presentation on role of media

Media Literacy

A Basic Overview

What is Media Literacy?

Media literacy is the ability to access, analyze, evaluate and communicate information in a variety of formats, both print and non-print.
Media Literacy builds an understanding of the role of media in society, as well as essential skills of inquiry and self-expression necessary for citizens of a democracy.
Center for Media Literacy

What skills do we need?

Questioning
Interpreting

Five Core Concepts in Media Literacy

Media messages are constructed.
Media messages are constructed using a unique language.
Different people experience the same media message in different ways.
Media are primarily businesses driven by a profit motive.
Media have embedded values and points of view.

http://www.joystiq.com/media/2006/04/adcritic_hitman_pcgamer_BIG.jpg

Carefully manufactured products
Create an emotional experience that looks like reality but of course is not
Edited – what stays in, what is taken out
Although not real, people make real meaning out of what they hear, see, or read

2. Media messages are constructed using a unique language.

Media language is unique to each form of communication.
Newspapers, TV Game shows, horror movies
Language is used over and over again to convey meaning.
Scary music = Fear
Camera Angles convey relationships
Headlines signify significance

3. Different people experience the same media message in different ways.

We are all trying to “make sense” out of what we see
Individual’s age, upbringing or background may affect experience

4. Media are primarily businesses driven by a profit motive.

Purpose of T.V.
Create an audience
Bring audience to the advertisers
Sponsors pay for ad time based on the number of people predicted to watch

5. Media have embedded values and points of view.

“Whoever tells the story defines the culture.” David Walsh
Choices in construction of “story” tells us who and what is important.
Character – age, race, gender, attitudes, lifestyle
Setting – affluent, poor, urban
Plot – actions, reactions
Need to learn to read media in order to judge the embedded values

UNCOVERING VALUES MESSAGES

What is represented about personal or social relationships ?
What political values are communicated?
What are the economic messages?
What is the cultural context or world view?
Center for Media Literacy 1998

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Critical Thinking Continuum

All is true
Healthy Skeptics
Judges reliability of sources, validity of facts
Reflects on meaning and impact on personal life
All is incorrect
Possible conspiracy

Five Questions To Ask To Analyze Text

Who created this message and why are they sending it?
What techniques are being used to attract my attention?
What lifestyles, values and points of view are represented in the message?
How might different people understand this message differently from me?
What is omitted from this message?

Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication

(32 reviews)

ISBN 13: 9781946135261

Publisher: University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing

Language: English

Formats Available

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Learn more about reviews.

Reviewed by Jenny Dean, Associate Professor, Texas Wesleyan University on 2/27/24

This book is pretty comprehensive, but it is getting old in the media world where things are changing at a great pace. The basic text is good, but needs supplementary materials to truly keep pace with technology today. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 3 see less

Content Accuracy rating: 3

I am sure the book was accurate when it was published, but the world keeps changing, and it isn't as current as it needs to be. But, it still isn't bad for a free book to access.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 3

Once again, same issue. The book is almost seven years old and hasn't been updated. The issue is that the examples and illustrations are getting to be a bit dated. I suspect that there aren't any updates of this book planned, which is unfortunate. If updated, this would be a fantastic read for students.

Clarity rating: 5

It is simple to read and is easily accessible. It meets the needs of a young college student.

Consistency rating: 5

Yes, the textbook is internally consistent in terms of terminology and framework.

Modularity rating: 5

It is well-subdivided and easy to access. Good use of subheadlines. It is a smooth read, and easy to find information through headers, subheads, headlines, and blocks of type.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 5

Everything is presented in a clear and concise manner.

Interface rating: 5

This textbook comes in a wide variety of formats and can be accessed by almost everyone through one method or another. It was super easy to access.

Grammatical Errors rating: 5

The text is clean and clear of errors.

Cultural Relevance rating: 3

I don't think this book is as inclusive as the typical book written today. This is simply because times have changed, and the need for inclusive and culturally sensitive books has escalated exponentially from the time this book was written. It needs more culturally relevant examples. I wouldn't say that anything in the book is culturally insensitive or offensive, but it isn't as diversified as it needs to be.

