Media Topics – serie

This study of alternative and activist media provides an introduction to alternative media theories, audiences and practices. It brings diverse voices and concepts from outside the commercial media world to the fore, enriching and challenging mass media. Illustrated with historical and current examples, from both a UK and international perspective, it also includes carefully constructed exercises and discussion topics based on case studies and available texts.Topics include the place of alternative media in a mass-media world; a history of alternative and activist media; media participation and consumption by marginalised audiences; the use of pirate and community radio, video and television by community and minority groups; fanzines and other small publishing ventures by individuals; the use of alternative media for explorations in design; the blurring of boundaries between alternative and mass media; and new technology and its possibilities for alternative media.Features:*A unique study of alternative and activism-oriented media designed for students of media studies, print and broadcast journalism, cultural studies, media sociology and related disciplines*Includes extensive notes and Internet resources*Contains exercises and additional resources, such as suggested further reading or film/video/digital media for discussion, in each chapter.

This book addresses cross-cultural representations of ethnic minority peoples by dominant society ‘outsiders’ and indigenous self-representation in the context of the ‘New Media Nation’. In doing so, it explores the role of language, culture, identity and media in liberation struggles and the emergence of new political entities, and opens up issues of colonial oppression to public debate. It is intended to help inform policy in a variety of settings. Grounded in current perspectives on diaspora and homeland and drawing on Alia’s work on minorities, media and identity as well as Bull’s work on Maori socio-cultural issues and criminalisation of minorities, this volume offers a comparative, international perspective on the experiences of a broad range of ethnic minority peoples. These include Inuit and First Nations people in Canada; Native Americans and African Americans in the United States; Sámi in northern Europe; Maori in New Zealand; Aboriginal people in Australia and Roma in Ireland and Britain.Features*Teaching and learning exercises accompany each chapter*Includes recommendations for further reading, listening and viewing*Contains a comprehensive list of ethnic minority media in the UK.

Over the past few decades feminist media scholarship has flourished, to become a major influence on the fields of media, film and cultural studies. At the same time, the cultural shift towards ‘post-feminism’ has raised questions about the continuing validity of feminism as a defining term for this work. This book explores the changing and often ambivalent relationship between the three terms women, feminism and media in the light of these recent debates. At the same time it places them within the broader discussions within feminist theory - about subjectivity, identity, culture, and narrative - of which they have formed a crucial part.The book is organised around four key topic areas. ‘Fixing into Images’ offers a rethinking of one of the first preoccupations of feminist media analysis: the relationship between women and images. ‘Narrating Femininity’ explores the narratives of femininity produced in media texts in the light of theories of narrative and identity. ‘Real Women’ examines both the continuing absence of women’s voices from the genres of news and documentary, and their over-presence within popular ‘reality’ media forms. Finally, ‘Technologies of Difference’ examines the relationship between feminism, women and new media technologies. Throughout, the book explores key issues within feminist media studies both through specific examples and via critical engagement with the work of major theoretical writers. Features*A completely up-to-date study of the key areas of issue and debate in feminist media studies.*Includes case studies and discussion of the work of key writers in the field.*Contains readings of specific texts, ranging from news and advertising to reality TV and ‘postfeminist’ TV drama.

This lively and accessible study of media and discourse combines theoretical reflection with empirical engagement, and brings together insights from a range of disciplines. Within media and cultural studies, the study of media texts is dominated by an exclusive focus on representation. This book adds long overdue attention to social interaction.The book is divided into two sections. The first outlines key theoretical issues and concepts, including informalisation, genre hybridisation, positioning, dialogism and discourse. The second is a sustained interrogation of social interaction in and around media. Re-examining issues of representation and interaction, it critically assesses work on the para-social and broadcast sociability, then explores distinct sites of interaction: production communities, audience communities and ‘interactivity’ with audiences. Key features* The book is rich with fascinating examples involving British and US media, including radio, television, magazines and newspapers and their Internet spin-offs.* It brings together insights from conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, cultural studies and media anthropology.* It is key reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates doing media studies, communication and cultural studies and journalism studies.

This lively and accessible study of media and discourse combines theoretical reflection with empirical engagement, and brings together insights from a range of disciplines. Within media and cultural studies, the study of media texts is dominated by an exclusive focus on representation. This book adds long overdue attention to social interaction.The book is divided into two sections. The first outlines key theoretical issues and concepts, including informalisation, genre hybridisation, positioning, dialogism and discourse. The second is a sustained interrogation of social interaction in and around media. Re-examining issues of representation and interaction, it critically assesses work on the para-social and broadcast sociability, then explores distinct sites of interaction: production communities, audience communities and ‘interactivity’ with audiences. Key features* The book is rich with fascinating examples involving British and US media, including radio, television, magazines and newspapers and their Internet spin-offs.* It brings together insights from conversation analysis, critical discourse analysis, cultural studies and media anthropology.* It is key reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates doing media studies, communication and cultural studies and journalism studies.

