Introduction to Mass Communication: Media Literacy and Culture, 4/e
Stanley J. Baran,
Bryant College
ISBN: 0072981237 Copyright year: 2006
Feature Summary
Pedagogy includes an online study guide, chapter reviews, critical thinking questions at the end of each chapter, print and website references, chapter objectives, key terms presented in boldface throughout the text, pictorial timelines introducing each chapter, and a glossary.
Cable is discussed at length in its own chapter, in recognition of its new (and potentially greater) role in the delivery of all media to consumers' homes.
The discussion of mass communication theories and of the effects of mass media are combined into one chapter, highlighting the relationship between how we think and what we think about media's impact.
"Living Media Literacy" boxes (brief chapter-ending essays) suggest ways in which students can put what they have learned into practice.
Emphasis on developing media literacy. Chapter 1 details the elements of media literacy, and this emphasis is woven throughout the text. Each chapter from Chapter 2 to 15 contains a section, specific to that chapter’s medium or issue, on developing media literacy skills.
Cultural perspective. The text argues that the media are "central to the creation and maintenance of our various cultures,” and that, by taking a more active role in the mass communication process, media audiences can help to shape the cultures that, in turn, shape them.
A chapter on global media. This final chapter discusses Marshall McLuhan’s and William Gibson’s ideas about the "global village" and media as extensions of our senses. It examines our changing media and the economic, political, and cultural environments that have arisen due to the changes in global communication technology.
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2006 McGraw-Hill Higher Education