habit. Tabloid Tales will be of interest to students and scholars in journalism, mass communication, political science, and cultural and media studies.

This book reports the results of a comparative survey of journalism students in university-level institutions in 22 countries of the major world regions. The survey and analysis are guided by a critical discussion of concepts of journalistic professionalism and the role played by education and training in developing such ideas. The book explores the origins and motivations of students, and the ambitions they have as future journalists. The students had three different concepts of the role of the press: the enlightenment model in which the prime functions is to educate and inform; the power model, ensuring the views of socially powerful groups are publicized; and the entertainment model, which provides the audience with distractions. With a strong desire for professional status, they believe that the form of media ownership dominant in their own society is a major threat to press freedom.

This book reports the results of a comparative survey of journalism students in university-level institutions in 22 countries of the major world regions. The survey and analysis are guided by a critical discussion of concepts of journalistic professionalism and the role played by education and training in developing such ideas. The book explores the origins and motivations of students, and the ambitions they have as future journalists. The students had three different concepts of the role of the press: the enlightenment model in which the prime functions is to educate and inform; the power model, ensuring the views of socially powerful groups are publicized; and the entertainment model, which provides the audience with distractions. With a strong desire for professional status, they believe that the form of media ownership dominant in their own society is a major threat to press freedom.