Media Culture & Society series – serie

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.

"The study of television, still the most powerful of modern media, has long been fascinated by its capacity for 'liveness'. Marriott offers an insightful analysis of the complexities of this phenomenon, particularly its increasingly vital connection with the use of new media. A timely contribution to our understanding of media events, 24 hour news and the phenomenology of mediated experience." - Andrew Tolson, De Montfort University

"In the steps of Marshall McLuhan and Alfred Schutz, Stephanie Marriott offers us a timely and sustained reflection upon the nature of mediation and the changing qualities of the live experience made possible by television. Elegant, lucid, witty and thought-provoking, her account will become a canonical text in television studies." - Martin Montgomery, University of Strathclyde

In a fragmenting multichannel and multiplatform global broadcasting environment live television continues to attract huge audiences, bucking the trend towards narrowcasting and niche markets, yet little of a comprehensive nature has been written about the live television event.

In this fascinating book, Stephanie Marriott engages in a close and detailed analysis of the nature of live television. She examines the transformations in our experience of time and space which are brought about by the capacity of broadcasting to bring us the world in the moment in which it is unfolding, situating the live television event in the context of an expanding and increasingly complex global communicative framework. Building her argument by means of a series of case studies of events as diverse as the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001, the 2005 London bombings, election night coverage and live sports coverage, Marriott provides a meticulous and articulate account of the way in which live television mediates the event for its audience.

This book will be essential reading for students and academics working in media, cultural studies, cultural sociology, and linguistics, and is an exciting new contribution to the field of broadcast talk and media discourse.

"The study of television, still the most powerful of modern media, has long been fascinated by its capacity for 'liveness'. Marriott offers an insightful analysis of the complexities of this phenomenon, particularly its increasingly vital connection with the use of new media. A timely contribution to our understanding of media events, 24 hour news and the phenomenology of mediated experience." - Andrew Tolson, De Montfort University

"In the steps of Marshall McLuhan and Alfred Schutz, Stephanie Marriott offers us a timely and sustained reflection upon the nature of mediation and the changing qualities of the live experience made possible by television. Elegant, lucid, witty and thought-provoking, her account will become a canonical text in television studies." - Martin Montgomery, University of Strathclyde

In a fragmenting multichannel and multiplatform global broadcasting environment live television continues to attract huge audiences, bucking the trend towards narrowcasting and niche markets, yet little of a comprehensive nature has been written about the live television event.

In this fascinating book, Stephanie Marriott engages in a close and detailed analysis of the nature of live television. She examines the transformations in our experience of time and space which are brought about by the capacity of broadcasting to bring us the world in the moment in which it is unfolding, situating the live television event in the context of an expanding and increasingly complex global communicative framework. Building her argument by means of a series of case studies of events as diverse as the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963, the attack on the World Trade Centre in 2001, the 2005 London bombings, election night coverage and live sports coverage, Marriott provides a meticulous and articulate account of the way in which live television mediates the event for its audience.

This book will be essential reading for students and academics working in media, cultural studies, cultural sociology, and linguistics, and is an exciting new contribution to the field of broadcast talk and media discourse.

Patrice Flichy offers a profound analysis of the social shaping and impact of the major communication technologies of the last 200 years.

From the semaphore and telegraph to contemporary information technologies, Dynamics of Modern Communication focuses on the relationship between technological and social change. Particular emphasis is put on four processes: the birth of the modern state at the end of the eighteenth century; the development of stock markets; the transformation of private life in the modern nuclear family; and the individualism of the late twentieth century.

Exploring the interaction of technology and social context - for example, in the move from public methods of communication to more private and individualized forms - Flichy exposes the gap between the original conception of a technology and its end use after the interplay of political, economic and consumer forces.

Patrice Flichy offers a profound analysis of the social shaping and impact of the major communication technologies of the last 200 years.

From the semaphore and telegraph to contemporary information technologies, Dynamics of Modern Communication focuses on the relationship between technological and social change. Particular emphasis is put on four processes: the birth of the modern state at the end of the eighteenth century; the development of stock markets; the transformation of private life in the modern nuclear family; and the individualism of the late twentieth century.

