'In his beautifully balanced, clear and broad-ranging account of a fast-changing field, Paul Hodkinson has successfully brought together myriad perspectives with which to critically analyse today's media culture and media society' - Sonia Livingstone, Professor of Media & communication, LSE Clearly organized, systematic and combining a critical survey of the field with a finely judged assessment of cutting edge developments, this book provides a 'must have' contribution to media and communication studies.
The text is organized into three distinctive parts, which fall neatly into research and teaching requirements: Elements of the Media (which covers media technologies, the organization of the media industry, media content and media users); Media, Power and Control (which addresses questions of the media and manipulation, the construction of news, public service broadcasting, censorship, commercialization); and Media, Identity and Culture (which covers issues of the media and ethnicity, gender, subcultures, audiences and fans).
The book is notable for:
* Logical and coherent organization
* Clarity of expression
* Use of relevant examples
* Fair minded criticism
* Zestful powers of analysis
It has all of the qualities to be adopted as core introductory text in the large and buoyant field of media and communication studies.
Paul Hodkinson is a sociologist whose work is focused upon youth cultures, online communications and on the relationships between media and cultural identities. He has conducted extensive research on goth subculture and is author of Goth. Identity, Style and Subculture (2002, Oxford: Berg). He is also co-editor of Youth Cultures: Scenes, Subcultures and Tribes (2007, London: Routledge). He is currently researching young people's use of online communications - notably through social networking sites. He is based in the Department of Sociology at the University of Surrey. He joined the department of sociology in August 2003. He was previously Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at University College Northampton and prior to that, he studied at the University of Birmingham at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
Title: Media, Culture and Society: An Introduction
Author: Paul Hodkinson
ISBN: 9781412920537
Binding:
Publisher: SAGE Publications Inc
Publication Date: 2010-10-15
Number of Pages: 336
Weight: 0.6715 kg
In his beautifully balanced, clear and broad-ranging account of a fast-changing field, Paul Hodkinson has successfully brought together myriad perspectives with which to critically analyse today's media culture and media society
Sonia Livingstone
Professor of Media and Communication, LSE
Introductory texts are notoriously difficult to write; they have to be accessible, engaging, well organised and well written. Hodkinson has succeeded in writing a book which makes a distinctive and engaging contribution to the literature; it is a work which combines scholarship and imagination. The book is carefully organised and sets an agenda which will be useful to students in a wide variety of contexts. It manages to combine traditional approaches to understanding the media with new and emergent issues and areas. Contemporary examples and illustrations are used throughout to ensure that general analysis is always embedded in particular case studies and each section is rounded off with a summary conclusion which allows students to reflect on their reading. The book is fully supported by key references and succeeds in providing an introduction to which students will return throughout their studies
Tim O'Sullivan
Professor of Media, Film and Journalism, De Montfort University
Written clearly and accessibly, Media, Culture and Society offers a solid grounding in key theories and debates. From media technologies through to audience communities, Hodkinson is always a sure-footed guide
Matt Hills
Cardiff University
The book addresses complex theories and issues of power, control and representation, but does so in a style that is accessible without being simplistic...The text would be useful in media seminars at various levels. - Pete Bicak
, Rockhurst University -- Pete Bicak * Communication Research Trends *
