Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-322) and index.

Understanding the media -- Media histories, media power -- Media globalization -- Media ownership : concentration, conglomeration and regulation -- Media professionals and media production -- Media ideologies and discourse -- Media 're-presentations' in an unequal world -- Media audiences and reception -- New media, social media -- Conclusion : The how and why media analysis.

Introduction: Asking Awkward Questions Chapter 1: Understanding the Media Introduction Defining the Media The Media in a Social Context Asking Questions about U2 Asking Questions? Which Questions? The Importance of Theory and Method Conclusion Chapter 2: Media Histories, Media Power Introduction Media Histories Changing Media Histories: an Irish Example A Contested Field Media and Power Power and Media Content Power and the Media Industries Power and Media Audiences Towards a (More) Critical Media Studies Model of Media Analysis: Production, Content and Reception Conclusion Chapter 3: Media Globalization Introduction What is Globalisation? The Latest Brand of Colonialism? Theories of Globalisation Media Globalisation Conclusion Chapter 4: Media Ownership: Concentration, Conglomeration and Regulation Introduction Why Should We be Bothered about Media Ownership? Media Ownership Conglomeration, Concentration and Content Vertical and Horizontal Integration The Political Economy Perspective 'Follow the money...' Jurgen Habermas and the Public Sphere Media and Regulation Models of Media Regulation So, Do We Need Media Regulation? Conclusion Chapter 5: Media Professionals and Media Production Introduction Production Research Two Traditions Theoretical Underpinnings of Production Research Methodological Basis Hall's Encoding/ Decoding Model Ethnographic Research on Media Production and Media Professionals Inside Prime Time by Todd Gitlin Conclusion Chapter 6: Media, Ideology and Discourse Introduction What Precisely is Meant by the Term Ideology? Defining Ideology Ideology as Dominant Ideology Discourse and Ideology It's All in the Discourse? Conclusion Chapter 7: Media 'Re-presentations' in an Unequal World Introduction Representation/ Re-representation and 'Reality' What is Content Analysis? Media Re-representations in a Divided World: Four Approaches Outlined Media Re-presentations of Social Class Media Coverage of the Underclass: Stories about Welfare The Happy Poor: Representations in Fictional Media Content Media Representations of Ethnicity: a Discourse Analysis Approach Media Representations of Gender and Sexuality Conclusion Chapter 8: Media Audiences and Reception Introduction Themes and Tensions: Competing Theoretical and Methodological Approaches in Audience Research Power to the People? Three Phases in Reception Research Reception Analysis and the 'Ethnographic Turn' Qualitative Audience Research: Three Examples Audiences, Fans and Participatory Cultures Conclusion Chapter 9: New Media, Social Media Introduction: New Media and Social Media - Empowering Audiences, But Who is Holding the Tiger's Tail? Will the Revolution be Digitalized? The Promise and the Reality of the Internet We are All 'Produsers' Now, are We? Audiences and New Media ConclusionChapter 10: Conclusion: The 'How' and 'Why' of Media Analysis Introduction: This is Not a Methods Chapter... A Step-by-Step Approach to Doing Media Research How to Usefully Engage with Existing Research Doing Production, Content and Reception Research Keep on Asking Awkward Questions... Conclusion: The 'How' and 'Why' of Media Analysis

How much of our media experience is shaped by the profit motive of media conglomerates? How much do we have freedom and power as members of an increasingly fragmented media audience? How do music, television and social media influence what we understand about friendship, fun, political events, democracy, globalization and even our own selves? This book teaches students how to ask critical questions of the media, and gives them the analytical tools to answer those questions. Students will gain a rich understanding of how the media play a role in society, both in giving pleasures and creating power relationships.

"Accessibly written and very well-structured, the book will be one of those you go back to time and time again throughout your studies. In addition it also offers that much-needed, little-found extra in a textbook: critical engagement with media and society. A joy for those of us teaching the subject" - Joke Hermes, University of Amsterdam

In English.