Bringing together distinguished scholars from BRICS nations and those with deep interest and knowledge of these emerging powers, this collection makes a significant intervention in the ongoing debates about comparative communication research and thus contributes to the further internationalization of media and communication studies. The unprecedented expansion of online media in the world's major non-Western nations, exemplified by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is transforming global communication. Despite their differences and divergences on key policy issues, what unites these five nations, representing more than 20 per cent of the global GDP, is the scale and scope of change in their communication environment, triggered by a multilingual, mobile Internet. The resulting networked and digitized communication ecology has reoriented international media and communication flows. Evaluating the implications of globalization of BRICS media on the reshaping of international communication, the book frames this within the contexts of theory-building on media and communication systems, soft power discourses and communication practices, including in cyberspace. Adopting a critical approach in analysing BRICS communication strategies and their effectiveness, the book assesses the role of the BRICS nations in reframing a global communication order for a 'post-American world'. This critical volume of essays is ideal for students, teachers and researchers in journalism, media, politics, sociology, international relations, area studies and cultural studies.

Bringing together distinguished scholars from BRICS nations and those with deep interest and knowledge of these emerging powers, this collection makes a significant intervention in the ongoing debates about comparative communication research and thus contributes to the further internationalization of media and communication studies. The unprecedented expansion of online media in the world's major non-Western nations, exemplified by BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) is transforming global communication. Despite their differences and divergences on key policy issues, what unites these five nations, representing more than 20 per cent of the global GDP, is the scale and scope of change in their communication environment, triggered by a multilingual, mobile Internet. The resulting networked and digitized communication ecology has reoriented international media and communication flows. Evaluating the implications of globalization of BRICS media on the reshaping of international communication, the book frames this within the contexts of theory-building on media and communication systems, soft power discourses and communication practices, including in cyberspace. Adopting a critical approach in analysing BRICS communication strategies and their effectiveness, the book assesses the role of the BRICS nations in reframing a global communication order for a 'post-American world'. This critical volume of essays is ideal for students, teachers and researchers in journalism, media, politics, sociology, international relations, area studies and cultural studies.

There has been much debate over the idea of 'the information society'. Some thinkers have argued that information is becoming the key ordering principle in society, whereas others suggest that the rise of information has been overstated. Whatever the case, though, it cannot be denied that 'informization' has produced vast changes in advanced societies. The Information Society Reader pulls together the main contributions to this debate from some of the key figures in the field. Major topics addressed include:

· post-industrialism
· surveillance
· transformations
· the network society
· democracy
· digital divisions
· virtual relations.

With a comprehensive introduction from Frank Webster, and section introductions contextualising the readings, The Information Society Reader will be an invaluable resource for students and academics studying contemporary society and all things cyber.

Includes selections from Manuel Castells, Daniel Bell, Anthony Giddens, Michel Foucault and Christopher Lasch, amongst others.

Mapping BRICS Media is the first comprehensive and comparative study of the emerging media landscape in the world's most dynamic and fastest growing markets. This pioneering collection focuses on one of the key topics in contemporary international relations - the emergence of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) - a grouping that includes some of the world's largest populations and fastest growing economies. The volume brings together leading scholars, mainly from the BRICS nations, to examine how the emergence of the BRICS media will impact on global media and communication. Contextualizing the rise of the BRICS nations within the broader shifts in global power relations, the chapters investigate the unprecedented growth of the BRICS media within a 'multi-polar' world, evaluating the media landscapes in the individual BRICS countries, their histories, and their journalism practices, as well as analyzing emerging inter-BRICS media relationships. Accessible and comprehensive, the book provides a critical guide to the complex debates about the impact of the 'rise of the rest' on the media globe and how far this poses a challenge to the Western-dominated world order and its media systems.

