Media, Culture and Society
An Introduction
- Paul Hodkinson - University of Surrey, UK
'In his beautifully balanced, clear and broad-ranging account of a fast-changing field, Paul Hodkinson has successfully brought together myriad perspectives with which to critically analyse today's media culture and media society.'– Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Media & Communication, LSE
Paul Hodkinson's bestseller is back, once again exploring the concepts and complexities of the media in an accessible, balanced and engaging style. Additions to the Second Edition include:
- A new chapter on advertising and sponsorship
- Extensive revision and updating throughout all chapters
- New material on technologies, censorship, online news, fan cultures and representations of poverty
- Greater emphasis on and examples of digital, interactive and mobile media throughout
- Fully reworked chapter on media, community and difference
- Up-to-date examples covering everything from social media, contemporary advertising, news events and mobile technologies, to representations of class, ethnicity and gender.
Combining a critical survey of the field with a finely judged assessment of cutting-edge developments, this Second Edition cements its reputation as the must-have text for any undergraduate student studying media, culture and society.
Praise for the first edition:
In his beautifully balanced, clear and broad-ranging account of a fast-changing field, Paul Hodkinson has successfully brought together myriad perspectives with which to critically analyse today's media culture and media society.
This is a highly useful book for those teaching and studying media. It provides comprehensive accounts of classic approaches to media and culture, but also recent theorists and research. Artfully, it feels fresh but grounded. This is not just a textbook, but also a scholarly exposition of the nature of media studies today. It is one I thoroughly endorse.
Introductory texts are notoriously difficult to write; they have to be accessible, engaging, well organised and well written. Paul Hodkinson has succeeded in writing a book which makes a distinctive and engaging contribution to the literature; it is a work which combines scholarship and imagination. This second edition is carefully organised and sets an agenda which will be useful to students in a wide variety of contexts. It manages to combine traditional approaches to understanding the media with new and emergent issues and areas. Contemporary examples and illustrations are used throughout to ensure that general analysis is always embedded in particular case studies and each section is rounded off with a summary conclusion which allows students to reflect on their reading. The book is fully supported by key references and succeeds in providing an introduction to which students will return throughout their studies.
Hodkinson’s book is an exceptionally useful introduction for those studying the relationship between media and society. This is a carefully updated second edition, with a stronger emphasis on the important links between the digital, media and society and on critical issues around identity, ‘community’ and difference in media cultures.
Paul Hodkinson wrote a thorough and comprehensive introduction into the role of media in contemporary societies. This second edition presents an accessible comparative analysis of theories and research methods from the social and cultural sciences. The illustrations and exercises offer students a challenging opportunity to do their own explorations in the field.
"This text covers all the main topics I wanted to address. It has great a structure, contextualizes key theoretical interventions and weaves them together well with topical discussions."
Excellent overview of some of the many issues regarding media, culture and society. Although it is titled as an introduction it provides an advanced level of analysis. Chapters are well planned and easy to navigate.
Excellent range of topics, will now appear on the core reading list for stereotyping in the Media unit
Hodkinson's introductory textbook will be of good service to my students. Many students on my course will not have taken previous modules on media and journalism, so they are encountering the subject at a perpendicular angle. They need essential concepts to help them understand media processes in relation to the topic, in this case, of religion, so I can point them to some of the essays in this book to give them a grounding in the subject.
Sample Materials & Chapters
Chapter 13: Media, Gender & Sexuality
Chapter 12: Media, Race and Ethnicity