Peter Golding – författare

Leading scholars from a range of fields bring different perspectives to bear on the role of the state, the range of culture beyond the media, the contribution of international organizations, and the potential for resistance and alternatives. They reflect on the `New World International Communications Order' as delineated since the 1970s, and examine its changing nature. Throughout, they connect analysis of the flows and forces which form the world media and communications with the fundamental themes of social science, and illuminate the ways in which underlying questions of inequality, power and control reappear within new media environments.

Leading scholars from a range of fields bring different perspectives to bear on the role of the state, the range of culture beyond the media, the contribution of international organizations, and the potential for resistance and alternatives. They reflect on the `New World International Communications Order' as delineated since the 1970s, and examine its changing nature. Throughout, they connect analysis of the flows and forces which form the world media and communications with the fundamental themes of social science, and illuminate the ways in which underlying questions of inequality, power and control reappear within new media environments.

With growing numbers of billionaires at one end and startling numbers of food banks at the other, ‘advanced’ industrial societies are becoming ever more unequal.  Yet the evolution and widespread use of new digital media, and of a news-rich environment, bear the promise of unprecedentedly informed citizens and enriched democracy.  Are both these trends possible?  This book examines the evidence comprehensively,  and argues that the link between communications and inequality has a profound and direct impact on the relationship between citizens and society.  Drawing on key concepts in the sociological understanding of modern society, extensive explanation of the ‘digital divide’, the role and character of the new ‘tech giants’, and the powerful effects on society of the ‘voice’ of vested interests, it offers a unique analysis of the dynamics and wider implications of communications inequality.

The volume is prefaced with an introduction by the editors and will be a central research text for scholars in this field.

The volume is prefaced with an introduction by the editors and will be a central research text for scholars in this field.

With growing numbers of billionaires at one end and startling numbers of food banks at the other, ‘advanced’ industrial societies are becoming ever more unequal.  Yet the evolution and widespread use of new digital media, and of a news-rich environment, bear the promise of unprecedentedly informed citizens and enriched democracy.  Are both these trends possible?  This book examines the evidence comprehensively,  and argues that the link between communications and inequality has a profound and direct impact on the relationship between citizens and society.  Drawing on key concepts in the sociological understanding of modern society, extensive explanation of the ‘digital divide’, the role and character of the new ‘tech giants’, and the powerful effects on society of the ‘voice’ of vested interests, it offers a unique analysis of the dynamics and wider implications of communications inequality.

With growing numbers of billionaires at one end and startling numbers of food banks at the other, ‘advanced’ industrial societies are becoming ever more unequal.  Yet the evolution and widespread use of new digital media, and of a news-rich environment, bear the promise of unprecedentedly informed citizens and enriched democracy.  Are both these trends possible?  This book examines the evidence comprehensively,  and argues that the link between communications and inequality has a profound and direct impact on the relationship between citizens and society.  Drawing on key concepts in the sociological understanding of modern society, extensive explanation of the ‘digital divide’, the role and character of the new ‘tech giants’, and the powerful effects on society of the ‘voice’ of vested interests, it offers a unique analysis of the dynamics and wider implications of communications inequality.

We are witnessing a dynamic reshaping of the European ''mediascape''. This has been underway for more than a decade since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the growing impact of globalisation, and the birth of new technologies and new media, or the convergence between old and new media. A new and more intense ''mediatisation'' of society and everyday life is emerging. This is happening alongside the rapid reconstruction of the cultural and economic landscape of Europe itself. In this transformation the communicative and ideological dimensions, the digitalisation of technology, and changes in culture - ''the imaginary'', the discursive universe of politics and communication, are all crucial areas for research. The cultural industries, (film, television, books, magazines, entertainment and music), but also the world of news, actuality, ''infotainment'' and the internet, are key areas for the study of what we may begin to understand as a changing European culture in all its complexity and with all its differences and conflicts. The media and the cultural industries are among the fastest growing sectors in the global economy.