The way people encounter ideas of Hinduism online is often shaped by global discourses of religion, pervasive Orientalism and (post)colonial scholarship. This book addresses a gap in the scholarly debate around defining Hinduism by demonstrating the role of online discourses in generating and projecting images of Hindu religion and culture. This study surveys a wide range of propaganda, websites and social media in which definitions of Hinduism are debated. In particular, it focuses on the role of Hindu nationalism in the presentation and management of Hinduism in the electronic public sphere. Hindu nationalist parties and individuals are highly invested in discussions and presentations of Hinduism online, and actively shape discourses through a variety of strategies. Analysing Hindu nationalist propaganda, cyber activist movements and social media presence, as well as exploring methodological strategies that are useful to the field of religion and media in general, the book concludes by showing how these discourses function in the wider Hindu diaspora. Building on religion and media research by highlighting mechanical and hermeneutic issues of the Internet and how it affects how we encounter Hinduism online, this book will be of significant interest to scholars of religious studies, Hindu studies and digital media.

This collection examines Axel Honneth's theory of recognition and the crucial role played by the media in struggles for recognition. It brings together debates on controversial aspects of Honneth's work and a set of intriguing empirical studies including with slum-dwelling adolescents, leprosy patients and women exposed to child labor exploitation

The ^IDictionary of Media Literacy^R is a reference work that contains key concepts, terms, organizations, issues, and individuals of note related to the field of media literacy. Media literacy is an international movement, with many countries developing media literacy programs. This work significantly contributes to the study and understanding of this new and evolving field. In that we all live in a world in which we are inundated by information conveyed through the channels of mass commmunication, this dictionary will be a resource for scholars, students, and individuals seeking to understand information delivered in this context.

The history of translation has focused on literary work but this book demonstrates the way in which political control can influence and be influenced by translation choices. In this book, new research and specially commissioned essays give access to existing research projects which at present are either scattered or unavailable in English.

Since the turn of the millennium, European societies have been shaken by the re-emergence of religion as a contested factor in public life. Using approaches from sociology, media and religious studies, David Herbert compares recent public controversies involving or implicating religion in the UK (England and Northern Ireland), the Netherlands and France. Has there been a return of public religion? Is self-segregation the cause of community tensions and what is the role of the media in shaping public attitudes to religion? He argues that the declining importance of religion for the majority of European, s compared with its ongoing and adapting importance for some from minority and immigrant populations, calls for careful policy responses. Religion can and already has been exploited to produce social polarization, especially in the presence of negative and stereotyped media representations.

At the beginning of the 21st century, the US film industry had overtaken aeronautics and car industries to become one of the highest exporters of American products. Mark Wheeler's important new book provides both a political history of Hollywood and a reflection on the relationship between cinema and politics in America, from 1900 to the present day. Wheeler considers the interplay between the movies studios, state and national government and cultural policy and legislation, with case studies of the censorship that followed in the wake of the Hays Code 1930 and the investigations of the House Committee of Un-American Activities (HUAC) in the 1950s that led to the notorious blacklisting of alleged or known Communist sympathisers. His history of political constituencies within Hollywood ranges from the conservative right to the liberal and the communist left, from trades unionists to movie moguls. The book concludes with a look at the politics of show business, addressing links between Hollywood and political activism, films such as "The Candidate" and "Bulworth" that have themselves engaged with the political process, and considering the irony that despite the fact that Hollywood is perceived as a bastion of liberalism the two most famous actors-turned-politicians have been Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Placed within the context of reception studies, this book investigates how advertisements that rely on re-contextualising shared cultural knowledge are understood by their viewers, and examines their persuasive potential.

Comedy and humour have frequently played a key role in disabled people's lives, for better or for worse. Comedy has also played a crucial part in constructing cultural representations of disability and impairments, contributing to the formation and maintenance of cultural attitudes towards disabled people, and potentially shaping disabled people's images of themselves. As a complex and often polysemic form of communication, there is a need for greater understanding of the way we make meanings from comedy. This is the first book which explores the specific role of comedic film genres in representations of disability and impairment. Wilde argues that there is a need to explore different ways to synthesise Critical/Disability Studies with Film Studies approaches, and that a better understanding of genre conventions is necessary if we are to understand the conditions of possibility for new representational forms and challenges to ableism. After a discussion of the possibilities of a 'fusion' between Disability Studies and Film Studies, and a consideration of the relationships of comedy to disability, Wilde undertakes analysis of contemporary films from the romantic comedy, satire, and gross-out genres. Analysis is focused upon the place of disabled and non-disabled people in particular films, considering visual, audio, and narrative dimensions of representation and the ways they might shape the expectations of film audiences. This book is of particular value to those in Film and Media Studies, and Critical/Disability Studies, especially for those who are investigating more inclusive practices in cultural representation.

