Critical Media Studies, 3rd Edition

Critical Media Studies, 3rd Edition

by Brian L. Ott, Robert L. Mack
Released February 2020
Publisher(s): Wiley-Blackwell
ISBN: 9781119406129

Read it now on the O’Reilly learning platform with a 10-day free trial.

O’Reilly members get unlimited access to books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.

Start your free trial

Book description

An engaging and accessible introduction to a broad range of critical approaches to contemporary mass media theory and research 

A decade after its first publication, Critical Media Studies continues toshape and define the field of media studies, offering innovative approaches that enable readers to explore the modern media landscape from a wide variety of perspectives. Integrating foundational theory and contemporary research, this groundbreaking text offers the most comprehensive set of analytical approaches currently available. Twelve critical perspectives—pragmatic, rhetorical, sociological, erotic, ecological, and others—enable readers to assess and evaluate the social and cultural consequences of contemporary media in their daily lives.

The new third edition includes up-to-date content that reflects the current developments and cutting-edge research in the field. New or expanded material includes changing perceptions of race and gender, the impact of fandom on the media, the legacy of the television age, the importance of media literacy in the face of “fake news”, and developments in industry regulations and U.S. copyright law. This textbook:

  • Presents clear, reader-friendly chapters organized by critical perspective
  • Features up-to-date media references that resonate with modern readers
  • Incorporates enhanced and updated pedagogical features throughout the text
  • Offers extensively revised content for greater clarity, currency, and relevance
  • Includes fully updated illustrations, examples, statistics, and further readings

Critical Media Studies, 3rd Edition is the ideal resource for undergraduate students in media studies, cultural studies, popular culture, communication, rhetoric, and sociology, graduate students new to critical perspectives on the media, and scholars in the field.

Table of contents

  1. Cover
  2. Preface
  3. About the Companion Website
  4. 1 Introducing Critical Media Studies
    1. How We Know What We Know
    2. Categorizing Mass Media
    3. Living in Postmodernity
    4. Why Study the Media?
    5. Doing Critical Media Studies
    6. Key Critical Perspectives
    7. SUGGESTED READING
  5. Part I: Media Industries: Marxist, Organizational, and Pragmatic Perspectives
    1. 2 Marxist Analysis
      1. Marxist Theory: An Overview
      2. Patterns of Media Ownership
      3. Strategies of Profit Maximization
      4. Advertising
      5. Consequences of Ownership Patterns and Profit Maximization
      6. Conclusion
      7. SUGGESTED READING
    2. 3 Organizational Analysis
      1. Organizational Theory: An Overview
      2. The News Media: An In‐Depth Case Study
      3. Conclusion
      4. SUGGESTED READING
    3. 4 Pragmatic Analysis
      1. Pragmatism: An Overview
      2. A Pragmatic Approach to the Government Regulation of Media
      3. Issues in the Regulation of American Media
      4. Violence in the Media: A Closer Look at Pragmatic Regulation
      5. Conclusion
      6. SUGGESTED READING
  6. Part II: Media Messages: Rhetorical, Cultural, Psychoanalytic, Feminist, and Queer Perspectives
    1. 5 Rhetorical Analysis
      1. Rhetoric: An Overview
      2. Theories of the Sign
      3. Texts and Rhetorical Structures
      4. The Material Turn: Affect and Aesthetics
      5. Conclusion
      6. SUGGESTED READING
    2. 6 Cultural Analysis
      1. Cultural Theory: An Overview
      2. The Functions of Ideology
      3. Ideological Processes: Myth, Doxa, and Hegemony
      4. Cultural Studies: History, Theory, and Methodology
      5. Ideology and Media Representations of Class
      6. Media, Ideology, and Representations of Race and Ethnicity
      7. Conclusion
      8. SUGGESTED READING
    3. 7 Psychoanalytic Analysis
      1. Psychoanalytic Theory: An Overview
      2. Freudian Development
      3. Lacanian Development
      4. Psychoanalytic Studies of Media
      5. Contemporary Scholarship in Psychoanalytic Analysis
      6. Conclusion
      7. SUGGESTED READING
    4. 8 Feminist Analysis
      1. Feminism: An Overview
      2. Stereotyping in American Media
      3. Gendered Stereotypes in American Media
      4. Postfeminism and Media Representation
      5. Consequences of Sexist Media Representation
      6. Conclusion
      7. SUGGESTED READING
    5. 9 Queer Analysis
      1. Queer Theory: An Overview
      2. Queerness and Visibility I: Sexual Stereotypes in American Media
      3. Queerness and Visibility II: Problems with “Positive” Representation
      4. Consequences of Heteronormative Media Representations
      5. Queerness and Invisibility: Camp and the Fourth Persona
      6. The Fourth Persona
      7. Conclusion
      8. SUGGESTED READING
  7. Part III: Media Audiences: Reception, Sociological, Erotic, and Ecological Perspectives
    1. 10 Reception Analysis
      1. Reception Theory: An Overview
      2. Encoding/Decoding: Stuart Hall
      3. Polysemy: John Fiske, Celeste Condit, and Leah Ceccarelli
      4. Interpretive Communities: Stanley Fish
      5. Ethnographic Research and Memory
      6. Conclusion
      7. SUGGESTED READING
    2. 11 Sociological Analysis
      1. Sociological Theory: An Overview
      2. Dramaturgy
      3. Frame Analysis
      4. Equipment for Living
      5. Conclusion
      6. SUGGESTED READING
    3. 12 Erotic Analysis
      1. Theories of Pleasure: An Overview
      2. Transgressive Texts
      3. Transgressive Practices
      4. Reflections on Transgression
      5. Conclusion
      6. SUGGESTED READING
    4. 13 Ecological Analysis
      1. Medium Theory: An Overview
      2. Charting the Third Wave
      3. Conclusion
      4. SUGGESTED READING
    5. 14 Conclusion
      1. Critical Media Studies: An Overview
      2. Applied Media Studies
      3. SUGGESTED READING
  8. Appendix: Sample Student EssaysAppendix
    1. Marxist Analysis
    2. Rhetorical Analysis
    3. Cultural Analysis
    4. Psychoanalytic Analysis
    5. Feminist Analysis
    6. Queer Analysis
    7. Sociological Analysis
    8. Erotic Analysis
    9. Ecological Analysis
  9. Glossary
  10. Index
  11. End User License Agreement

Product information

  • Title: Critical Media Studies, 3rd Edition
  • Author(s): Brian L. Ott, Robert L. Mack
  • Release date: February 2020
  • Publisher(s): Wiley-Blackwell
  • ISBN: 9781119406129