Media and communication research is a diverse and stimulating field of inquiry, not only in subject matter but also in purposes and methodologies. Over the past twenty years, and in step with the contemporary shift toward trans-disciplinarity, Media Studies has rapidly developed a very significant body of theory and evidence. Media Studies is here to stay and scholars in the discipline have a vital contribution to make. The SAGE Handbook of Media Studies surveys and evaluates the theories, practices, and future of the field. Editor John Downing and associate editors Denis McQuail, Philip Schlesinger, and Ellen Wartella have brought together a team of international contributors to provide a varied critical analysis of this intensely interesting field of study. The Handbook offers a comprehensive review within five interconnected areas: humanistic and social scientific approaches; global and comparative perspectives; the relation of media to economy and power; media users; and elements in the media mosaic ranging from media ethics to advertising, from popular music to digital technologies, and from Hollywood and Bollywood to alternative media. The contributors to The Handbook are from Australia, Austria, Britain, Canada, France, Guatemala, India, Japan, the Netherlands, South Korea, and the United States. Each contributor offers a unique perspective on topics broad in scope. The Handbook is an ideal resource for university media researchers, for faculty developing new courses and revising curricula, and for graduate courses in media studies. It is also a necessary addition to any academic library.

"To request a free 30-day online trial to this product, visit www.sagepub.com/freetrial"""This one-volume encyclopedia features around 250 essays on the varied experiences of social movement media over the planet in the 20th and 21st centuries. Examining the tip of a gigantic iceberg, this reference resource examines a sample of the dizzying variety of formats and experiences that comprise social movement media. The guiding principles have been to ensure that experiences from the global South are given voice; that women are properly represented among contributors; that the wide spectrum of communication formats is included; that further reading is provided where relevant; and that some examples are provided of repressive social movement media, not exclusively progressive ones.Thematic essays address selected issues such as human rights media, indigenous peoples' media, and environmentalist media, and on key concepts widely used in the field such as alternative media, citizens' media, and community media. The encyclopedia engages with all communication media: broadcasting, print, cinema, the Internet, popular song, street theatre, graffiti, and dance. The entries are designed to be relatively brief with clear, accessible, and current information. Students, researchers, media activisits, and others interested in this field will find this to be a valuable resource.Key ThemesCinema, Television, and VideoConcept and Topic OverviewsCultural ContestationsFeminist MediaGay and Lesbian MediaHuman Rights MediaIndependence Movement MediaIndigenous Peoples' MediaInformation Policy ActivismInternetLabor MediaNewsPerformance Art MediaPopular SongPressRadioSocial Movement MediaRegions"

This is an entirely new edition of the author?s 1984 study (originally published by South End Press) of radical media and movements. The first and second sections are original to this new edition. The first section explores social and cultural theory in order to argue that radical media should be a central part of our understanding of media in history. The second section weaves an historical and international tapestry of radical media to illustrate their centrality and diversity, from dance and graffiti to video and the internet and from satirical prints and street theatre to culture-jamming, subversive song, performance art and underground radio. The section also includes consideration of ultra-rightist media as a key contrast case. The book?s third section provides detailed case-studies of the anti-fascist media explosion of 1974-75 in Portugal, Italy?s long-running radical media, radio and access video in the USA, and illegal media in the dissolution of the former Soviet bloc dictatorships.

In this provocative book John Downing explores the many roles of the media within the fundamental political, economic and cultural changes that took place during the turbulence in Eastern Europe between 1980 and 1995. He examines the central elements underlying these changes: power, the state, societal change, the economy, institutionalized racism, ethnic insurgency, secrecy and surveillance. Internationalizing Media Theory critically evaluates media theories in relation to political and economic transitions, and challenges political science approaches for their failure to address vital issues in media and communication. Using a comparative and international focus, Downing analyzes the changes in Russia, Poland and Hungary and explores key aspects of the media during this period.

Well-informed, thoughtful and transnational in its perspectives, Downing and Husband's work is likely to become the key text in the field. The book is essential reading for anyone interested in the politics of race and representation. - Professor Daya K. Thussu, University of Westminster The media play a diverse and significant role in the practical expression of racism and in the everyday politics of ethnicity. Written by two veterans of research on media and 'race', this book offers a fresh comparative analyses of the issues and sets out the key agendas for future study. Representing Race - Racisms, Ethnicities and Media: Provides a conceptual framework for understanding the role of the media. Addresses a number of pressing political concerns including 'racial' justice and the drift to the Right. Includes a wide range of examples from Britain, the USA, Europe, and Australia. Analyzes the growth of indigenous people's media. Assesses current strategies for reforming professional media practice in this sphere. Drawing on years of research, this book provides both a major intervention in the debate, as well as a comprehensive introduction to the area. It will be required reading for anyone interested in race, representation and the media.

This is an entirely new edition of the author?s 1984 study (originally published by South End Press) of radical media and movements. The first and second sections are original to this new edition. The first section explores social and cultural theory in order to argue that radical media should be a central part of our understanding of media in history. The second section weaves an historical and international tapestry of radical media to illustrate their centrality and diversity, from dance and graffiti to video and the internet and from satirical prints and street theatre to culture-jamming, subversive song, performance art and underground radio. The section also includes consideration of ultra-rightist media as a key contrast case. The book?s third section provides detailed case-studies of the anti-fascist media explosion of 1974-75 in Portugal, Italy?s long-running radical media, radio and access video in the USA, and illegal media in the dissolution of the former Soviet bloc dictatorships.

In this provocative book John Downing explores the many roles of the media within the fundamental political, economic and cultural changes that took place during the turbulence in Eastern Europe between 1980 and 1995. He examines the central elements underlying these changes: power, the state, societal change, the economy, institutionalized racism, ethnic insurgency, secrecy and surveillance. Internationalizing Media Theory critically evaluates media theories in relation to political and economic transitions, and challenges political science approaches for their failure to address vital issues in media and communication. Using a comparative and international focus, Downing analyzes the changes in Russia, Poland and Hungary and explores key aspects of the media during this period.