This is an excellent book for an introduction to mass communication or an introduction to media and society course. It covers all the basics that I would expect to cover. It just needs some updating which can be done through supplementary materials.

Reviewed by Ryan Stoldt, Assistant Professor, Drake University on 12/15/22

Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less

Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication thoughtfully walks readers through popular media and connects these media to questions about culture as a way of life. The book undoubtedly is comprehensive in its scope of American media but largely fails to consider how media and culture relate in more global settings. The book occasionally references conversations about global media, such as the differences between globalization and cultural imperialism approaches, but is limited in its engagement. As media have become more transnational their reach and scope (due to technological access, business models, and more), the American focus makes the text feel limited in its ability to explain the relationship between media and culture more broadly.

Content Accuracy rating: 5

The text is accurate although it has limited engagement in some of the topics it explores. As such, this would be a good introductory text but would need to be paired with additional resources to dive into many topics in the book with both accuracy and nuance.

Many of the sections of the book are relevant, as the book often contextualizes media through a historical lens. However, the more current sections of the book (such as the section on the Internet and social media) have become outdated quickly. These, once again, would be useful starting places for classroom conversation about the topic but would need to be paired with more current readings to hold a deeper conversation about social media and society today.

Some terms could be further explained, but the text is overall well written and easy to understand.

Consistency rating: 4

The book pulls from multiple approaches to researching and discussing media and culture. The introductory chapter draws more heavily from critical media studies in its conceptualizations of the relationship between media and culture. The media effects chapters draw more heavily from more social scientific approaches to studying media. The author does a nice job weaving these approaches into a consistent conversation about media, but different approaches to studying media could be more forwardly discussed within the text.

The author has made the text extremely easy to use modularly. Chapters are self-contained, and readers could easily select sections of the book to read without losing clarity.

The book employs consistent organization across the subjects discussed. Each chapter follows a similar organizational structure as well.

Interface rating: 4

Because the text is so modular, the text does not flow easily when read on the publisher's website. Yet, downloading the text also raises some issues because of strange formatting around images.

I have not seen any grammatical errors.

As stated previously, the book is extremely biased in its international representation, primarily promoting Americans' engagements with media. The book could go further in being more representative of different American cultures, but it is far from culturally insensitive.

Understanding Media and Culture would be an extremely useful introductory text for a class focusing on American media and society. A more global perspective would require significant engagement with other texts, however.

Reviewed by David Fontenot, Assistant Professor, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 11/15/22

The text comprehensively covers forms of media used for mass communication and includes issues towards emerging forms of mass communication. read more

Comprehensiveness rating: 5 see less

The text comprehensively covers forms of media used for mass communication and includes issues towards emerging forms of mass communication.

Content Accuracy rating: 4

In some places there is nuance missing, where I feel brief elaboration would yield significantly clearer comprehension without bias or misleading associations about media's influence on behavior.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 5

Still relevant and up-to-date with a valuable emphasis on issues related to internet mass media.

Very readable, with little jargon. Definitions are presented clearly and used in subsequent discussions.

Internal consistency is strong within the chapters.

Modularity rating: 4

The majority of chapters can be taken independently, with only a few larger structural pieces that lay the foundation for other sections.

The book takes an historical approach to media, which lends itself to a logical progression of topics. I might suggest, however, that for most students the material that is most accessible to their daily lives comes last with such an approach.

Interface rating: 3

The downloaded file has some very awkward spots where images seem clipped or on separate pages than the content that reference them. I only viewed this textbook in the online downloaded PDF format.

Grammatical Errors rating: 4

No grammatical errors have jumped out at me in sections read so far.

There are quite a few opportunities to include discissions of media and culture that don't seem so anglo-centric but they are passed up.

