Political Problems and Personalities in Contemporary Maryland provides a comprehensive rhetorical analysis of contemporary politics and political communication in Maryland at both the state and local levels. Theodore F. Sheckels and Carl Hyden approach rhetoric in a broader sense, arguing that actions by political players - including decisions on housing policy, urban redevelopment policy, and transportation policy-are not in a separate category from their messages. In many cases, they argue, actions are messages, often with important material consequences. Rather than focusing solely on previous or upcoming elections, as political communication has traditionally been examined, Sheckels and Hyden give considerable space to non-election topics, responding to current shifts in political communication scholarship and encouraging others to examine political communication at the local and state levels elsewhere in the United States. Scholars of communication, political science, rhetoric, and history will find this book of particular interest.

This incisive Handbook critically examines the role and place of media and communication in development and social change, reflecting a vision for change anchored in values of social justice. Expert contributors discuss and evaluate the roles and outcomes of media and communication for social mobilization, media mobilization, community mobilization, advocacy, participation, empowerment, capacity-building, resistance, networking, and action for progressive social change. Chapters explore communicative actions involved in social, economic, political, and cultural integration and the transformation of individuals, communities, places, and societies in the processes of development and social change. Outlining the genealogy and history of the field, the Handbook investigates the possible new directions and objectives in the area. Key conclusions include an enhanced role for development communication in participatory development, active agency of stakeholders of development programs, and the operationalization of social justice in development. Comprehensive yet accessible, this Handbook will be a key resource for students and scholars of media and communication, political science, development studies, social work, critical education, community organization, and anthropology. It will also be of value to professionals working in associations and organizations dealing with development and social change.

This unique book presents original concepts to characterize the current crisis of democracy. Offering a comparative study of original electoral data and analysis of contemporary trends, models and theoretical frameworks, Luigi Di Gregorio argues that democracy is affected by 'demopathy'; it is sick and is in need of therapy. Luigi Di Gregorio explores how democratic malaise derives from the transition to postmodernity and the rise of individualization: the loss of social meaning, the end of meta-narratives, the crisis of knowledge and cognitive authorities, narcissism and new perceptions of time and space. The author argues that mass media and technological innovations are the main drivers of this change and have heightened the logic of the consumer society. The resulting psychological democracy is that of a permanent 'pollcracy', whose leaders are simply pursuers of public opinion. The book concludes that democracy must be defended by building a positive narrative to counterbalance the effects of these trends. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, this book will be critical reading for scholars and students of political science, political sociology, political theory and political communication and marketing. Its broad perspective paints a big picture that will also be beneficial for political consultants and policy analysts.

Since the advent of the internet, online communities have emerged as a way for users to share their common interests and connect with others with ease. As the possibilities of the online world grew and the COVID-19 pandemic raged across the world, many organizations recognized the utility in not only providing further services online, but also in transitioning operations typically fulfilled in-person to an online space. As society approaches a reality in which most community practices have moved to online spaces, it is essential that community leaders remain knowledgeable on the best practices in cultivating engagement. Community Engagement in the Online Space evaluates key issues and practices pertaining to community engagement in remote settings. It analyzes various community engagement efforts within remote education, online groups, and remote work. This book further reviews the best practices for community engagement and considerations for the optimization of these practices for effective virtual delivery to support emergency environmental challenges, such as pandemic conditions. Covering topics such as community belonging, global health virtual practicum, and social media engagement, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for program directors, faculty and administrators of both K-12 and higher education, students of higher education, business leaders and executives, IT professionals, online community moderators, librarians, researchers, and academicians.

Public involvement has the power to promote an active circulation of media content and can generate economic and cultural value for organizations. The current perspectives on interactions between audiences, organizations, and content production suggests a relational logic between audiences and media through new productivity proposals. In this sense, it is interesting to observe the reasoning of audience experience through the concepts of interactivity and participation. However, there is a gap between the intentions of communication professionals and their organizations and the effective circulation and content retention among the audiences of interest, as well as the distinction between informing and communicating. Navigating Digital Communication and Challenges for Organizations discusses communication research with a focus on organizational communication that includes a range of methods, strategies, and viewpoints on digital communication. Covering a range of topics such as internal communication and public relations, this reference work is ideal for researchers, academicians, policymakers, business owners, practitioners, instructors, and students.

In a globalized world full of noise, brands are constantly launching messages through different channels. For the last two decades, brands, marketers, and creatives have faced the difficult task of reaching those individuals who do not want to watch or listen to what they are trying to tell them. By producing fewer ads or making them louder or more striking, more brands and communications professionals are not going to get those people to pay more attention to their messages; they will only want to avoid advertising in all media. Examining the Future of Advertising and Brands in the New Entertainment Landscape provides a theoretical, reflective, and empirical perspective on branded content and branded entertainment in relation to audience engagement. It reviews different cases about branded content to address the dramatic change that brands and conventional advertising are facing short term. Covering topics such as branded content measurement tools, digital entertainment culture, and government storytelling, this premier reference source is an excellent resource for marketers, advertising agencies, brand managers, business leaders and managers, communications professionals, government officials, non-profit organizations, students and educators of higher education, academic libraries, researchers, and academicians.

Synthesising diverse research avenues for politics, discourse, and political discourse, this cutting-edge Handbook examines the formative traditions, current theoretical and methodological landscape, and genres and domains over which political discourse extends. Drawing on rich and dynamic models in critical cognitive linguistics, pragmatics, metaphor analysis, context, and multimodality studies, leading scholars provide tools to analyse a broad range of traditional and modern genres of political communication. Taking a historical dive into formative traditions in political discourse, including rhetoric and social and poststructuralist theories, this Handbook revises these classical models of political communication against new empirical contexts, to offer the most fruitful, objective and universal methodologies to date. Examining propaganda, advertising, political speeches and election campaigns, this Handbook pays particular attention to newly arising genres and discourses which reflect the momentous changes in the public domain, fuelled by recent and developing events including the COVID-19 pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war. Drawing diverse insights from a wide array of disciplines, this Handbook will prove invaluable to students and scholars of political theory, sociology, philosophy, linguistics, discourse analysis and communication studies who are looking for innovative methodologies with which to analyse political discourse.

As we move into the 21st century, broader approaches in governments, industries, and universities are necessary. Governments are increasingly forced to collaborate with other governments to address problems beyond the control of individual nations. Industries increasingly find it difficult to survive without pursuing global markets. Also, universities are moving from departmental to interdisciplinary approaches to curriculums. These changes call for greater scope in goals, social structures, and methodologies. Technical communication is an example of a field deeply involved in all of these institutions and prompted toward greater scope in the engagement of problems. Rhetorical Scope and Performance examines the history of the narrowness of goals, social structures, and methodologies associated with the field of technical communication in the second half of the 20th century. Whitburn traces some of the roots of this narrowness back to a philosophical tradition stemming from Plato, Aristotle, the religious philosophers, and the apologists for science. As an alternative to the narrowness of the philosophical tradition, this work traces a rhetorical tradition stemming from Isocrates, Cicero, Quintilian, and the Renaissance that promotes greater scope in the engagement of problems. This alternative also provides a theoretical construct more appropriate for many of today's needs than the philosophical tradition. Using the history of technical communication as an example, this book shows how an Isocratean rhetoric can broaden and therefore improve our approaches to decision making in the 21st century.