This book provides a multi-faceted picture of the many complex processes taking place in the field of contemporary Russian media and popular culture. Russian social and cultural life today is strongly individualised and consumers are offered innumerable alternatives; but at the same time options are limited by the new technologies of control which are a key feature of Russian capitalism. Based on extensive original research by scholars in both Russia itself and in Finland, the book discusses new developments in the media industry and assesses a wide range of social and cultural changes, many of which are related to, and to an extent generated by, the media. The book argues that the Russian mass media industry, whilst facing the challenges of globalization, serves several purposes including making a profit, reinforcing patriotic discourse and popularizing liberalized lifestyles. Topics include changing social identities, new lifestyles, ideas of "glamour" and "professional values". Overall, the book demonstrates that the media in Russia is far from homogenous, and that, as in the West, despite new technologies of control, media audiences are being offered a new kind of pluralism which is profoundly influencing Russia's cultural, social and political landscape.

This book provides a multi-faceted picture of the many complex processes taking place in the field of contemporary Russian media and popular culture. Russian social and cultural life today is strongly individualised and consumers are offered innumerable alternatives; but at the same time options are limited by the new technologies of control which are a key feature of Russian capitalism. Based on extensive original research by scholars in both Russia itself and in Finland, the book discusses new developments in the media industry and assesses a wide range of social and cultural changes, many of which are related to, and to an extent generated by, the media.

The book argues that the Russian mass media industry, whilst facing the challenges of globalization, serves several purposes including making a profit, reinforcing patriotic discourse and popularizing liberalized lifestyles. Topics include changing social identities, new lifestyles, ideas of "glamour" and "professional values." Overall, the book demonstrates that the media in Russia is far from homogenous, and that, as in the West, despite new technologies of control, media audiences are being offered a new kind of pluralism which is profoundly influencing Russia's cultural, social and political landscape.

Contents:
Frank Webster Introduction: Information Society Studies Part 1: The Information Society Frank Webster Introduction Advocates 1. Yoneji Masuda Image of the Future Information Society 2. Charles Leadbeater Living on Thin Air 3. Esther Dyson, George Gilder, George Keyworth and Alvin Toffler Cyberspace and the American Dream Critics 4. Langdon Winner Who Will We Be in Cyberspace? 5. Theodore Roszak The Cult of Information 6. Kevin Robins and Frank Webster The Long History of the Information Revolution Part 2: Post-Industrial Society Harri Melin Introduction 7. Daniel Bell Post-Industrial Society 8. Krishan Kumar From Post-Industrial to Post-Modern Society 9. John Urry Is Britain the First Post-Industrial Society? Part 3: The Network Society Frank Webster Introduction 10. Manuel Castells An Introduction to the Information Age 11. Manuel Castells The Information City, the New Economy, and the Network Society 12. Nicholas Garnham Information Society Theory as Ideology Part 4: Transformations Frank Webster Introduction 13. John Urry Mobile Sociology 14. Robert B. Reich The Three Jobs of the Future 15. Nico Stehr The Economic Structure of Knowledge Societies 16. Anne Balsamo Forms of Technological Embodiment Part 5: Divisions Kaarle Nordenstreng Introduction 17. Herbert Schiller Data Deprivation 18. Pippa Norris The Digital Divide 19. Christopher Lasch The Degradation of the Practical Arts Part 6: Surveillance Raimo Blom Introduction 20. Michel Foucault Panopticism 21. Shoshana Zuboff Managing the Informated Organization 22. David Lyon New Directions in Theory Part 7: Democracy Erkki Karvonen Introduction 23. Jurgen Habermas The Public Sphere 24. Nicholas Garnham The Media and the Public Sphere 25. John Keane Structural Transformations of the Public Sphere 26. Zizi Papacharissi The Virtual Sphere: The Internet as a Public Sphere Part 8: Virtualities Ensio Puoskari Introduction 27. Mark Poster The Mode of Information and Postmodernity 28. Eric Michaels For a Cultural Future 29. Sadie Plant The Future Looms: Weaving Women and Cybernetics

This study presents a general history of how journalism as an emerging profession became internationally organized over the past one hundred and twenty years, seen mainly through the associations founded to promote the interests of journalists around the world.