I am using this textbook as the basis for an interdisciplinary class on media and the criminal justice system, and in that regard I think it will serve very well for an introductory level textbook. It provides a concrete set of core ideas that I can build off of by creating tailored content to my students' needs.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Johnson-Young, Assistant Professor, University of Mary Washington on 7/1/22

Appropriately comprehensive. Having some more up-to-date citations, particularly in the media effects theories criticisms section (with some more explanations) would be beneficial--perhaps supplementing with some ways these have been updated would... read more

Overall, content is clear and accurate.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 4

Mass media may always need updating, but this is appropriate and up-to-date.

Clarity rating: 4

Is an accessible text in terms of clarity and provides necessary definitions throughout in order to provide the reader with an understanding of the terminologies.

Text introduces terms and frameworks and uses them consistently throughout.

Small, easy to read blocks of text--could easily be used in a variety of courses and be reorganized for a particular course.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 4

Topics presented clearly and in an order that makes sense.

Easy to read through and images clear and displaying readily. It would help if there was a way to move forward without having to click on the table of contents, particularly in the online format.

No errors that stick out.

While appropriately comprehensive for an intro text, more examples and/or acknowledgment of who has been left out and those impacts could be helpful in the social values or culture discussions.

Overall, this is a great text and one that could be used in full for a course or in sections to supplement other communication/media studies courses!

Reviewed by David Baird, Professor of Communication, Anderson University on 4/18/22

I don’t know if any intro textbook can cover “all areas and ideas,” but this text was adequate to the task—basically on par with any other textbook in this space. I didn’t see a glossary in the chapters or an index at the back of the book. On the... read more

When the text was published, it would have been considered “accurate.” The content was competently conceptualized, well written and reflective of the standard approach to this kind of material. I didn’t notice any egregious errors of content aside from the fact that the book was published some years ago is no longer very current.

The primary weakness of the book is that it was published more than a decade ago and hasn’t been updated for a while. The text is relevant to the focus of the course itself, but the examples and illustrations are dated. For example, the book uses a graphic from the presidential election of 2008 in a treatment of politics, and “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” is an example of current television programming.

I conducted a text search that tabulated the number of references to the following years, and these were the results: 2010: 588 2011: 49 2012: 8 2013: 4 2014: 0 2015: 2 2016: 0 2017: 0 2018: 1 2019: 1 2020: 0 2021: 1 2022: 1

The references to the more-recent years tended to crop up in forward-looking statements such as this one: “With e-book sales expected to triple by 2015, it’s hard to say what such a quickly growing industry will look like in the future.”

The second part of the question referred to the implementation of updates. I doubt that any updates are planned.

The text is well written and meets the usual standards for editorial quality.

The framework and "voice" are internally consistent.

The chapter structure provides the most obvious division of the text into accessible units. Each chapter also has well-defined subsections. Here’s an example from one chapter, with page numbers removed:

Chapter 13: Economics of Mass Media

Economics of Mass Media Characteristics of Media Industries The Internet’s Effects on Media Economies Digital Divide in a Global Economy Information Economy Globalization of Media Cultural Imperialism

This aspect of the text makes sense and is largely consistent with similar textbooks in this area.

The text is available in these formats: online, ebook, ODF, PDF and XML. I downloaded the PDF for purposes of my review. The formatting was clean and easy to work with. I didn’t notice any problems that made access challenging.

I can’t say with certainty that a grammatical error or typo can’t be found in the textbook, but as I noted above, the writing is strong. I’ve seen much worse.

Cultural Relevance rating: 4

The text seems to be around a dozen years old now, so it doesn’t include discussion of some of the high-profile perspectives that have surfaced in more recent years related to race, ethnicity, sexuality, etc. However, the book does discuss examples of media issues “inclusive of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds,” and this material is presented with sensitivity and respect.

This is a reasonably good resource for basic, intro-level definitions and explanations of some of the major concepts, issues and theories in the “Mass Communication” or “Media and Society” course, including:

• functions of the media • gatekeeping • media literacy • media effects • propaganda • agenda setting • uses and gratifications

The textbook also offers the standard chapters on the various media—books, newspapers, magazines, radio, television, etc. These chapters contextualize the various media with standard accounts of their historical development. My feeling is that much of the historical background presented in this book is more or less interchangeable with the material in newer textbooks.

