Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture - Softcover

Baran, Stanley J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0767419251 ISBN 13: 9780767419253

Publisher: Mayfield Publishing Co ,U.S., 2000

Synopsis

This text emphasizes the view that media audiences can take more active roles as media consumers and have a deeper understanding of the influence the media has in both shaping and reflecting culture. Through this cultural perspective, students learn that audience members are as much a part of the mass communication process as are the media producers, technologies, and industries.

About this title

From the Publisher

Emphasis on developing media literacy. Chapter 2 lays out the elements of media literacy, and this emphasis is woven throughout the text. Each chapter from 3-15 contains a media literacy skills section which helps students develop their critical thinking about the media.
Cultural perspective. "The media'either as a forum where important issues are debated, or as storytellers that carry our beliefs and values across people, space, and time'are central to the creation and maintenance of our various cultures." This book encourages the belief that media audiences can take a more active role in the mass communication process and help to shape the cultures that, in turn, shape them.
Complete chapter on the Internet and the World Wide Web. "Changing the Paradigm" offers an up-to-date discussion of the current mass communication issues that this new medium generates.
"The Changing Global Village." This final chapter employs Marshall McLuhan's and William Gibson's ideas of the global village and media as extensions of our senses, and examines our changing media, economic, political, and cultural environment due to the changes in global communication technology.
Three types of "Media boxes" throughout the text. These boxes give students a deeper understanding of issues that relate to the media and its relationship to society:
"Using Media to Make a Difference" boxes highlight interesting examples of how media practitioners and audiences use the mass communication process to further important social, political, or cultural causes.
"Cultural Forum" boxes present important cultural issues relating to the mass media that are being debated in the mass media; for example, "What is the threat of commercializing the Internet?"
"Media Echoes" boxes demonstrate that the cultural and social debates surrounding the different media tend to be repeated throughout history, regardless of the technology or era in question. For example, the public relations chapter discusses early PR efforts to encourage women to smoke, while the advertising chapter covers advertisers' more recent attempts to attract teenage smokers.
Abundant pedagogical aids are included in each chapter, including Chapter Reviews, Questions for Review, Questions for Critical Thinking and Discussion, Print and Web site references, and key terms (boldfaced in the text and included in a glossary at the end of the text).

Edition details

• Publisher: Mayfield Publishing Co ,U.S.
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0767419251
• ISBN 13: 9780767419253
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 519