Product Description

Praise for the first edition

"This is...a well-organized, well-informed, student-friendly textbook, ideal for first-year undergraduates as a kicking-off point into the field of media and communications research. It deserves to be widely taken up."

-European Journal of Communication

Understanding the Media introduces key theoretical issues in media analysis and encourages students to use case studies to examine their own personal media use and exposure. Author Eoin Devereux applies a model of media analysis that gives equal weight to the production, content, and reception of media texts.

A particular emphasis is placed on understanding the mass media in a social context, and readers are invited to engage with a variety of questions about the increasingly complex mediascape in which we live our everyday lives. Devereux uses examples from both 'old' and 'new' media, and draws upon illustrative materials from diverse geographical territories. He provides an accessible and valuable resource for undergraduate media students, which will also enable them to develop a critical interest in the study and analysis of the mass media.

New to the Second Edition

* Includes an additional chapter which draws together the book’s key themes

* Contains new and revised case studies with expanded discussions on media audiences and fandom and ‘blogging’

* New and revised extracted readings in every chapter

* In addition, the book is now accompanied by an ancillary website focused on a "Quick-Questions" for the student reader as well as slides for tutorials/lectures

Each chapter contains concise summaries, exercises, extracts from experts in the field, model exam and essay questions, as well as directions for further reading and research. This practical dimension to Understanding the Media will ensure that the book appeals to both teachers and students of the media in the 21st Century.