However, the media industries have changed dramatically since the textbook was written, so all of the last decade’s innovations, developments and controversies are entirely missing. Of course, even a “new” textbook is going to be somewhat dated upon publication because of the book’s production timeline and the way that things change so quickly in the media industries—but a book published in 2021 or 2022 would be far more up-to-date than the book under review here.

The bottom line for me is that if one of an instructor’s highest priorities is to provide a free or low-cost textbook for students, this book could work with respect to the historical material—but it would have to be supplemented with carefully selected material from other sources such as trade publications, industry blogs and news organizations.

Reviewed by Kevin Curran, Clinical Assistant Professor, Loyola Marymount University on 3/21/22

This is one of the most comprehensive media studies books I’ve read. It attacks each media platform separately and with sufficient depth. That is followed by economics, ethics, government/law, and future predictions. Takeaways attend of each... read more

Takeaways attend of each section will aid comprehension. Exercises at end of sections could be jumping off point for discussions or assignments. Chapters end with review and critical thinking connections plus career guidance.

The Chapter 2 rundown on both sides of media theories and summary of research methods was well-done.

Everything about this tome is good, except for its dating.

The book is well-researched and provides valuable, although often dated, information. The author used a variety of sources, effective illustrations, and applicable examples to support the points in the book.

It can be very hard to keep up with constant changes in the mass media industry. This book was reissued in 2016, but it has not been revised since the original copyright in 2010. The dated references start on page 2 when it speaks of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey as existing, when that circus ceased in 2017. The medium-by-medium exploration is well done, although the passage of time affects the end of each chapter.

Adoption of the book as-is will mean developing an update lesson for each chapter. For example, while smartphones are mentioned, they had not achieved saturation status at the time this volume was published.

The points are presented clearly. References with hyperlinks are available at the end of each section for those who still have questions or want more information. However, it is possible that because of the age of the book, some of those links may no longer be available.

The media chapters each follow a similar pattern in writing and order.

This will break up easily. The first chapter gives a good taste of what is to come. The book provides a comprehensive look at the history and influence of each medium individually. The last group of chapters necessarily contains many flashbacks to the medium sections.

It follows a logical pattern from the introduction to the individual medium chapters to the “big picture” chapters. That does require signposting between the two sets of chapters that some might find frustrating.

Interface rating: 2

The book is a standard PDF with links. The scan could have been better, as there is a lot of white space and illustrations are inconsistently sized. Users hoping for lots of interactivity are going to be disappointed.

The book is well edited. It is hard to find errors in writing mechanics.

The authors took a broad view of the mass media world. The music chapter was very well done.

Reviewed by Lisa Bradshaw, Affiliate Faculty, Metropolitan State University of Denver on 11/26/21

This textbook, downloaded as a 695-page PDF, contains 16 chapters and covers a variety of media formats, how they evolved, and how they are created and used, as well as issues related to media impact on society and culture. It is quite comprehensive in its coverage of media for the time of its writing (copyright year 2016, “adapted from a work originally produced in 2010”).

Content seems accurate for its time, but as technology and media have evolved, it omits current references and examples that did not exist when it was written. There does not seem to be bias and a wide variety of cultural references are used.

As mentioned previously, this textbook’s copyright year was 2016, and it was adapted from a 2010 work. It’s not clear how much of the content was updated between 2010 and 2016, but based on the dates in citations and references, the last update appears to have been in 2011. Even if it had been updated for the year 2016, much of the information is still out-of-date.

There is really no way to write a textbook about media that would not be at least partially out of date in a short time. This text’s background and history of the evolution of the various media forms it covers is still accurate, but there is much about the media landscape that has changed since 2010–2016.

Due to the textbook’s age, references to media platforms and formats such as MySpace, Napster, and CDs seem outdated for today’s media market. The textbook refers to previous political figures, and its omission of more recent ones (who were not on the political landscape at the time of writing) makes it seem out-of-date. To adapt it for modern times, these references need to be updated with fresh examples.

