Media Studies: A Reader

Media Studies: A Reader introduces a full range of theoretical perspectives through which the media may be explored, analysed, critiqued and understood. The Reader includes essential statements from writers such as Raymond Williams, Stuart Hall, Marshall McLuhan, Jurgen Habermas, Jean Baudrillard and Michel Foucault, whose work was central to forming the field. It also includes wide ranging work on current media formations from key contemporary theorists, including Annabelle Sreberny, Paul Gilroy, Charlotte Brunsdon, Angela McRobbie, Michael Bull, Nick Couldry, Asu Askoy and Kevin Robins. Finally, the Reader looks to the future, exploring new media formations and their significance through the work of Mark Andrejevic, Lev Manovich, Jonathan Sterne and others.

The sixty-seven readings are divided into two main parts. `Studying the Media' begins with a section on key theoretical perspectives and follows this with five sections opening up questions around the Public Sphere, Representation, Feminism and Gender, Audiences, and Everyday Life. The second part, `Case Studies', brings together concrete examples of how theoretical approaches can be realised through a series of case studies, covering, for instance, reality TV, news, advertising and new media.

With easy-to-follow introductions and guides to further reading accompanying each section, Media Studies: A Reader equips the student to engage with key debates in the field.

Sue Thornham is Professor of Media and Film at the University of Sussex.
Caroline Bassett is Reader in Media and Film and Director of the Centre for Material Digital Culture, University of Sussex.
Paul Marris is Programme Leader for Art, Design & Media, Cambridge School of Art, Anglia Ruskin University.