Since the debut of the iPhone in 2007, the mobile phone has become a quick, convenient, and immensely popular gateway for accessing and consuming news. With three billion mobile phone subscribers, Asian countries have led this seismic shift in news consumption. They provide a wide range of opportunities to study how, as mobile technology matures and becomes routinized, mobile news is increasingly subject to societal constraints and impositions of political power that reduce the democratic benefits of such news and call into question the application of these technological innovations within governments and societies. News in Their Pockets explores the societal, technological, and user-related factors behind why and how digital-savvy college students seek news via the mobile phone across Asia's most mobile cities-Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taipei. Situating cross-societal comparative analyses of mobile news consumption in Asia within a digital and global context, this volume outlines the evolution of the mobile phone to its prominence in disseminating news, offers predictors of patterns in mobile news consumption, investigates user needs and expectations, and illustrates future impacts on civic engagement from mobile news consumption. By examining the interplay between game-changing and empowering communication technology and constraining social systems, News in Their Pockets provides the framework necessary for constructive, continuing debates over the promise and peril of digital news and exposes our underlying reasoning behind the adoption of the mobile phone as the all-in-one media of choice to stay socialized, entertained, and informed in the modern digital age.

This book tackles the infodemic—the rapid, widespread diffusion of false, misleading, or inaccurate information about the disease and its ramifications—triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic. With a focus on four Asian societies, the book compares and analyzes the spread of COVID-19 misinformation and its broad impacts on the public in Beijing, Hong Kong, Taipei, and Singapore. Providing both a comprehensive overview of the phenomenon of misinformation and cross-societal analyses of patterns, the book features in-depth analyses of the prevalence of COVID-19 misinformation and engagement and explores its consequences in an Asian context. The book sheds lights on these key questions: What types of infodemic messages circulate widely on popular social media platforms? What factors account for exposure to and engagement with debunked yet popular COVID-19 misinformation? How does exposure to widely circulated COVID-19 misinformation affect people’s beliefs, attitudes, and adoption of preventive measures to cope with the pandemic? How do macro social differences condition the diffusion and impacts of COVID-19 misinformation? What intervention strategies can counter the misinformation? Presenting scientific insights and empirical findings on the pressing issues about infodemic, this book will be of great interest to students and researchers of communication studies, political science, public health, crisis communication, and Asian Studies, as well as policymakers and practitioners who wish to acquire cutting-edge, evidence-based knowledge about combating misinformation during a global pandemic.

Providing leading-edge perspectives on the legacy theories of mass media and society, this collection advances the foundational theories of mass communications, which have sustained the field of study over the past fifty years. Many of these contributions were originally published as a Deutschmann Scholarly Essay in the Mass Communication and Society journal, and together they comprise a remarkable source of knowledge, equipped to lead mass communications theory through the emergence of new technologies, and the evolution of communications, in the 21st century. Moreover, the contributions gathered in this volume contradict any critics who may claim the theories of the 20th century have outlived their usefulness, for these prove to guide contemporary research as forcefully as ever in the digital era. Validating the classic media theories across time and their various forms constitute the second focal section of this volume. Finally, senior media scholars offer their views on the future directions in which mass communication theories can be advanced.

This book explores how personalized content and the inherent networked nature of the mobile media could and do lead to positive externalities in social progress in Asian societies. Empirical studies that examine uses of the mobile phone and apps (voice mailing, SMS, mobile social media, mobile Weibo, mobile WeChat, etc.) are featured as a response to calls for theorization of the mobile media's efficacy as a tool for citizen engagement and participation in civic and political affairs, especially in the search for collective solutions to widespread social problems of food safety, pollution, government corruption, and public health risks. Considering the vast cultural diversity of Asian societies that are shaped by different levels of political, social, economic, and religious development, the book offers nuanced studies that provide in-depth analysis of the mobile media and political communication in a variety of communities of leading Asian countries. From the country-specific studies, broad themes and enduring concepts emerge.