Digital media are rapidly changing the world in which we live. Global communications, mobile interfaces and Internet cultures are re-configuring our everyday lives and experiences.  To understand these changes, a new theoretical imagination is needed, one that is informed by a conceptual vocabulary that is able to cope with the daunting complexity of the world today. This book draws on writings by leading social and cultural theorists to assemble this vocabulary.  It addresses six key concepts that are pivotal for understanding the impact of new media on contemporary society and culture: information, network, interface, interactivity, archive and simulation. Each concept is considered through a range of concrete examples to illustrate how they might be developed and used as research tools. An inter-disciplinary approach is taken that spans a number of fields, including sociology, cultural studies, media studies and computer science.

Taking the example of Glenn Beck as a media pundit and propagandist, this timely and provocative book shows how mainstream media fails in its duty-and explains what the American people can do about it. Debunking Glenn Beck: How to Save America from Media Pundits and Propagandists was written in response to Beck's Arguing with Idiots. Its most immediate concern is with exploring the agenda behind Beck's arguments and exposing the flaws in his reasoning. But this book's real mission is something much broader. Using Beck as an example, author Karl Rogers also shows why media reform is so vital to the future of democracy. To make that case, Dr. Rogers offers a detailed discussion of the ideas and ideology at work in Beck's arguments, revealing how the well-known conservative pundit has distorted and twisted facts to misrepresent American history, the meaning of progressivism, and even the U.S. Constitution. The book examines topics ranging from the Second Amendment to health care, education, housing, the Supreme Court, unions, democracy, and government. It concludes by explaining how Americans can revitalize the Constitution as a living document and, by doing so, revitalize public debate and democracy itself. A foreword by Harvey Sarles, professor of cultural studies and comparative literature at the University of Minnesota An index

Historians have traditionally attributed great influence to newspapers in late eighteenth-century England, yet in spite of the power they were supposed to wield, very little is known about the newspaper press itself during this period. Newspapers, Politics, and Public Opinion in Late Eighteenth-Century England examines the ways in which both London and provincial newspapers operated, the fashioning of their politics, and their relationships with politicians, and, crucially, their readers. In particular, this book is concerned with the ways in which newspapers both represented and shaped public opinion. By concentrating on the late 1770s and early 1780s, and on events and debates surrounding the movement for political reform, these areas are brought into sharper focus; as are important and related issues such as the changing nature of popular political debate, the role of `the people' in politics, and the composition of the political nation.

It is twenty-five years since Jurgen Habermas published his "Theory of Communicative Action." Colin B. Grant shares the same commitment to a philosophical theory of communication but issues a range of challenges to Habermas' magnum opus. "Uncertainty and Communication" mounts a critique of theories of dialogism and intersubjectivity, proposes a radical rethinking of the communicating subject in society and explores the new contingencies of culture and media in our interconnected global communication system.

There is widespread and growing concern about the use of alcohol in society, especially by young people. Although overall volumes of alcohol consumption may be levelling off, the occurrences of excessive or 'binge' drinking, especially among teenagers and young adults, are increasingly commonplace. Tackling irresponsible drinking, which is linked to other antisocial behaviour and health problems, has focused attention on the promotion of alcohol by its producers as an important causal factor. This has led to calls for tougher regulation of alcohol marketing, including restrictions on where it can occur and the form it is allowed to take. Empirical research evidence, often emanating from government funded enquiries and endorsed by health lobbies, has been cited in support of an allegedly primary role played by advertising in triggering interest in and the onset of alcohol consumption among young people and in encouraging regular and heavy drinking. Close examination of this evidence, however, reveals that the research is not always as cut and dried as it may first appear. Methodological weaknesses abound in studies of the purported effects of alcohol advertising and other forms of marketing and the significance specifically of advertising as an agent that shapes young people's alcohol consumption could be weaker than often thought. This book sets out a review and critique of the evidence on alcohol advertising and marketing effects on young people and considers this evidence in relation to codes of advertising and marketing practice.