The writing level is relatively high. A spot check of the readability level of several passages of text returned scores of difficult to read, and reading level 11-12 grade to college level. The author does a good job of explaining technical terminology and how different media work. If adapting the text for students with a lower level of reading, some of the terminology might need to be revised or explained more thoroughly.

The text is consistent in its chapter structure and writing style. The order of topics makes sense in that chapters are mostly structured by media type, with beginning and end sections to introduce each respective media type in general, and conclude with a look to the future.

If adapting and keeping the same structure (intro to media in general, coverage of different media types in their own chapters, and main issues related to media), this 695-page textbook could be condensed by eliminating some of the detail in each chapter. There are a number of self-referential sentences that might need to be removed. If adapting the text to a more specific subject, the instructor would need to go through the text and pick out specific points relevant to that subject.

Each chapter introduces the respective media type and concludes with a summary that reflects on the future of that type and how it might evolve further. The chapters overall follow the same structure for consistency: overview, history, the media in popular culture, current trends, and potential influence of new technologies, with end-of-chapter Key Takeaways, Exercises, Assessment, Critical Thinking Questions, Career Connection, and References.

The text is well written and logically structured and sequenced. Despite its length, it’s easy to find information, as it’s ordered by chapters that address each media type and major issues related to media, and each chapter has a parallel structure with the others, all following mostly the same pattern.

I did not notice grammatical errors. The text is clearly and accurately written, and appears to have been thoroughly copyedited and proofread.

Cultural Relevance rating: 5

I did not notice cultural insensitivity in the text. A wide variety of cultural references are used. Examples from around the world and from many different cultures are included, including discussions of digital divide and inequity issues related to media access in disadvantaged populations.

Reviewed by Adria Goldman, Assistant Professor of Communication, University of Mary Washington on 7/11/21

The text nicely breaks down different forms of mass communication. The text provides some historical background and discussion of theory to provide context for discussing mass media, which is all useful in helping students understand media and communication. There is not much discussion about the cultural significance of media. If using the text in a course, supplemental readings on the significance of culture and diversity, the importance of media representation, and media influence on an individual level (ex: impact on identity), would be especially helpful for a course exploring media and culture. The text does not feature a glossary or index, however the bolding of key concepts throughout the text is helpful in defining key terms.

The content is error-free. More discussion on culture would provide a more accurate account of mass communication and its significance.

The subject is very relevant and the book features topics important for a discussion on mass communication. As mentioned in other parts of this review, there is not much diversity featured throughout the text, which can impact the relevancy of the material to audiences and impacts the relevancy of the content in discussions on mass media and society. Updates would be straightforward to implement.

The text is clear and easy to follow.

The text is consistent in its use of terms and its framework. Since the book title mentions a focus on culture, an interesting add-on would be to have each section (on a specific type of mass communication) feature a discussion of culture and its significance.

The text's modularity is useful. It looks like it would be easy for students to follow and for instructors to re-structure in order to fit their course design.

The information follows a logical order, beginning with a discussion on the significance of mass communication and then going into each type.

No issues with interface noted.

No glaring grammatical issues noted.

Cultural Relevance rating: 2

There is not much focus on the significance of culture. More discussion on the role of race, class, sex, gender, religion and other elements of identity would be helpful in exploring mass communication--past, present, and potential for the future. The text could also use an update in images and examples to include diverse representation and to further communicate the role of culture, diversity, and representation in communication and mass media.

The book provides an understanding of mass communication that would be easy for undergraduate college students to follow. The optional activities would also spark interesting discussion and give students the opportunity to apply concepts. Students using the text would benefit from (1) more discussion on culture's significance in media and communication and (2) more diversity in the images and examples used.

Reviewed by Brandon Galm, Instructor in English/Speech, Cloud County Community College on 5/4/21

One of the strong suits of this particular resource is its comprehensiveness, with topics ranging from specific mass comm mediums to the intersections/impacts of media on culture, politics, and ethics. There's enough here to easily cover a full... read more

The content is well-sourced throughout with a list of references at the end of each chapter. The hyperlinks on the references page all seem functional still. Hyperlinks within the chapters themselves--either sending the reader to the reference list or to the articles themselves--would be helpful.

