Videogames and Agency explores the trend in videogames and their marketing to offer a player higher volumes, or even more distinct kinds, of player freedom. The book offers a new conceptual framework that helps us understand how this freedom to act is discussed by designers, and how that in turn reflects in their design principles. What can we learn from existing theories around agency? How do paratextual materials reflect design intention with regards to what the player can and cannot do in a videogame? How does game design shape the possibility space for player action? Through these questions and selected case studies that include AAA and independent games alike, the book presents a unique approach to studying agency that combines game design, game studies, and game developer discourse. By doing so, the book examines what discourses around player action, as well as a game's design can reveal about the nature of agency and videogame aesthetics. This book will appeal to readers specifically interested in videogames, such as game studies scholars or game designers, but also to media studies students and media and screen studies scholars less familiar with digital games.

First published in 1990, this title presents a rich account of how television intersects with family life in American and other world cultures. From an analysis of the political and cultural significance of China's most important television series to detailed descriptions of how families in the United States interpret and use television at home, James Lull's ethnographic work marks an important stage in the study of the role of the mass media in contemporary culture. This title will be of interest not only to those in media and communications, but also to those in the broader fields of cultural anthropology and sociology.

This book is an essential read for anyone interested in Public Relations in Asia. Whether you are working in PR, studying PR, a journalist dealing with PR, or just interested in this fascinating and fast growing market, Public Relations in Asia offers readers a vital insight into how PR works.
Combining the latest in Public Relations theory with clear and practical guidance on how to plan and structure a PR campaign, as well as invaluable top tips on the skills needed to create successful PR campaigns, Public Relations in Asia is also full of fascinating and relevant case histories from around Asia and the rest of the world.

Intended as a textbook for graduate (and some undergraduate) students in audiovisual and technology management classes, this book covers all aspects of the media manager's role, from supervision and budgeting to public relations and evaluation. Its pragmatic approach deals with such tasks as acquisitions, circulation, collection development and maintenance, facility design, managing legal issues, and dealing with technological change. The book also makes an excellent reference book for media managers in educational, corporate, government, and nonprofit agencies. Based on the more than 40 years of media management experiences of the present and previous authors, this new edition has been substantially revised to reflect the phenomenal technological changes in the field over the past 10 years.

"Modern Communications LaW" provides the most comprehensive and contemporary coverage of communications law available, a subject characterized by rapidly expanding and changing horizons. The book is thorough, informative, and accessible. It is divided into three main sections that respectively consider the media's nature and context, structural governance of the communications industry, and content issues. Lively provides an in-depth study of telephone communications--an area which affects virtually the entire citizenry--as well as print, broadcasting, cable, and other new media.

The book contains several structural innovations calculated to enhance the teaching and learning process. The selection and editing of cases and other primary materials reflect the author's experience with topics that facilitate animated discussion. Additionally, the text is extensively annotated with pinpoint citations which heighten the book's utility for research and reference purposes. A particularly notable feature is the introduction of case summaries preceding all major court opinions. The synopses are intended to familiarize readers with the basic arguments, issues and reasoning so that they derive more meaning from the cases themselves than ever before. The book is well-suited for law school courses and is appropriate for communications law courses in the graduate and undergraduate curricula. Legal practitioners, media industry professionals and government regulators and policy-makers will find "Modern Communications LaW" an essential resource.

The book has high potential for course adoption globally in the areas of creative arts marketing, arts management, creative industries, and marketing; Fully updated to include international case studies from throughout the world, including emerging markets, as well as tools for practical application; Offers an alternative or complimentary approach to the existing textbooks which have a more mainstream marketing management perspective; Includes contributions from leading academics in the field of arts marketing

This book analyses the relationship between commercial and elite culture in Britain in the early twentieth century. The development of popular national daily newspapers, the cinema, the radio, the gramophone, and other forms of mass entertainment threatened to upset traditional patterns of British culture. Writers, artists, musicians, critics, and their sympathizers responded in a variety of ways. Some engaged in detailed polemics against the mass media; others, such as those associated with the BBC, embraced new technology and sought to uplift tastes. These groups struggled against a culture that measured success by popularity rather than aesthetic merit. With the significant extension of the franchise in 1918 and 1928, Britain finally enjoyed full parliamentary democracy. What culture was appropriate for that democracy became an issue which pitted the forces of the market place against the influence of an articulate minority.

This volume covers many aspects of multimedia and communications security, from national security policies to file server architectures, from hypertext documents to specialized cryptographic algorithms. It provides the interested reader with a spectrum of up-to-the-minute knowledge on the topics covered.

This introduction to the next generation of human telecommunications enterprise examines the development of laser satellite communications and describes its advantages over previous technologies. It looks at the development of the technology and the industry through wired and wireless media and presents the vision, promise, and challenges of free-space lasers. The book balances its focused consideration of the telecommunications industry and markets with practical thoughts on creating a business involved in the introduction of commercial laser satellite communications systems. Scholars, investors, venture capitalists, policy makers, and corporate leaders will find this to be a comprehensive and eye-opening bridge between the existing telecommunications industry and the opportunities of the next generation.

