A uniquely detailed, broad, balanced guide to the field of media and mass communication research, the new edition maintains the narrative into the world of pervasive, ubiquitous, mobile, social and always-online media we live in today. Including:
• The integration of examples around politics and the public sphere into each chapter, as popular culture and politics become more regularly intertwined.
• Increased focus on conceptualizing ‘mass’ media and communication and media theory in an age of big data, such as algorithmic culture, AI, platform economies, streaming, and mass self-communication.
• Further discussion of what we want and expect of media and society in all chapters.
• A new chapter: "A Canon of Media Effects" to integrate two previous chapters on the social-cultural effects of news, public opinion and political communication.