Bücher der Reihe Media Culture & Society Series

The articles in this reader are grouped in three parts, representing a selection of the best work published in the journal. Each part is preceded by an introductory essay which helps students understand the issues presented, and places the theoretical contributions in context.

In this comprehensive guide to important developments in the study of media reception, Shaun Moores reviews a wide range of qualitative audience research and charts the emergence of a critical ethnographic perspective on everyday consumer practices.

Peter Dahlgren clarifies the underlying theoretical concepts of civil society and the public sphere, and relates these to a critical analysis of the practice of television as journalism, as information and as entertainment. He demonstrates the limits and the possibilities of the television medium and the formats of popular journalism.

'In the staid world of journalism research, it is a delight to see an attempt to open that focus of inquiry to new interpretive frames.... this volume takes definitive steps toward achieving that aim' - Popular Communication

This text considers the relevance of talk and its analysis to understanding the communicative process in television and radio. It also examines how institutional authority and power are maintained, how the media construct audiences and how audiences make sense of programme output.

Sparks provides a challenging reassessment of the impact of the collapse of communism on the media systems of Eastern Europe. He analyzes both the changes themselves and their implications for the ways in which we think about the mass media.

A social history of communication technology from 1790 to 1995 and a critical analysis of the social shaping and impact of the communication technologies. The text explores the interaction of technology and social context processes such as the move from public to private forms of communication.

Examines the transformations in our experience of time and space which are brought about by the capacity of broadcasting to bring us the world in the moment in which it is unfolding, situating the live television event in the context of an expanding and increasingly complex global communicative framework.

Examines the nature of the relationship between culture and power in everyday life, in the media audience and in the cultural construction of identity.

Explores the many roles of media within the fundamental political, economic and cultural changes taking place during the turbulence of 1980-85 in Eastern Europe. Power, the state, societal change and the economy are just some of the topics examined.

Explores ways in which crises highlight the problematic issues of media performance in democratic states. The book examines the relationship between communication and civil society through cases of media responses to "crises", ranging from the Gulf War of 1991 to recent events in Eastern Europe.