The Best and Broadest Introduction to the Mass Media

• A critical approach to media literacy. Media and Culture introduces students to five stages of the critical thinking and writing process—description, analysis, interpretation, evaluation, and engagement. The text uses these stages as a lens for examining the historical context and current processes that shape mass media as part of our culture. This framework informs the writing throughout, including the Media Literacy and the Critical Process boxes in each chapter.
• A cultural perspective. The text consistently focuses on the vital relationship between mass media and our shared culture—how cultural trends influence the mass media and how specific historical developments, technical innovations, and key decision makers in the history of the media have affected the ways our democracy and society have evolved.
• Comprehensive coverage. The text gives students the nuts-and-bolts content they need to understand each media industry’s history, organizational structure, economic models, and market statistics.
• An exploration of media economics and democracy. To become more engaged in our society and more discerning as consumers, students must pay attention to the complex relationship between democracy and capitalism. To that end, Media and Culture spotlights the significance and impact of multinational media systems throughout the text, including the media ownership snapshots in each of the industry chapters. It also invites students to explore the implications of the Telecommunications Act of 1996 and other deregulation resolutions. Additionally, each chapter ends with a discussion of the effects of various mass media on the nature of democratic life.
• Compelling storytelling. Most mass media make use of storytelling to tap into our shared beliefs and values, and so does Media and Culture. Each chapter presents the events and issues surrounding media culture as intriguing and informative narratives, rather than as a series of unconnected facts and feats, and maps the uneasy and parallel changes in consumer culture and democratic society.
• The most accessible book available. Learning tools in every chapter help students find and remember the information they need to know. Bulleted lists at the beginning of every chapter give students a road map to key concepts; annotated time lines offer powerful visual guides that highlight key events and refer to more coverage in the chapter, Media Literacy and the Critical Process boxes model the five-step process, and the Chapter Reviews help students study and review.