Media/Society

Technology, Industries, Content, and Users

NEW TO THIS EDITION:

• A greater emphasis on the role of digital platforms covers YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, and Spotify in producing and consuming media, as well as the economies that surround them.
• In-depth coverage of recent key media issues includes the 2020 protests against racial injustice and police violence, media framing around public protests, journalistic practices around #MeToo and #BlackLivesMatter, “fake news,” and the 2020 election.
• Updated examples and summaries reflecting recent academic research include how news organizations frame social movements and how global perceptions of life in the United States derived through media may not match reality.
• New co-author Clayton Childress brings a fresh perspective to the book’s praised content, framework, and structure.
• Learning objectives identify what students should be able to accomplish after reading each chapter. 
• Updated figures and statistics reflect the ever-changing features of our media environment.

• A “big picture” sociological focus examines overarching relationships between the various components of the media process (the industry, its products, audiences, technology, the social world) to help students develop a broad understanding.
• Integrated coverage of media technologies, collective influences, and connections between mass media issues that are often treated as separate provide a clear picture of media today.
• An emphasis on how economic and political constraints shape the media and how audiences actively construct their own interpretations of media messages helps students understand key concepts.
• A wide range of current examples connect theory to everyday life.
• Chapter-ending discussion questions give students the opportunity to reflect on and think critically about chapter content to reinforce their learning.