Mapping BRICS Media is the first comprehensive and comparative study of the emerging media landscape in the world's most dynamic and fastest growing markets. This pioneering collection focuses on one of the key topics in contemporary international relations - the emergence of BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) - a grouping that includes some of the world's largest populations and fastest growing economies. The volume brings together leading scholars, mainly from the BRICS nations, to examine how the emergence of the BRICS media will impact on global media and communication. Contextualizing the rise of the BRICS nations within the broader shifts in global power relations, the chapters investigate the unprecedented growth of the BRICS media within a 'multi-polar' world, evaluating the media landscapes in the individual BRICS countries, their histories, and their journalism practices, as well as analyzing emerging inter-BRICS media relationships. Accessible and comprehensive, the book provides a critical guide to the complex debates about the impact of the 'rise of the rest' on the media globe and how far this poses a challenge to the Western-dominated world order and its media systems.

Media and Globalization shows why the state matters to media and telecommunications industries in a globalizing world: governments control and regulate these industries in important ways and states remain central arenas for policymaking and international agreements. Using case studies drawn from around the world, this book sheds light on the extent of state power in the face of transnational pressures and explores policy, economics, and culture as they factor into media globalization. Visit our website for sample chapters

In this book, five leading scholars of media and communication take on the difficult but important task of explicating the role of journalism in democratic societies. Using Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson, and Wilbur Schramm's classic Four Theories of the Press as their point of departure, the authors explore the philosophical underpinnings and the political realities that inform a normative approach to questions about the relationship between journalism and democracy, investigating not just what journalism is but what it ought to be. The authors identify four distinct yet overlapping roles for the media: the monitorial role of a vigilant informer collecting and publishing information of potential interest to the public; the facilitative role that not only reports on but also seeks to support and strengthen civil society; the radical role that challenges authority and voices support for reform; and the collaborative role that creates partnerships between journalists and centers of power in society, notably the state, to advance mutually acceptable interests. Demonstrating the value of a reconsideration of media roles, Normative Theories of the Media provides a sturdy foundation for subsequent discussions of the changing media landscape and what it portends for democratic ideals.

In this book, five leading scholars of media and communication take on the difficult but important task of explicating the role of journalism in democratic societies. Using Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson, and Wilbur Schramm's classic Four Theories of the Press as their point of departure, the authors explore the philosophical underpinnings and the political realities that inform a normative approach to questions about the relationship between journalism and democracy, investigating not just what journalism is but what it ought to be. The authors identify four distinct yet overlapping roles for the media: the monitorial role of a vigilant informer collecting and publishing information of potential interest to the public; the facilitative role that not only reports on but also seeks to support and strengthen civil society; the radical role that challenges authority and voices support for reform; and the collaborative role that creates partnerships between journalists and centers of power in society, notably the state, to advance mutually acceptable interests. Demonstrating the value of a reconsideration of media roles, Normative Theories of the Media provides a sturdy foundation for subsequent discussions of the changing media landscape and what it portends for democratic ideals.

This volume is an up-to-date account of communication theories from around the world. Authored by a group of eminent scholars, each chapter is a history and state-of-the-art description of the major issues in international communication theory. While the book draws on an understanding of communication theory as a product of its socio-political and cultural context, and the challenges posed by that context, it also highlights each author's lifetime effort to critique the existing trends in communication theory and bring out the very best in each multicultural context.

This volume is a collection of contemporary commentaries on international communication issues, with the concept of national sovereignty as the departure point. Offering readers an introduction to current and emerging concerns, it provides the basic analytical tools needed to understand the issues involved. Problems are examined from the perspectives of journalism, social sciences, international politics, law, and emerging technology; topics include mass media communication across borders, communication satellites, and Third World nations and the need to establish a new world information order.

This volume is a collection of contemporary commentaries on international communication issues, with the concept of national sovereignty as the departure point. Offering readers an introduction to current and emerging concerns, it provides the basic analytical tools needed to understand the issues involved. Problems are examined from the perspectives of journalism, social sciences, international politics, law, and emerging technology; topics include mass media communication across borders, communication satellites, and Third World nations and the need to establish a new world information order.

This book exmines the 1978 "Mass Media Declaration of UNESCO," not only for its historical and diplomatic implications, but for its importance to the basic professional training and lifelong education of journalists. It is the first comprehensive book to appear on this subject. Making a landmark contribution to a heretofore vague and poorly articulated field, this volume inaugurates this document as a part of journalism training and brings it to the permanent agenda of professional debate. The book also serves as invaluable background material for reading the official UNESCO documents.