The 21st century has been called 'the Asian Century' by Eastern and Western academics, largely due to the economic and cultural rise of China and India. This volume explores both what this means for communication research, and the implications of Asia's rising global power for communication scholars in Asia and from around the world. Hot topics and emerging trends are explored, encapsulating the new opportunities as well as the challenges for Asian communication scholars. Asia represents diverse cultural, economic, social and political systems that shape different media systems in various countries with fertile contexts for communication research. The scope of the chapters in this book includes mass communications, mobile technology, intercultural and political communication, news and entertainment, health communication, public relations, and comparative analyses of mainstream mass communication theories. The articles in this book were originally published in the Asian Journal of Communication.

This book explores how personalized content and the inherent networked nature of the mobile media could and do lead to positive externalities in social progress in Asian societies. Empirical studies that examine uses of the mobile phone and apps (voice mailing, SMS, mobile social media, mobile Weibo, mobile WeChat, etc.) are featured as a response to calls for theorization of the mobile media's efficacy as a tool for citizen engagement and participation in civic and political affairs, especially in the search for collective solutions to widespread social problems of food safety, pollution, government corruption, and public health risks. Considering the vast cultural diversity of Asian societies that are shaped by different levels of political, social, economic, and religious development, the book offers nuanced studies that provide in-depth analysis of the mobile media and political communication in a variety of communities of leading Asian countries. From the country-specific studies, broad themes and enduring concepts emerge.

The 'Milestones' essays in Mass Communication and Society are reflective and analytical articles by the most notable scholars in the field. These classic essays address 21st century issues from the pioneers of media and communication studies, including Elihu Katz on new media and social movements, George Gerbner on cultivation analysis, and Dietram Scheufele on political communication. As technologies evolve and mass communication becomes mobilized and democratized - more individual and also more social - these landmark scholars provide ideas about how established theories may be applied in new ways, and how future research can expand our understanding of mass communication as its reach and effects grow ever larger. This book will be essential reading for both students and researchers of Mass Communications Research.

Providing leading-edge perspectives on the legacy theories of mass media and society, this collection advances the foundational theories of mass communications, which have sustained the field of study over the past fifty years. Many of these contributions were originally published as a Deutschmann Scholarly Essay in the Mass Communication and Society journal, and together they comprise a remarkable source of knowledge, equipped to lead mass communications theory through the emergence of new technologies, and the evolution of communications, in the 21st century. Moreover, the contributions gathered in this volume contradict any critics who may claim the theories of the 20th century have outlived their usefulness, for these prove to guide contemporary research as forcefully as ever in the digital era. Validating the classic media theories across time and their various forms constitute the second focal section of this volume. Finally, senior media scholars offer their views on the future directions in which mass communication theories can be advanced.

Since the debut of the iPhone in 2007, the mobile phone has become a quick, convenient, and immensely popular gateway for accessing and consuming news. With three billion mobile phone subscribers, Asian countries have led this seismic shift in news consumption. They provide a wide range of opportunities to study how, as mobile technology matures and becomes routinized, mobile news is increasingly subject to societal constraints and impositions of political power that reduce the democratic benefits of such news and call into question the application of these technological innovations within governments and societies. News in Their Pockets explores the societal, technological, and user-related factors behind why and how digital-savvy college students seek news via the mobile phone across Asia's most mobile cities-Shanghai, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Taipei. Situating cross-societal comparative analyses of mobile news consumption in Asia within a digital and global context, this volume outlines the evolution of the mobile phone to its prominence in disseminating news, offers predictors of patterns in mobile news consumption, investigates user needs and expectations, and illustrates future impacts on civic engagement from mobile news consumption. By examining the interplay between game-changing and empowering communication technology and constraining social systems, News in Their Pockets provides the framework necessary for constructive, continuing debates over the promise and peril of digital news and exposes our underlying reasoning behind the adoption of the mobile phone as the all-in-one media of choice to stay socialized, entertained, and informed in the modern digital age.

The 'Milestones' essays in Mass Communication and Society are reflective and analytical articles by the most notable scholars in the field. These classic essays address 21st century issues from the pioneers of media and communication studies, including Elihu Katz on new media and social movements, George Gerbner on cultivation analysis, and Dietram Scheufele on political communication. As technologies evolve and mass communication becomes mobilized and democratized - more individual and also more social - these landmark scholars provide ideas about how established theories may be applied in new ways, and how future research can expand our understanding of mass communication as its reach and effects grow ever larger. This book will be essential reading for both students and researchers of Mass Communications Research.