Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences (3rd. Ed 2003)

In a society saturated by mass media, from newspapers and magazines, television and radio, to digital video projects and the worldwide web, most students possess a great deal of media knowledge and experience before they ever enter the classroom. What they often lack, however, is a broader framework for understanding the relationship between media and society. Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences provides that context and helps students develop skills for critically evaluating both conventional wisdom and one's own assumptions about the social role of the media.

The first two editions of Media/Society introduced thousands of students to a sociologically informed analysis of the media process. The new Third Edition builds on this success with revised Internet resources, the latest data on the media industry, new examples from the independent media sector, and updated discussions of media policy, online media, and independent media. Media/Society is unique among media texts in that it offers:
-- A sociological approach that examines overarching relationships between the various components of the media process — the industry, its products, audiences, technology, and the broader social world
-- An integrated study of mass media that looks at media technologies, collective influences, and connections between mass media issues that are often treated as separate

-Media/Society: Industries, Images and Audiences, Third Edition engages the reader with accessible analyses that are historically grounded but draw upon current media debates such as regulation of the Internet, concentration of media ownership, portrayals of gays in the media, and the growth of global media.Media/Society is an outstanding text for courses in mass media and sociology.

Presenting the new edition of their undergraduate-level textbook, Croteau (sociology and anthropology, Virginia Commonwealth U.) and Hoynes (sociology, Vassar College) discuss the social components of the mass media and highlight the tension between constraint and action. Their analysis is based on a social model that sees media as being part of multidimensional process of complex interaction between audiences, technology, medial message, and media industry, all operating within the wider context of the social world.
Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

- A sociological approach that examines overarching relationships between the various components of the media process--the industry, its products, audiences, technology, and the broader social world- An integrated study of mass media that looks at media technologies, collective influences, and connections between mass media issues that are often treated as separate- An examination of how economic and political constraints affect the media and how audiences actively construct their own interpretations of media messages

This book gives students an overview of the entire media process - from production to content to audiences - with an emphasis on how social forces influence the media and how media potentially affect society. A key emphasis throughout the work is how various elements in the media process interact with each other. This Third Edition of Media/Society provides students with conceptual tools for understanding the role of media in contemporary society - where mass media images come from, how and why they matter, and the kinds of questions and dilemmas that mass media raise about social life.

Praise for the Second Edition

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 thoroughgoinga, it serves as an encyclopedic reference book as well as a cogent summation of what scholars know. My congratulations to the authors.

-- Todd Gitlin, Columbia University

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, Bell Atlantic Professor of Telecommunication, Temple University

In a society saturated by mass media, from newspapers and magazines, television and radio, to digital video projects and the worldwide web, most students possess a great deal of media knowledge and experience before they ever enter the classroom. What they often lack, however, is a broader framework for understanding the relationship between media and society. Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences provides that context and helps students develop skills for critically evaluating both conventional wisdom and one's own assumptions about the social role of the media.

The first two editions of Media/Society introduced thousands of students to a sociologically informed analysis of the media process. The Third Edition builds on this success with revised Internet resources, the latest data on the media industry, new examples from the independent media sector, and updated discussions of media policy, online media, and independent media. Media/Society is unique among mediatexts in that it offers: A sociological approach that examines overarching relationships between the various components of the media process-the industry, its products, audiences, technology, and the broader social world An integrated study of mass media that looks at media technologies, collective influences, and connections between mass media issues that are often treated as separate An examination of how economic and political constraints affect the media and how audiences actively construct their own interpretations of media messages

Media/Society: Industries, Images and Audiences, Third Edition engages the reader with accessible analyses that are historically grounded but draw upon current media debates such as regulation of the Internet, concentration of media ownership, portrayals of gays in the media, and the growth of global media. Media/Society an outstanding text for courses in mass media and sociology.

This welcome Third Edition provides students with an overview of the entire media process - from production to content to audiences - with an emphasis on how social forces influence the media and how media potentially affect society. A key emphasis throughout the work is how various elements in the media process interact with each other. This updated edition provides students with conceptual tools for understanding the role of media in contemporary society - where mass media images come from, how and why they matter, and the kinds of questions and dilemmas that mass media raise about social life.</p> <p></p> <p>The book:</p> <p></p> <p>- covers three important traditions in media analysis: the political economy of the media - i.e. who "owns" the media and how do these economic factors affect content, distribution, and media impact; an analysis of media content as a reflector of society's values, culture; and thirdly how the media affect audiences and, conversely, how audiences' interaction with media produce changes in the opposite direction.</p> <p></p> <p>- provides a sociological approach to mass media by focusing on the big picture and emphasizing relationships between the various components of the media process. </p> <p></p> <p>- includes revised Internet resources, the latest data on the media industry, and updated discussions of media policy, online media, and independent media.</p> <p></p> <p>The book will be an essential resource for students of media studies, mass communication and the sociology of popular culture.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 379-395) and index.