Media Today: Mass Communication in a Converging World, 5th Edition

How do books, newspapers, music recordings, movies, television shows, and online sites get made? How does content in different media get funded, produced and delivered to the right audiences? Why do certain materials and not others get created and distributed in different media? What role do governments (federal, state, local) play in the process? (This book) addresses these and related questions with concrete examples from a wide variety of mass media – from books to cable television, highway billboards to online services. The text tracks, among other developments, the explosion of competition among new and old media, pressures toward greater and greater conglomeratization among media firms, the need to increasing segment audiences, and their obligation to expand global sales. Students need to understand what is happening, why, and with what possible consequences for society. -Pref.

Table of Contents

Part I The Nature and Business of Media
Chapter 1 Understanding Mass Media, Convergence, and the Importance of Media Literacy
Chapter 2 Making Sense of Research on Media Effects and Media Culture
Chapter 3 The Business of Media
Chapter 4 Financing and Shaping the Media: Advertising, Public Relations, and Marketing Communications
Chapter 5 Controls on Media Content: Government Regulation, Self-Regulation, and Ethics

Part II The Media Industries
Chapter 6 The Internet Industry
Chapter 7 The Book Industry
Chapter 8 The Newspaper Industry
Chapter 9 The Magazine Industry
Chapter 10 The Recording Industry
Chapter 11 The Radio Industry
Chapter 12 The Movie Industry
Chapter 13 The Television Industry
Chapter 14 The Video Game Industry