The opening chapters introduce the concepts of Migration, Specialization, and Interconnectivity as solutions inherent in third generation laser-satellite communications. The high capacity of the optical spectrum invites migration of applications beyond the narrow RF spectra to the high frequencies of free-space laser beams. Migration stimulates specialization of voice and duplex at the lower, optimal RF spectra. The third generation--laser-wired space--focuses around global satellite interconnectivity between fiber optics and RF. The final chapters introduce a model business concept to pioneer the third generation. Several approaches to capitalization, organization, technology development, and business strategies provide an exciting stimulus for pragmatic approaches to commercial concepts.

Presenting a comprehensive survey of the telecommunications industry in Japan, Taplin and Wakui cover the different sectors of the industry - including mobile, broadband and satellite, whilst considering key questions such as the structure and economics of the industry, government policy, and international relations issues connected to the industry. The volume brings together unique analysis by renowned experts in the telecommunications field. One major overall problem is that, unlike many other industries, Japan has lagged behind other countries in telecommunications. Japanese Telecommunications considers why this should be so, showing how far this is attributable to an unmodernized industry structure, and assessing the measures being taken to address the problem. After over a decade of struggle, Japan has recorded rapid uptake of broadband, and Japanese advanced mobile services have become increasingly successful on a global scale. Japan has also undergone regulatory reform, and competition policy is now given top priority by government. Taplin and Wakui examine the most recent developments and provide signposts for the future.

Kazan tests several hypotheses on development communications derived from the ideas of Marx, Toynbee, Lerner, McLuhan, Frey, and Schiller, through three years of research he conducted in Saudi Arabia, Oman, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and Qatar. He focuses on whether media content, rather than the process of media exposure (i.e., vicarious exposure to different experiences), is the decisive factor in cultivating modernity. Particularly, Kazan examines whether Gulf media, which convey socially and politically restricted "traditional" content in "traditional" societies, cultivate attitudinal "traditionality" or "modernity." Investigated are the differences in the impact of local, regional, and foreign media, and various media organs--including newspapers, magazines, radio, television, video, and electronic media. Kazan also tests the notion of cultural imperialism, such as the degrees of credibility that respondents lend to Western media, their interest in and satisfaction with Western and regional media, and the amount of time respondents allocate to Western and local media. Specific media studied include the Voice of America, Radio Moscow, Monte Carlo Radio, the BBC, Voice of the Arabs, Voice of the Arab Homeland, Radio of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and the local broadcasting services of each Gulf country. Dr. Kazan presents both a review and a critique of classical and mainstream theories of modernization in general, and those of development communication in particular, to determine the degrees of validity, relevance, and applicability of these theories to the development situation of Gulf societies. Furthermore, Kazan develops an integrated mass media effects modelthat factors in both macro and micro processes that are dynamically interconnected, interdependent, and continuously evolving and changing, to account for the impact of media on modernity and development. Media impact, according to this model, should be understood, not only in terms of the socio-economic and psychological characteristics of the media audience, but also in terms of the dynamics of the whole socio-cultural and political system. Kazan concludes his study with a critique of the Western paradigm of development and presents the outline of a new paradigm of development that is more in harmony with the new physics, with the ecosystems, and with social justice.

The 'Indian Techie' has become a global icon, taking its place alongside McDonalds and MTV as one of the key symbols of contemporary globalization. India and the IT Revolution explores the contemporary emergence of cosmopolitan, high-tech India as marking the arrival of a truly global cyberculture. It argues against the notion that globalization is a process of 'Westernization', which radiates out unilaterally from the core, imposing itself upon a passive, backward periphery. Instead, it conceives of global culture as a dynamic, innovative network, which proceeds primarily from its edges.

Many scholars call the Persian Gulf conflict the first "prime-time war." Certainly, the technologies, strategies, and skills of the military in managing the public agenda were equal to those of the television networks and major print organizations. The Media and the Persian Gulf War focuses on the processes and effects of the media, both leading up to and during the "mother of all battles" in 1990 and 1991. Broad in scope and varied in methodologies, the chapters span the media of television, radio, print, and film. Chapters discuss such specific topics as the relationship between the press and the censoring military, CNN's and C-SPAN's coverage, how talk radio and television covered the war, the media's depiction of women in the military, the Gulf War as a referent in advertising, and how popular culture legitimized the war. This work will be an important resource for scholars in political and mass communication, popular culture, and political science.

Creativity is said to be the fuel of the contemporary economy. Dynamic industries such as film, music, television and design have changed the fortunes of entire cities, from Nashville to Los Angeles, Barcelona to Brisbane and beyond. Yet creativity remains mercurial - it is at the heart of industrial innovation and can attract investment, but it is also an intangible, personal quality and experience. What exactly constitutes creativity? Drawing on examples as diverse as postcard design, classical music, landscape art, tattooing, Aboriginal hip-hop, and rock sculpture, this book seeks to explore and redefine creativity as both economic and cultural phenomenon. Creativity also has a peculiar geography. Beyond Hollywood, creativity is evident in suburban, rural and remote places - a quotidian, vernacular, eclectic enterprise. In seeking to redefine the creative industries, this book brings together geographers, historians, sociologists, cultural studies scholars and media/communications experts to explore creativity in diverse places outside major cities. These are places that are physically and/or metaphorically remote, are small in population terms, or which because of old industrial legacies are assumed by others to be unsophisticated or marginal in an imaginary geography of creativity. This book reveals the richness and depth, the challenges and surprises of being creative beyond city limits. This book was originally published as a special issue of Australian Geographer.