An engaging and original study of current research on television audiences and the concept of emotion, this book offers a unique approach to key issues within television studies. Topics discussed include: television branding; emotional qualities in television texts; audience reception models; fan cultures; 'quality' television; television aesthetics; reality television; individualism and its links to television consumption. The book is divided into two sections: the first covers theoretical work on the audience, fan cultures, global television, theorising emotion and affect in feminist theory and film and television studies. The second half offers a series of case studies on television programmes such as Wife Swap, The Sopranos and Six Feet Under in order to explore how emotion is fashioned, constructed and valued in televisual texts. The final chapter features original material from interviews with industry professionals in the UK and Irish Soap industries along with advice for students on how to conduct their own small-scale ethnographic projects.Key Features:*An accessible guide to theoretical work on emotion and affect, this book is key reading for advanced undergraduates and postgraduates doing media studies, communication and cultural studies and television studies.*Case studies on emotion and television in British and US media contexts demonstrate new research and provide a starting point for readers undertaking their own research.*Each chapter includes exercises, points for discussion and lists for further reading

This book analyses the relationships between music and contemporary media, both via the mediation of music, and music as mediator. It does so through a series of original interviews with key practitioners: musicians, writers, magazine editors, radio presenters and major and independent label bosses. Through these interviews, theory and practice are measured against each other and the book considers their experiences and observations in order to explore the ways popular music is produced, marketed and mediated. Examining visual, print, radio and new media, Media and Popular Music draws together disparate elements of music and media which formerly have not been considered together, and provides a fresh and innovative contribution to the swiftly growing field of popular music studies. *Key Features *Presents key topics via chapter-long case studies and more broadly applied theoretical analyses *Uses media theory and cultural theory to shed fresh light on theory and practice *Discusses music in relation to visual and print media.

How do we rely on media for remembering? In exploring the complex ways that media converge to support our desire to capture, store and retrieve memories, this textbook offers analyses of representations of memorable events, media tools for remembering and forgetting, media technologies for archiving and the role of media producers in making memories.Theories of memory and media are covered alongside an accessible range of case studies focusing on memory in relation to radio, television, pop music, celebrity, digital media and mobile phones. Ethnographic and production culture research, including interviews with members of the public and industry professionals, is also included. Offering a comprehensive introduction to the connections and disconnections in the study of media and memory, this is the perfect textbook for media studies students.Key Features* Presents a thorough and detailed overview of key writers, theories and debates* Case studies enrich the text, offering innovative approaches and insights on methodology * Covers a range of 'old' and 'new' media including: from radio, television, film, photography, digital media, mobile phones and popular music* Explores discourses, forms and practices of media and memory with active learning exercises that engage readers

Living in a saturated media environment, we are crowded from all sides by persuasive messages and information. Advice, promotion and propaganda form a spectrum of persuasion, and everywhere we see it performed in its full theatricality, complete with actors, scripts, props and costumes.Based on enduring rhetorical principles, these persuasive techniques and the psychology behind them have become increasingly sophisticated during the ‘age of persuasion’, a century of applied research in advertising, advocacy, public relations, mass entertainment and social control. Media, Persuasion and Propaganda guides the reader through the many varieties of persuasion and its performance, exploring the protocols of rhetoric unique to the medium, from orality and print to film and digital images. Using case studies and exercises, this innovative study poses challenging questions, such as: How do individuals and organisations exert influence to build communities and networks? What role do media play in communicating persuasive messages? How do we use recent discoveries in cognitive science to promote a cause, advocate social change or market ideas and products? How do we defend ourselves against manipulation and undue influence, and when does persuasion turn into propaganda?

An engaging and original study of current issues in media ethics, this book challenges students to explore the relationship between media ethics and social change. It considers the potentially beneficial uses of media practice for humanity, addressing questions of inclusivity and diversity and specialist topics that are absent from other texts. Using case studies and exercises based on real-life experiences of journalists, newsmakers, policy makers and consumers, Valerie Alia invites readers to examine current media practice and develop strategies for ethical problem solving and decision-making. Topics discussed include: ethical theories; social scientific theories; the search for a responsible practice; internationalisation of the media; the ethics of interviewing; politicians, power and spin; media, minorities and gender; arts, sports and travel; ethics and images; changing technologies; and codes and principles.Features* The only book to consider media ethics in the context of social change* Provides current examples of British and international media practice, theory, problem-solving exercises, workshop simulations and case studies* Includes original cartoons, rare photographs of great ‘muckrakers’, an annotated list of relevant films, and a full bibliography and index.