Populism, misogyny, rampage murders. Digital media seem to lie at the heart of sinister, intractable social challenges. Curiously, the very societies who fear such things are often dismissive of media research. Addressing key issues affecting global media industries, this book explains how to solve the present conundrum by appreciating the historical development of cultivation theory. Digital Media Influence ties cultivation themes, such as mean world syndrome, mainstreaming, the celebration of white male violence, the ridiculing of ageing women, the inhibition of activism, the mediatisation of religion and the erosion of trust in education, with contemporary digital media case studies. Considering the aftermath of the Parkland murders, political memes, Islamophobia, the fate of female reality TV stars and the bad press directed at media education, Ruddock shows how these phenomena are born of media practices that cultivation theory began to dissect in the 1950s. Paying close attention to the life and work of George Gerbner, Digital Media Influence locates today's questions in the historical forces and relationships that moved media industries closer to the heart of global politics in the mid-20th century. It makes Gerbner's work relevant to all critical media researchers by providing a theoretical, methodological and historical steer for understanding new media influences. In explaining how one of the world's leading media theories developed in relation to intriguing historical circumstances - many of them deeply personal - this book helps researchers of all levels to find their voice in writing on media issues.
From Donald Trump's use of Twitter, to social media mourning, to cyber-bullying: the evidence of media influence today is all around us. As such, good media research is more important than ever, and crucially, is something all students can and should do. Exploring Media Research is an eye-opening exploration of what it means to understand and do media research today. Carefully balancing theory and practice, Andy Ruddock demystifies the process, showing you don't need huge amounts of time or money to do meaningful media analysis. The book: Introduces students to the scope and seriousness of media influence Shows them how to tie their own interests to academic concepts and research issues Explains how to use this understanding to develop proper research questions Translates key theoretical concepts into actual research methods students can use to explore the media texts, events, markets and professionals that interest them. Bringing theory to life throughout with a range of contemporary case studies, Exploring Media Research is a thoughtful and practical guide to gathering and analysing media data. It is essential reading for students of media, communication and cultural studies.
From Donald Trump's use of Twitter, to social media mourning, to cyber-bullying: the evidence of media influence today is all around us. As such, good media research is more important than ever, and crucially, is something all students can and should do. Exploring Media Research is an eye-opening exploration of what it means to understand and do media research today. Carefully balancing theory and practice, Andy Ruddock demystifies the process, showing you don't need huge amounts of time or money to do meaningful media analysis. The book: Introduces students to the scope and seriousness of media influence Shows them how to tie their own interests to academic concepts and research issues Explains how to use this understanding to develop proper research questions Translates key theoretical concepts into actual research methods students can use to explore the media texts, events, markets and professionals that interest them. Bringing theory to life throughout with a range of contemporary case studies, Exploring Media Research is a thoughtful and practical guide to gathering and analysing media data. It is essential reading for students of media, communication and cultural studies.
A fascinating student introduction to the popular subject of how the media influence young people. Covering all the key topics and full of international case studies, it will be adopted on courses on youth media and youth culture across media studies, cultural studies and sociology.
When societies worry about media effects, why do they focus so much on young people? Is advertising to blame for binge drinking? Do films and video games inspire school shootings? Tackling these kinds of questions, Youth and Media explains why young people are at the centre of how we understand the media. Exploring key issues in politics, technology, celebrity, advertising, gender and globalization, Andy Ruddock offers a fascinating introduction to how media define the identities and social imaginations of young people. The result is a systematic guide to how the notion of media influence 'works' when daily life compels young people to act out their relationships through media content and technologies. Complete with helpful chapter guides, summaries and lively case studies drawn from a truly global context, Youth and Media is an engaging and accessible introduction to how the media shape our lives. This book is ideal for students of media studies, communication studies and sociology.
The history of audience research tells us that the relationship between the media and viewers, readers and listeners is complex and requires multiple methods of analysis. In Understanding Audiences, Andy Ruddock introduces students to the range of quantitative and qualitative methods and invites his readers to consider the merits of both. ......
Picking up on some of the themes developed in his critically acclaimed book Understanding Audiences (SAGE, 2000), this new book on audience research focuses on qualitative methods and will draw upon students' own media experience. The book is divided into chapters that deal with audience research in terms of concepts and topics. Regarding concepts, Investigating Audiences is firmly grounded within interpretive approaches to studying viewers, readers and listeners. Further to this, the book looks at the different ways in which media influence can be accessed and the attendant methodological consequences. These issues are then applied to a survey of recent scholarship on a variety of topics such as violence, pornography, video gaming, and children and advertising. Investigating Audiences will be very useful for undergraduates in media studies/mass communications courses containing qualitative research components and dealing with cultural studies themes and approaches to audience studies.
Picking up on some of the themes developed in his critically acclaimed book Understanding Audiences (SAGE, 2000), this new book on audience research focuses on qualitative methods and will draw upon students' own media experience. The book is divided into chapters that deal with audience research in terms of concepts and topics. Regarding concepts, Investigating Audiences is firmly grounded within interpretive approaches to studying viewers, readers and listeners. Further to this, the book looks at the different ways in which media influence can be accessed and the attendant methodological consequences. These issues are then applied to a survey of recent scholarship on a variety of topics such as violence, pornography, video gaming, and children and advertising. Investigating Audiences will be very useful for undergraduates in media studies/mass communications courses containing qualitative research components and dealing with cultural studies themes and approaches to audience studies.
The history of audience research tells us that the relationship between the media and viewers, readers and listeners is complex and requires multiple methods of analysis. In Understanding Audiences, Andy Ruddock introduces students to the range of quantitative and qualitative methods and invites his readers to consider the merits of both. ......