This book provides a unique view of the evolution of these industries, drawing out how technology and economic forces have worked together to create platforms around which different companies interact. Through identifying the key aspects of this evolution over the past decades, the author is able to put forward a unique view of the emerging industrial structure of the communications industries ? the formation of an Information-Driven Global Commodity Chain, one that holds both incredible promise and challenges for our world.

Taking a multisector and multimarket approach, this text provides an in-depth analysis of the major economic developments of the book publishing, broadcasting, film, music, newspaper and video game industries. The contributors offer a detailed overview of the industries and their dynamics within global telecommunications, media and IT, combining vertical views and a synthetic horizontal approach to marshal facts and document their economic relevance.

Netflix's Speculative Fictions: Financializing Platform Television argues that Netflix's scaled expansion has hinged upon its ability not only to create, but more importantly to communicate, new forms and flows of potential value in platform capitalism, wherein capital is mobilized not only from direct revenue streams but also the new value assigned to inputs and investments of data, debt, attention, behavior, taste, time, sociality, and speculation. To interpret and critique these new communications and projections of value, Colin Jon Mark Crawford performs a discursive analysis of the platform television industry leader Netflix and its 'investor lore': the multi-sited narrative of value found in the company's investor relations materials and corporate communications, such as letters to shareholders, financial earnings reports, executive interviews, press releases, and blog posts. Netflix best represents the increasingly ubiquitous nexus of culture, tech, and finance industries that is platform television. To better understand the emergent financial logics of this relatively new media industry, we must first understand the speculative narratives and discourses of value which organize it. Scholars of media studies, television studies, technology studies, and economics will find this book particularly useful.

The Routledge Companion to Media and Human Rights offers a comprehensive and contemporary survey of the key themes, approaches and debates in the field of media and human rights. The Companion is the first collection to bring together two distinct ways of thinking about human rights and media, including scholarship that examines media as a human right alongside that which looks at media coverage of human rights issues. This international collection of 49 newly written pieces thus provides a unique overview of current research in the field, while also providing historical context to help students and scholars appreciate how such developments depart from past practices. The volume examines the universal principals of freedom of expression, legal instruments, the right to know, media as a human right, and the role of media organisations and journalistic work. It is organised thematically in five parts: Communication, Expression and Human Rights Media Performance and Human Rights: Political Processes Media Performance and Human Rights: News and Journalism Digital Activism, Witnessing and Human Rights Media Representation of Human Rights: Cultural, Social and Political. Individual essays cover an array of topics, including mass-surveillance, LGBT advocacy, press law, freedom of information and children's rights in the digital age. With contributions from both leading scholars and emerging scholars, the Companion offers an interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary approach to media and human rights allowing for international comparisons and varying perspectives. The Routledge Companion to Media and Human Rights provides a comprehensive introduction to the current field useful for both students and researchers, and defines the agenda for future research.

The only book on contemporary issues which covers the arts and entertainment sectors, from social networking and Twitter, to reality TV and digital rights management.

This book addresses the persistence of the optical media piracy trade in the Philippines and Vietnam. It goes beyond arguments of defective law enforcement and copyright legal systems by applying sociological perspectives to examine the socio-economic forces behind the advent of piracy in the region. Using documentary and ethnographic data, in addition to resistance and ecological theories in sociology of law and technology as the overall theoretical framework, the book investigates factors that contribute to this phenomenon and factors that impede the full formalization of the optical media trade in the two countries. These factors include the government's attitude towards the informal sector and strong resistance to tougher IPR protection, unstable and sometimes conflicting policies on technologies, burdensome business registration process and weak enforcement of business regulations, bureaucratic corruption and loopholes in law enforcement system as well as trade ties with China. In addition to that, the book highlights the social background of the actors behind the illegal business of counterfeit CDs and DVDs, thereby explaining the reasons they continue to persist in this type of trade. It invites policymakers, law enforcers, advocates of anti-piracy groups, and the general public to use a more holistic lens in understanding the persistence of copyright piracy in developing countries, shifting the blame from the moral defect of the traders to the current problematic copyright policy and enforcement structure, and the difficulty of crafting effective anti-piracy measures in a constantly evolving and advancing technological environment.

The keyguide is divided into three parts: Part One is an overview of the literature, covering the mass media in general, telecommunications, broadcasting in all its forms, cinema and video, the press, advertising, publishing and ethical issues, such as government policy and influence, legislation, codes of practice, censorship and reportage issues; Part Two is an annotated bibliography; and Part Three is an international directory of organizations. A detailed index completes the work.