As of this review writing, some of the content is relatively up-to-date. However, with a quickly changing landscape in mass communications and media, certain chapters are becoming out-of-date more quickly than others. The information discussed is more current than most of the information cited. The structure of the book lends itself to easy updating as technologies and culture shift, but whether or not those updates will take place seems unclear with the most recent edition being 5 years old at this point.

All information is presented in a way that is very clear with explanations and examples when further clarification is needed.

For a book covering as many different topics as it does, the overall structure and framework of this textbook is great. Chapter formats stay consistent with clearly stated Objectives at the start and Key Takeaways at the end. Visual examples are provided throughout, and each chapter also includes various questions for students to respond to.

Chapters are broken down into smaller sub-chapters, each with their own sub-headings hyperlinked in the Table of Contents. Each sub-chapter also includes the above-mentioned Objects, Key Takeaways, and questions for students. Chapters and/or sub-chapters could easily be assigned in an order that fits any syllabus schedule and are in no way required to be read in order from Chapter 1 to Chapter 16.

I would like to have seen the book laid out a bit differently, but this is a minor concern because of the overall flexibility of assigning the chapters. The book starts with broad discussions about media and culture, then shifts into specific forms of media (books, games, tv, etc.), then returns to more broad implications of media and culture. Personally, I'd like to see all of those chapters grouped together--with all of the media and culture chapters in one section, and all of the specific forms chapters in another. Again, this is a minor issue because of the overall flexibility of the book.

As mentioned above, hyperlinks--including in the Table of Contents and references--are all functional. I would have liked to have hyperlinks for the references in the text itself, either as a part of the citation or with a hyperlinked superscript number, rather than just in the references page. All images are easily readable and the text itself is easy to read overall.

No grammatical errors that immediately jumped out. Overall seems clear and well-written.

The text provides lots of examples, though most do come from US media. The sections dealing with the intersections between media and culture are similarly US-centric.

Overall, a solid introductory textbook that covers a wide range of topics relevant to mass communications, media, and culture. The text is bordering on out-of-date at this point, but could easily be updated on a chapter-by-chapter basis should the publisher/author wish to do so.

Reviewed by Dong Han, Associate Professor, Southern Illinois University Carbondale on 3/30/21

It covers all important areas and topics regarding media, culture, and society. Different media forms and technologies from printing media to social media all have their own chapters, and academic inquiries like media effects, media economics, and media and government also receive due attention. This textbook will meet the expectation of students of all backgrounds while introducing them to theoretical concerns of the research community. Its chapter layout is properly balanced between comprehensiveness and clarity.

Its content is accurate and unbiased. The textbook is written with ample research support to ensure accuracy and credibility. References at the end of each chapter allow readers to track sources of information and to locate further readings.

It is up-to-date in that the major cultural and media issues it identifies remain highly relevant in today’s world. However, since it was first produced in 2010, some more recent occurrences are not part of the discussion. This is not meant to be a criticism but a reminder that an instructor may want to supplement with more recent materials.

It is written with clear, straight-forward language well-suited an introductory textbook. The chapter layout, as mentioned earlier, is easy to access.

The book is consistent in terms of terminologies and its historical approach to media growth and transformation.

Each chapter is divided in sections, and sections in turn have various reading modules with different themes. For undergraduates taking an introductory course, this textbook will work well.

The topics are presented in an easy-to-access fashion. The textbook starts with a general overview of media and culture and a persistent scholarly concern with the media: media effects. Then it moves through different media in alignment with the chronological order of their appearance in history. The last few chapters focus on important but non-technology-specific topics including advertising and media regulations. For an introductory textbook, it is very accessible to the general student body.

The textbook does not have significant interface issues. Images, charts, and figures all fit well with the text.

There are no grammatical errors.