This volume offers unique insights into the mutually constitutive nature of social media practices and religious change. Part 1 examines how social media operate in conjunction with mass media in the construction of discourses of religion and spirituality. It includes: a longitudinal study of British news media coverage of Christianity, secularism and religious diversity (Knott et al.); an analysis of responses to two documentaries 'The Monastery' and 'The Convent' (Thomas); an evaluation of theories of the sacred in studies of religion and media within the 'strong program' in cultural sociology in the US (Lynch); and a study of the consequences of mass and social media synergies for public perceptions of Islam in the Netherlands (Herbert). Part 2 examines the role of social media in the construction of contemporary martyrs and media celebrities (e.g., Michael Jackson) using mixed and mobile methods to analyse fan sites (Bennett & Campbell) and jihadi websites and YouTube (Nauta). Part 3 examines how certain bounded religious communities negotiate the challenges of social media: Judaism in Second Life (Abrams & Baker); Bah'ai regulation of web use among members (Campbell & Fulton); YouTube evangelists (Pihlaja); and public expressions of bereavement (Greenhill & Fletcher). The book provides theoretically informed empirical case studies and presents an intriguing, complex picture of the aesthetic and ethical, demographic and discursive aspects of new spaces of communication and their implications for religious institutions, beliefs and practices.

View the Table of Contents. Read the Introduction.

a"Media Reception Studies" could be subtitled, aEverything You Always Wanted to Know About Reception Studies, But Were Afraid to Ask.a Staiger presents a robust, sophisticated, and eminently readable account that will enable specialists and students alike to grasp the depth and breadth of one of the most significant areas of inquiry in the field today.a
--Barbara Klinger, Indiana University

"I have been waiting for just this book. At last, someone with a deep background in reception research has brought her wisdom to bear on the state of the field. "Media Reception Studies" has a wonderful range, and is so clearly and incisively written that everyone from undergraduates to senior academics can get great benefit from it."
--Martin Barker, University of Wales, Aberystwyth

"Staiger writes that her purpose is to provide a map of the field of reception studies, and in this she succeeds. This stuyd reveals how much ahs been done in this area and how the study of the effects of media content has evolved. The "selective" bibliography is in fact extensive, a nd the index is comoprehensive."
--"CHOICE"

Media Reception Studies broadly surveys the past century of scholarship on the ways in which audiences make meaning out of mass media. It synthesizes in plain language social scientific, linguistic, and cultural studies approaches to film and television as communication media.

Janet Staiger traverses a broad terrain, covering the Chicago School, early psychological approaches, Soviet theory, the Frankfurt School, mass communication research and critical theory, linguistics and semiotic theory, social-psychoanalyticalresearch, cognitive psychology, and cultural studies. She offers these theories as a set of tools for understanding the complex relationships between films and their audiences, TV shows and their viewers. She explains such questions as the behavior of fans; the implications of gender, sexuality, and race/ethnicity with regard to the media; the effect of violence, horror, and sexually explicit images on viewers; and the place of memory in spectatorship.

Providing an organized and lucid introduction to a staggering amount of work, Media Reception Studies is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in understanding the effects of mass media.

Social Media and the Politics of Reportage explores the journalistic challenges, issues and opportunities that have risen as a result of social media increasingly being used as a form of crisis reporting within the field of global journalism, with a focus on the protests during the 'Arab Spring'.

This book brings together experts across disciplines to examine the connection between digital technologies and human movement, and to consider the creative and artistic possibilities of technologized human motion.

Dramatic changes in society, technology, and culture have transformed the relationship between political parties, the media, and the individual voter over the last 50 years. The leading researchers gathered in this volume offer a comprehensive analysis of the evolution of British political communication since 1945. They explore the competition for coverage between political parties and media organizations, the ongoing rivalry between politicians and the press, and the implications for the quality of British democracy.

