Search results

"Mass media are defind as media which have their proper program and constitute their own audience. Mass media research, accordingly, deals with the production of programs and the consumption of the audience. For both perspectives, research topics are justified, data sources are introduced, and recommendation for the research infrastructure are given. As for media production, the establishment of a central media content archive is recommended where content analytic time series of public agencies as well as of individual researchers are collected. Furthermore, the development of a unified content analytical system and the promotion of cross-national comparisons are recommended. As for media consumption, the provision of privately funded data for the scientific community, the promotion of cross-national comparisons and the linkage of programs and audience data are recommended." (author's abstract)

Cover -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Key ACEJMC Learning Objectives -- Preface -- Features of the Third Edition -- About the Authors -- Acknowledgments -- Section I: Paving the Way to Today's Mass Media -- 1 Introduction to the Mass Media Revolution -- The Style and Approach of Mass Media Revolution -- Media as Storytellers -- Inspiring Debate Through Bias and Controversy -- Experience and Scholarship -- Applying Historical Context to Mass Media -- Studying the Mass Media -- Media Convergence -- Mass Media Defined -- Theoretical Building Blocks of Mass Media -- Passive and Active Media -- Media Framing -- The Humanistic Approach to Communication -- Linking the Medium and the Message -- Audience Trends -- Why Research Audiences? -- Culture and Mass Media: Sharing What We Know -- The Challenge of Cross-Cultural Communication -- The Media's Influence on Religion and Beliefs -- Global Access, Global Threats -- From My Village to the Global Village -- Proximity and Media Space -- Media Hegemony -- Mass Media Convergence in the Digital Age -- Dealing With Information Bombardment -- Media Access Versus Media Overload -- Conclusion: Understanding New Mass Media from a Critical Perspective -- 2 Mass Media: A Brief Historical Narrative -- The Roots of Mass Media Networks -- The Storytellers -- The Scribes -- The Visual Artists -- Arts, Artists and the Renaissance -- The Power and Influence of Media Publishers -- The Birth of Modern Mass Media -- Printing and Politics -- The Newsmakers -- The Rise of Yellow Journalism and Penny Presses -- The First Media War in the United States -- The Photographers -- The Impact of Music and Images on Culture and Society -- The Music-Makers -- The Radio Broadcasters -- The Filmmakers -- The Television Producers -- The Birth of Television Broadcast Systems

Franco Ferrarotti's book, The End of Conversation: The Impact of Mass Media on Modern Society (see IRPS No. 38/87c00823), is contrasted briefly with works by David L. Altheide, Robert P. Snow, Joshua Meyrowitz, & others (eg, Altheide's Media Power [see IRPS No. 30/85c00539]), who agree that the major effect of the mass media on our lives is not their content per se, but rather, their logic, styles, & formats, which influence other domains of everyday life. Ferrarotti argues that the impact of the logic & form of the mass media has changed the spatial-temporal logic that underscored earlier communication patterns -- eg, those involved with conversation -- & the future of Western civilization is in jeopardy because of it. His critiques of TV & other visual media stress, ironically, that it is the sound of these media that has influenced our "ear" & that cultures are now more attuned to how things sound. It is concluded that social interaction & social order are joined through communication forms as product & producer of everyday life. AA