Media and Society: A Critical Perspective

by Arthur Asa Berger

Overview

Media and Society: A Critical Perspective offers an accessible introduction to the role that the mass media play in our lives, our society, and American culture. Berger explores the relationship between consumers and media with an emphasis on the shaping influence that both have on each other. This lively text, illustrated with original sketches by the author, equips students with the tools necessary to analyze the media that permeates their lives. The third edition features a discussion of the impact of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media on youth culture, an expanded discussion of media ethics, including the Murdoch phone-tapping scandal, an analysis of how media has affected our political landscape, and updated examples and material on media theories and ideology.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442217805
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/09/2012
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	248
Sales rank:	920,585
Product dimensions:	5.80(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Arthur Asa Berger is professor emeritus of broadcast and electronic communication arts at San Francisco State University.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments
Introduction: You and the Media: A Consideration
Chapter 1: Media in Our Thoughts and Lives
Chapter 2: Media Usage in The United States
Chapter 3: Semiotics and Media Aesthetics
Chapter 4: Media and Textual Analysis
Chapter 5: Audiences I: Categories
Chapter 6: Audiences II: Effects
Chapter 7: The Mass Culture/Mass Society Hypothesis
Chapter 8: The Social Impact of New Media Technologies
Chapter 9: The Problem of Media Violence
Chapter 10: Media and Politics
Chapter 11: Media Artists
Glossary
Bibliography
Index

Editorial Reviews

Berger has done it yet again — a real hit! He is a scholar with a unique ability to popularize the study of media, and Media & Society is a powerful introductory textbook targeted to stimulate and inform undergraduates, combining theory with practice, along with questions and data to stimulate thought and discussion. The book is all-inclusive – all the theories are there: narratives, textual analysis, theories of art, uses and gratifications, audiences, and more. And the key theorists are also there: Propp, Eco, Sausure, Lotman, along with many others.

A. Michael Noll

I find Media and Society by Arthur Asa Berger to be a very effective text for undergraduates. It gives a taste of both theoretical and real-world applications of the media. The diversity [of applications discussed] is helpful in engaging students, and it seems to be a uniquely well-balanced text

Paul R. Kohl

Whether you are a casual observer or serious student of our media-drenched American culture, Arthur Asa Berger's newly revised and updated Media and Society comes highly recommended. Professor Berger's clear, comprehensible writing and discussion makes difficult media theories and techniques of cultural analysis accessible, relatable, and exciting. After much trial and error with other textbooks, I've used this work—and several of Dr. Berger's more than three dozen works—with great success in the classroom. There are few introductory texts that consistently provide students with those elusive 'ah-ha!' moments. With Berger's book, I see it happen time and time again. I simply cannot recommend it to you more highly.

Bob Pondillo

Media and Society provides me with an interesting, provocative, entertaining, and easily understood tool to introduce my students to the intricacies of media influences on American culture. The text's organization around several salient focal points simplifies what other comprehensive mass media texts obscure with voluminous information. Berger's text prompts my students to engage in thoughtful discussion and allows me to creatively supplement the material with relevant, timely examples. This is one textbook my students actually read and enjoy . . . a rare 'find' in over ten years of teaching media courses.

Cheri Ellis Campbell Ph.D

Berger's text surveys the relevant media studies literatures from a critical studies perspective covering eleven chapters that span narrative analysis to media violence, mass culture, and pornography. . . . His strength appears in his ability to winnow down even the most complex theoretical traditions into a sound bite that students can appreciate and understand.

Journalism And Mass Communication Educator