Native Advertising examines the emerging practices and norms around native advertising in US and European news organizations. Over the past five years native advertising has rapidly become a significant revenue stream for both digital news "upstarts" and legacy newspapers and magazines. This book helps scholars and students of journalism and advertising to understand the news industry's investment in native advertising, and consider the effects this investment might have on how news is produced, consumed, and understood. It is argued that although they have deep roots in earlier forms of advertising, native ads with a political or advocacy bent have the potential to shift the relationship between news outlets and audiences in new ways, particularly in an era when trust in the media has reached a historic low point. Beyond this, such advertisements have the potential to shift how media systems function in relation to state power, by changing the relationship between commercial and non-commercial speech. Drawing on real-world examples of native ads and including an in-depth case study contributed by Ava Sirrah, Native Advertising provides an important assessment of the potential consequences of native advertising becoming an even more prominent fixture in the 21st-century news feed.

This handbook presents the views of those who believe violence in the media causes violent behavior and those who remain unconvinced that any such relationship exists, and examines the results of studies on violence in the media and recommendations for its control. The controversial relationship between violent behavior in American society and violent acts portrayed in the media-motion pictures, television, pop music, and video games-forms the subject of this reference work. Violence and the Media provides a section on legal data, opinions, and documents, and provides a close-up look at the legislative issues surrounding violence and the media. It is a vital resource for high school and college students, legislators, and concerned laypersons.

People are on the move across the Arab world, organizing politically in new ways. The Arab media have also undergone a transformation and are still in a state of flux. It is therefore crucial to be able to discuss political initiatives in the region in the light of media developments. This authoritative book answers key questions about the connections between media and political change in the Arab world. Using research into, for example, practices of Internet users, journalists, demonstrators and producers of reality TV, it explores the interface between public interaction over the airwaves, at the polls and on the streets. A lively group of contributors explores such issues as whether young people are served well by new media, whether blogging is an influential political tool, whether satellite news helps or hinders diasporic communities politically, and much more. Engaging with debates at the heart of public affairs and popular culture in Arab countries, this book addresses everyone who seeks to grasp the media politics of this central, often misunderstood region.

From a modern perspective, journalism is highly relevant to modern society, along with the emergence of mass printing system and professionalisation. This book, however, expands the meaning of journalism and views it as a social process. It will not only explore the roots and development of Chinese journalism and communication, but also demonstrate how Chinese journalism and communication interact and struggle with social culture and politics. Arranged in chronological order mainly, this book examines the initial development of Chinese journalism in ancient times in chapter 1, which from then manifested strong political attributes. After the Opium War in 1840, missionaries and businessmen from the West started to set up newspapers and periodicals in China, which brought about the birth of China's modern journalism industry. Then China's private newspapers and political party's press are studied, which are closely linked with political revolutions and have a far-reaching impact on modern Chinese society. What happened to Chinese journalism and communication after the founding of People's Republic of China in 1949? This book reviews the newspaper reforms, and studies the great negative impacts brought by "Cultural Revolution". Noteworthy news phenomena after the reform and opening-up are also covered. This book will appeal to scholars and students in journalism, communication and Chinese studies. Readers interested in Chinese society and modern Chinese history will also be attracted by it.

Collecting and Conserving Net Art explores the qualities and characteristics of net art and its influence on conservation practices. By addressing and answering some of the challenges facing net art and providing an exploration of its intersection with conservation, the book casts a new light on net art, conservation, curating and museum studies. Viewing net art as a process rather than as a fixed object, the book considers how this is influenced by and executed through other systems and users. Arguing that these processes and networks are imbued with ambiguity, the book suggests that this is strategically used to create suspense, obfuscate existing systems and disrupt power structures. The rapid obsolescence of hard and software, the existence of many net artworks within restricted platforms and the fact that artworks often act as assemblages that change or mutate, make net art a challenging case for conservation. Taking the performative and interpretive roles conservators play into account, the book demonstrates how practitioners can make more informed decisions when responding to, critically analysing or working with net art, particularly software-based processes. Collecting and Conserving Net Art is intended for researchers, academics and postgraduate students, especially those engaged in the study of museum studies, conservation and heritage studies, curatorial studies, digital art and art history. The book should also be interesting to professionals who are involved in the conservation and curation of digital arts, performance, media and software.

Drawing on case studies across the Asia-Pacific region, Gaming in Social, Locative and Mobile Media explores the 'playful turn' in contemporary everyday life, and the role of mobile devices, games and social media in this transformation.