The textbook has a number of examples of minority cultures and ethnicities. It does not, however, have ample discussions on media and culture phenomena outside of the US, except those that have had significant impact on American culture (e.g., Beatlemania).

All considered, this is a very good textbook to be used in an introductory course. It is comprehensive, easy-to-read, and can help prepare students for future in-depth discussions on media, culture, and society.

Reviewed by Elizabeth Johnson-Young, Assistant Professor, University of Mary Washington on 7/6/20

Comprehensive text regarding mass communication, culture, and effects. The historical perspectives are helpful for understanding, particularly as it goes on to focus in on convergence throughout the text. A more complete glossary or index would be helpful for terms for an introduction text, but key terms are highlighted and defined throughout. Extra examples would help throughout, particularly with theories and research methods.

Accurate, up to date information on history, concepts, and theories.

The information focuses on important historical moments, theories, cultural impacts, and moves to the present with ideas and examples that will likely remain relevant for quite some time.

Clear, easy to read text that would benefit introductory students of mass comm.

Introduces terms and concepts and then utilizes them throughout.

The separation of the larger text into smaller sections is incredibly helpful and makes reading and assignments of readings easy, leading also to the ability to separate into sections that would be appropriate for any course organization.

Organization is logical and easy to follow. Importantly, because of the modularity, it would also be easy to re-organize for one's course.

Navigation works, images clear and detailed.

No glaring grammatical errors.

The examples and images demonstrate diversity in race and also provides examples outside of the United States, which is important. There is some diversity in terms of gender and sexual diversity, more of which would be beneficial and various sections would be appropriate for that inclusion.

This is an excellent and comprehensive text for intro students that includes important historical moments and thorough coverage of main concepts and theories in the field, with a diverse set of moments and examples.

Reviewed by Emily Werschay, Communication Studies Instructor, Minnesota State University System on 10/22/19

Overall, this textbook is quite comprehensive in covering various channels of media, particularly from a historical perspective, and would work well for an introductory course. It features the same focused areas of content that are in my current publisher textbook and incorporates elements of culture as well. It does not provide a glossary or index, which would be helpful, but key terms are in bold.

The text contains accurate research with clearly-cited references that give credibility to the content.

The historical content is well-crafted. The text provides a clear and informative introduction to the history of media and does well with the rise of newspapers, television, and movies. You will not, however, find a reference more recent than 2010, which means any advancements in media and technology in the past decade are not covered. An instructor using this text would have to supplement content on current types of media such as streaming television and music services and the current debate of social media shifting toward news publishing in terms of content delivery. While the text includes culture and political climate of the past, much would need to be supplemented for the last ten years.

The text is professional and well-written. It is well-suited to a college reading level.

The chapter format, writing style, and overall presentation of information are consistent throughout the text. I appreciate the defined learning outcomes and key takeaways pulled out in each chapter.

The text is divided into clear chapters focusing on one medium at a time, much like other publisher texts for mass communication. For example, books, newspapers, magazines, music, radio, movies, and television each get their own chapter. Each chapter begins with clearly defined learning outcomes, and features key takeaways, exercises, assessments, and critical thinking questions at the end, as well as a section on career connections.

The topics are presented in chronological order from the history of mass communication, through the various mediums, and finally to the future of mass communication (though most will find the content particularly about recent and current trends will need to be supplemented as it is outdated).

I didn't find any problems with the interface as it is a standard text that can be viewed as a PDF, but an index would really help navigation. I will say that it's not particularly user-friendly, so I may try integrating the online format chapter-by-chapter into D2L so that I can break it up by modules and add links to make it more interactive with supplemental resources.

Professional, well-written text with no errors.

I don't believe readers will find any of the text culturally insensitive or offensive. The text is focused on U.S. media, however, so some supplemental content may be needed.

This textbook is very comprehensive and will work well for an introductory course. It covers the same focus areas as my publisher text, so I feel comfortable switching to this textbook for my Introduction to Mass Communication course with the awareness that it does not cover the past decade. I will need to provide supplemental information to update examples and cover current topics, but that is generally accepted in this particular field as it is continually changing with advancements in technology.

