Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences

For use in Media and Society courses offered in Sociology or Communication/ Journalism Schools and Departments. Also for use in American Society courses and/or Introduction to Mass Communication courses. *Focuses on the big picture, examining relationships between the various components of the media process. The emphasis is on understanding the mass media, in all their complexity, in social terms. *Emphasizes an integrated approach to studying mass media of all types. The authors explore both different dimensions of the media process (production, content and audiences) and the different types of media (film, music, news, television, books, the Internet). *Demonstrates how social, economic and political forces have shaped the development and approach of technology. What is New to this Second Edition? *New lists of Internet resources added in the text and appendix. *Presentation of media ownership patterns is updated. Authors show who owns what and explore the social significance of these recent developments. *Extensive coverage on the new regulations of the Telecommunication Act of 1966 and their significance for media owners and media audiences. “Croteau and Hoynes have written the clearest, most comprehensive, and useful textbook I’ve seen on the media, American society, and their interconnections. As sage as it is thoroughgoing, it serves as an encyclopedic reference book as well as a cogent summation of what scholars know. My congratulations to the authors.” --Todd Gitlin, author of the The Twilight of Common Dreams, The Sixties, and Inside Prime Time, and Professor of Culture, Journalism and Sociology at New York University “The content of this book is exactly what the more medium-centric mass media books do not address - the interaction of the media industry and society.” --Kent Kedl, School of Journalism and Communication, University of Minnesota “I have been dissatisfied with the primary texts available for my Culture and Mass Media course because none help my students think critically about the subject. I am thrilled to learn that Croteau and Hoynes’ text elaborates the type of framework that I had attempted to develop in previous classes...The emphasis upon multiple arenas of analysis, social relations, and concern with examining both agency and constraint...make this book a ‘best fit’ for the course.” --Jane Duvall Downing, University of Missouri-Columbia “At last I’ve found a textbook I’m happy to use in my undergraduate course on the sociology of media. Media / Society does a great job of presenting the theories and information I want my students to learn, and it’s well written, too.” --Gaye Tuchman, Sociology Department, University of Connecticut “The most comprehensive and insightful book on the role of media in life and society. If students, scholars, and all those concerned about our culture had to pick one book to enlighten and inform them, this would be the book.” --George Gerbner, Dean Emeritus, The Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania