Gill Branston – författare

* What is the relationship of popular cinema to the concept of 'modernity'?* What now are the key areas of debate which focus the study of cinema and its audiences?* How can we understand the relationship of cinema to both the pleasures of consumerism and the inequalities addressed by critical politics?Cinema and Cultural Modernity carves a lucid path through the central debates of film and cinema studies and explores these in their social and political contexts. The book includes histories of the ways in which we view Hollywood's global dominance, up to the development of late modernity and the declaration of 'postmodernity'. In an accessible fashion, it discusses changing theorizations of the economics, audiences, and fascinations of cinema, addressing concepts such as agency, negotiation and identification, and global 'popularity' within contemporary cultures of celebrity, consumption and the visual. Gill Branston outlines the need for cinema study that is both sensitive to the formal 'textiness' of films, but also less anxious about arguing for its position within broad agendas of representation. At the same time, the author links such areas to both the pleasures of consumption, which cinema so often evokes and embodies, and to the need for a new, critical politics to address the persistent inequalities of modernity, inequalities which still fuel lively interest in questions of representation. The result is an incisive text for undergraduate courses and an essential reference for researchers.

How do gender relations affect the practice of journalism? Despite the star status accorded to some women reporters, and the dramatic increase in the number of women working in journalism, why do men continue to occupy most senior management positions? And why do female readers, viewers and listeners remain as elusive as ever? News, Gender and Power addresses the pressing questions of how gender shapes the forms, practice, institutions and audiences of journalism. The contributors, who include John Hartley, Pat Holland, Jenny Kitzinger and Myra Macdonald, draw on feminist theory and gender-sensitive critiques to explore media issues such as: * ownership and control* employment and occupation status* the representation of women in the media* the sexualization of news and audience research. Within this framework the contributors explore media coverage of: * the trial of O. J. Simpson* British beef and the BSE scandal* the horrific crimes of Fred and Rosemary West* child sexual abuse and false memory syndrome* the portrayal of women in TV documentaries such as Modern Times and Cutting Edge.

How do gender relations affect the practice of journalism? Despite the star status accorded to some women reporters, and the dramatic increase in the number of women working in journalism, why do men continue to occupy most senior management positions? And why do female readers, viewers and listeners remain as elusive as ever? News, Gender and Power addresses the pressing questions of how gender shapes the forms, practice, institutions and audiences of journalism. The contributors, who include John Hartley, Pat Holland, Jenny Kitzinger and Myra Macdonald, draw on feminist theory and gender-sensitive critiques to explore media issues such as: * ownership and control* employment and occupation status* the representation of women in the media* the sexualization of news and audience research. Within this framework the contributors explore media coverage of: * the trial of O. J. Simpson* British beef and the BSE scandal* the horrific crimes of Fred and Rosemary West* child sexual abuse and false memory syndrome* the portrayal of women in TV documentaries such as Modern Times and Cutting Edge.

The Media Student's Book is a comprehensive introduction for students of media studies. It covers all the key topics and provides a detailed, lively and accessible guide to concepts and debates. Now in its fifth edition, this bestselling textbook has been thoroughly revised, re-ordered and updated, with many very recent examples and expanded coverage of the most important issues currently facing media studies. It is structured in three main parts, addressing key concepts, debates, and research skills, methods and resources. Individual chapters include: approaching media textsnarrativegenres and other classificationsrepresentationsglobalisationideologies and discoursesthe business of medianew media in a new world?the future of television regulation nowdebating advertising, branding and celebritynews and its futuresdocumentary and ‘reality’ debatesfrom ‘audience’ to ‘users’research: skills and methods.Each chapter includes a range of examples to work with, sometimes as short case studies. They are also supported by separate, longer case studies which include:Slumdog Millionaireonline access for film and musicCSI and detective fictionsLet the Right One In and The Orphanage PBS, BBC and HBO images of migration The Age of Stupid and climate change politics.The authors are experienced in writing, researching and teaching across different levels of undergraduate study, with an awareness of the needs of students. The book is specially designed to be easy and stimulating to use, with: a Companion Website with popular chapters from previous editions, extra case studies and further resources for teaching and learning, at: www.mediastudentsbook.com margin terms, definitions, photos, references (and even jokes), allied to a comprehensive glossary follow-up activities in ‘Explore’ boxessuggestions for further reading and online researchreferences and examples from a rich range of media and media forms, including advertising, cinema, games, the internet, magazines, newspapers, photography, radio, and television.