Communication

This is a story that Jack Valenti has long tried to keep secret. Freedom and Entertainment is the first book to offer a behind-the-scenes account of the motion picture rating system and the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) under Valenti's leadership. The book is based on the private papers and oral history of Richard D. Heffner, who headed the Classification and Rating Administration for two decades, from 1974 to 1994, and who was once called 'the least-known most powerful person in Hollywood.' ...

What will prove to be the lasting impact of New Media on film and television? What kinds of transformations of moving image media are really already under way? The term 'new media' has become an effective catch word both as a description of the digital delivery of media via the Internet, DVD, and digital television and as a reference to the "newness" such technologies have brought to media more generally. And yet the nature of this transformation has been over-hyped and too little understood. The New Media Book provides an accessible, critical intervention into the field of moving image studies and features 20 newly commissioned and thought-provoking essays in a format designed to be of wide use to a range of courses in digital media, film and television studies. ...

What are the current problems, pressures and opportunities facing journalists in advanced democratic societies? Has there been a 'dumbing down' of the news agenda? How can serious political, economic and social news be made interesting to young people? This book explores the current challenges faced by those working in the news media, focusing especially on the responsibilities of journalism in the advanced democracies. ...

This second edition of The Handbook of Journalism Studies explores the current state of research in journalism studies and sets an agenda for future development of the field in an international context. The volume is structured around theoretical and empirical approaches to journalism research and covers scholarship on news production; news content; journalism and society; journalism and culture; and journalism studies in a global context. ...

This book is about how journalism can contribute to the recovery of democracy from the crisis exemplified by the Trump presidency, the Brexit referendum and the rise of populism across the Western world. It explores the ethical concepts that provide the foundation for journalism in modern democracies: pluralism, liberalism, tolerance, truth, free speech, and impartiality. ...

American democracy is built on its institutions. The Congress, the presidency, and the judiciary, in particular, undergird the rights and responsibilities of every citizen. The free press, for example, protected by the First Amendment, allows for the dissent so necessary in a democracy. How has this institution changed since the nation's founding? And what can we, as leaders, policymakers, and citizens, do to keep it vital? ...

From Media, Culture & Society March 2008, v. 30, no.2, p151-166.

Radio Cultures examines the manifold ways in which radio has influenced the nation's social and cultural environment since its inception nearly a century ago. Written by leading scholars in the field, chapters address a wide range of topics, including how this powerful medium has impacted and affected non-mainstream segments of the population throughout its history and how these repressed and neglected groups have employed radio to counter and overcome discrimination and bias. The use of the audio medium for political, economic, and religious purposes is comprehensively probed and analyzed in this insightful and innovative volume.

While cultural historians and media scholars have been looking at television for decades, they have only recently turned their eyes (and ears) to radio. Studies of television rarely acknowledge that many of its forms-soap operas, situation comedies, quiz shows, sportscasts, etc.-all evolved out of the earlier medium. The essays collected here demonstrate that radio set patterns that have effected all forms of media that have followed it, and also look at how it has survived the coming of media that supposedly made it obsolete.

The Radio Station offers a concise and insightful guide to all aspects of radio broadcasting, streaming, and podcasting. The tenth edition continues its long tradition of guiding readers to a solid understanding of who does what, when, and why in a professionally managed station. This new edition explains what "radio" in America has been, where it is today, and where it is going, covering the basics of how programming is produced, financed, delivered and promoted via terrestrial and satellite broadcasting, streaming and podcasting. ...

From Time Magazine, September 14, 2009.

Tele-Visions: An Introduction to Studying Television Studies has been specifically designed to offer a comprehensive, authoritative, accessible and lively introduction to the subject of television studies. Written by many of the leading international figures in the field, it covers all the major issues, debates, key terms, histories and methodologies that go to make up this exciting new area of expertise. ...

Funny Or Die is a comedy video website that combines user-generated content with original, exclusive content. The site is a place where celebrities, established and up-and-coming comedians and regular users can all put up stuff they think is funny. At the same time, the site hopes to eliminate all the junk that people have to pick through to find videos. That means around here you get to vote on what videos are funny and what videos deserve to die.

From New Scientist 3/15/2008, Vol. 197 Issue 2647, p36-39.