About the Book
"Turow’s Media Today: Mass Communication in a Converging World, now in its fifth edition, chooses [a] cutting-edge option. This is a student-friendly publication, offering aids such as definitions of key terms, colourful infographics, case studies and end-of-chapter review questions. There’s a companion website, too, and a password-protected website for instructors."—Philip Kemp, Times Higher Education
Media Today uses convergence as a lens that puts students at the center of the profound changes in the 21st century media world. Through the convergence lens they learn to think critically about the role of media today and what these changes mean for their lives presently and in the future. The book’s media systems approach helps students to look carefully at how media is created, distributed, and exhibited in the new world that the digital revolution has created. In this way, Media Today goes beyond the traditional mass communication textbook’s focus on consuming media, to give students an insider’s perspective on how media businesses operate. How exactly does Google profit from web searches? What will a magazine look like five years from now?
Informative and engaging, Media Today, Fifth Edition, is characterized by its focus on:
Convergence: In addition to separate chapters on the Internet and the Video Games industry, coverage of convergence and its impact is incorporated into every chapter.
Consumer Education: Media Literacy questions ask students to consider their roles as a media consumer and potential media creator.
Comprehensive Media Industry Coverage: Historical timelines in the print book and on the companion website track the development of each media industry, giving students an overview of a particular industry at a glance.
Contemporary, Student-friendly Examples: New culture and media boxes help students think about the impact of media industries on their own lives and globally.
Joseph Turow—who has been teaching Intro to Mass Communication for well over a decade—demonstrates the many ways that media convergence and the pervasiveness of the Internet have blurred distinctions between and among various media. From newspapers to video games or social networking to mobile platforms, Media Today prepares students to live in the digital world of media.
Table of Contents:
I. The Nature and Business of Media 1. Understanding Mass Media, Convergence, and the Importance of Media Literacy 2. Making Sense of Research on Media Effects and Media Culture 3. The Business of Media 4. Financing and Shaping the Media: Advertising, Public Relations, and Marketing Communications 5. Understanding Controls on Media Content: Government Regulation, Self-Regulation, and Ethics II. The Media Industries 6. The Internet Industry 7. The Book Industry 8. The Newspaper Industry 9. The Magazine Industry 10. The Recording Industry 11. The Radio Industry 12. The Movie Industry 13. The Television Industry 14. The Video Game Industry
About the Author :
Joseph Turow is Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. A former Chair of the mass Communication Division of the International Communication Association, he is the author of more than 100 articles and 9 books on media industries.
Review :
'I have found Media Today to be the ideal text for teaching undergraduates about media industries, media professions, and media audiences. Turow takes a much-needed critical approach to examining not just media content but the structural arrangements that produce the content, and the political economy of regulation that has led to the conglomeration of today's media companies. Diverse, inclusive, and speaking to gender and the multicultural dimensions of the media, it's simply the best text around for an introduction to mass communications.' -Carolyn Byerly, Professor of Media Studies, School of Communication, Howard University 'Media Today makes it clear that Turow understands the mass media industries-but not only that, he understands his audience. Thought-provoking, accessible, and engaging, Turow's examples, illustrations, and case studies push students to think critically about the most important media-related issues of our time.' -Samuel Ebersole, Department Chair for the Mass Communications Department & Center for New Media, Colorado State University - Pueblo 'Addressing a rapidly changing media, this 5th edition is a significant update of the excellent foundation in previous editions. Joe Turow's book offers an accessible mix of cogent histories, industry terminology/structures, and the latest trends, alongside a framework that highlights what this means for us as media users.' -Matt McAllister, Professor of Communications, Department of Film/Video and Media Studies, Penn State University 'Turow focuses his examination of media industries on the disruptive influence of technology and, in turn, media's ongoing adaptation. While media's societal impact is addressed, it is the dissection of the forces influencing media industry strategies that best helps students understand the complex mediascape in which they live.' -Nora Paul, Director, Minnesota Journalism Center, University of Minnesota School of Journalism and Mass Communication 'Turow's Media Today: Mass Communication in a Converging World, now in its fifth edition, chooses [a] cutting-edge option. This is a student-friendly publication, offering aids such as definitions of key terms, colourful infographics, case studies and end-of-chapter review questions. There's a companion website, too, and a password-protected website for instructors.' -Philip Kemp, THE (Times Higher Education) 'Joe Turow's Media Today is a thorough, insightful and highly readable textbook which has really engaged my students. The references to current cultural events and media programming and the attendant images and colorful illustrations bring the content to life and make the explanation and application of mass media theories more relatable and comprehensible than most traditional textbooks on the subject.' -Fritz Friedman, Senior Vice President, Worldwide Publicity, Sony Pictures and Adjunct Professor, The Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, The University of Southern California