Exploring the interaction of technology and social context - for example, in the move from public methods of communication to more private and individualized forms - Flichy exposes the gap between the original conception of a technology and its end use after the interplay of political, economic and consumer forces.

This volume demonstrates the relevance of talk and its analysis to understanding the communicative process in television and radio. As the contributors to this book illustrate, the study of talk on radio and television addresses central questions of how institutional authority and power are maintained, how the media construct audiences and how audiences make sense of programme output. In terms of styles of discourse, the book covers the range of broadcast talk, both formal and informal. Theoretically, it draws on ideas from discourse and conversational analysis, pragmatics and critical linguistics, and on the ideas of Goffman, Garfinkel and Habermas.

In this comprehensive guide to important new developments in the study of media reception, Shaun Moores reviews a wide range of qualitative audience research and charts the emergence of a critical ethnographic perspective on everyday consumer practices.

The author considers the distinctive features of audience ethnography and outlines its applications in communication and cultural analysis. Four main areas of inquiry are discussed: the power of media texts to determine the meanings made by their readers; the relationship between media genres and the social patterns of taste; the day-to-day settings and dynamic social situations of reception; and the cultural uses and interpretations of communication technologies in the home. Assessing the theories of Bourdieu, De Certeau and others, as well as drawing on his own investigations of new media technologies in domestic contexts, Moores advances a model of creativity and constraint in everyday life.

Feminists have long recognized the significance of the media as a site for the expression of - or challenges to - existing constructions of gender. In this broad-ranging analysis, Liesbet van Zoonen explores the ways in which feminist theory and research contribute to the fuller understanding of the multiple roles of the media in the construction of gender in contemporary societies.

The text initially outlines some major themes in feminist media studies and the ways in which they offer specific models for understanding the media. The author goes on to examine the key questions posed by a gendered approach within communication and cultural studies. Issues explored include: theories of transmission, representation, construction and discourse; the structures of media organization and production; the analysis of media representations through content analysis and semiotics; the contradictions of the gendered image as spectacle; new approaches to understanding the audience and the politics of media reception; and the potential of feminist and interpretive research strategies.

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.

The contributors to this book explore the way in which crises highlight the problematic issues of media performance in democratic states.

They examine the relationship between communication and civil society through a number of actual cases of media responses to `crises', ranging from the Gulf War of 1991 to recent events in Eastern Europe. Individual examples of mediated crises emphasize the complexities of understanding the role of the media in struggles of identity around nationality, ethnicity and gender.

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.

In this provocative book John Downing explores the many roles of the media within the fundamental political, economic and cultural changes that took place during the turbulence in Eastern Europe between 1980 and 1995. He examines the central elements underlying these changes: power, the state, societal change, the economy, institutionalized racism, ethnic insurgency, secrecy and surveillance.

Internationalizing Media Theory critically evaluates media theories in relation to political and economic transitions, and challenges political science approaches for their failure to address vital issues in media and communication. Using a comparative and international focus, Downing analyzes the changes in Russia, Poland and Hungary and explores key aspects of the media during this period.

In this provocative book John Downing explores the many roles of the media within the fundamental political, economic and cultural changes that took place during the turbulence in Eastern Europe between 1980 and 1995. He examines the central elements underlying these changes: power, the state, societal change, the economy, institutionalized racism, ethnic insurgency, secrecy and surveillance.

Internationalizing Media Theory critically evaluates media theories in relation to political and economic transitions, and challenges political science approaches for their failure to address vital issues in media and communication. Using a comparative and international focus, Downing analyzes the changes in Russia, Poland and Hungary and explores key aspects of the media during this period.

In this broad-ranging text, Peter Dahlgren clarifies the underlying theoretical concepts of civil society and the public sphere, and relates these to a critical analysis of the practice of television as journalism, as information and as entertainment. He demonstrates the limits and the possibilities of the television medium and the formats of popular journalism. These issues are linked to the potential of the audience to interpret or resist messages, and to construct its own meanings. What does a realistic understanding of the functioning and the capabilities of television imply for citizenship and democracy in a mediated age?