Journalism, advertising, radio, television, film, and new media are seen as dynamic parts of our daily lives, interacting with and creating the culture we live in. Media Studies: An Introductory Textbook, introduces students to media as they are and have been, integrating history with close textual analysis in a consise, readable style. Media Studies is a comprehensive text for introductory and advanced courses in the growing field of media studies. This new book provides a critical apparatus for "reading" the media students take for granted: clarifying the form and structure, history, production, reception, and the ways the media relate to one another and the audience that attends to them. Media Studies examines media--from print through the digital--as the production of media makers, media consumers, and the cultural, economic, political, and ideological forces that shape and contain them. It gives students the analytic skills they need in a presentation that is readable without sacrificing complexity. Written in a clear, compelling style based upon examples and informed by critical analysis, Media Studies will allow students to move within the media they know while increasing comprehension.

Robert Kolker is Professor Emeritus at the University of Maryland, where he taught from 1971-2000. He is currently Adjunct Professor of Media Studies and American Studies at the University of Virginia.

Leseprobe

List of Illustrations. Preface. Acknowledgments. Introduction. 1 The Designs of Media. 2 From Broadsheet to Broadband: The News. 3 The Pitch: Advertising. 4 Music in Every Room: Radio and Recorded Music. 5 Watching TV. 6 Movies and Film. 7 Digital Spaces. Index