Reviewed by Bill Bettler, Professor, Hanover College on 3/8/19

This text is comprehensive on several levels. Theoretically, this text echoes the framework employed by Pavlik and McIntosh, which displays sensitivity to convergence. However, this text understands convergence on multiple levels, not just the three employed by P and M. This text is well-researched, with ample citations on a whole host of media topics. Each chapter has multiple ways that it tests the reader, with "Key Takeaways," "Learning Objectives," etc. And finally, the text features chapters on the history and development of key historical media, as well as key emerging media.

Some students find Pavlik and McIntosh a bit too transparent in their Marxist assumptions. While this text certainly introduces Marx-based theories about media, it seems to do a better job of contextualizing them among several other competing perspectives.

Some of the popular culture texts felt a bit dated--for example, opening the "Music" chapter (Chapter 6) with an extended case study about Colbie Caillat. Unfortunately, this is the nature of mass media studies--as soon as books come into print, they are out of date. But I have a hard time imagining my mass communication students being inspired and engaged by a Colbie Caillat case study. I'm not sure what the alternative is; but it seemed worth mentioning. Other examples are much more effective and successful. The historical examples from different types of media are well-chosen, thoroughly explained, and insightful. Also, this text discusses emerging media more successfully than any other texts I have used.

The style of this text is straightforward and scholarly. It seems to strike an effective balance between accessibility and specialized language. For example, key concepts such as "gatekeeper" and "agenda setting theory" are introduced early and applied in several places throughout the text.

Like Pavlik and McIntosh, this text uses the concept of "convergence" to explain several key phenomena in mass communication. Unlike P and M, this text understands "convergence" on more than three levels. Like P and M, this concept becomes the "glue" that holds the various topics and levels of analysis together. As mentioned before, this text is especially effective in that it introduces foundational concepts early on and applies them consistently across succeeding chapters.

On one hand, this text rates highly in "modularity," because I could imagine myself breaking its chapters apart and re-arranging them in a different order than they are presented here. This is in no way meant as a criticism. I routinely have to assign chapters in more conventional texts in a different order. The fact that the technology involved in delivering this text makes it easier to re-arrange is one of its best selling points. The reason I scored this as a "4" is because some of the chapters are quite dense, in terms of volume (not in terms of difficulty). Therefore, I could see students perhaps losing focus to some degree. I might combat this by making further breakdowns and re-arrangements within chapters. This is not a fatal flaw--but it does seem like a practical challenge of using this text.

As mentioned above, some of the chapters are quite dense, in terms of volume. Chapter One is such a chapter, for example. I could easily see Chapter One comprising two or three chapters in another textbook. Consequently, there is a likelihood that students would need some guidance as they read such a dense chapter; and they would likely benefit from cutting the chapter down into smaller, more easily digestible samples. On the other hand, the Key Takeaways, and Learning Objectives, will counteract this tendency for students to be overwhelmed or confused. They are quite helpful, as are the summarizing sections at the ends of each chapter.

I did not encounter any problems with interface. In fact, the illustrations, figures, charts, photographs, etc. are a real strength of this text. They are better than any other text I have seen at creating "symbolic worlds" from different forms of media.

The writing style is professional and free of errors.

This is a genuine concern for mass media texts. Media content is a direct reflection of culture, and today's culture is characterized by a high level of divisiveness. I did not detect any examples or samples that were outwardly offensive or especially controversial. But, perhaps, there is a slight bias toward "the status quo" in the case studies and examples--meaning that many (but certainly not all) of them seem to be "Anglo," Caucasian artists. Looking at the "Music" chapter, for example, some popular culture critics (and students) might lament that Taylor Swift is an exemplar. While this choice is undeniable in terms of the popularity of her recordings and concerts, some might hope for examples that represent stylistic originality, genre-transcending, and progressive ideas (Bruno Mars, Kendrick Lamar, Jay-Z, Beyoncé, Lady Gaga, etc.).

I have been using the same text for seven years (Pavlik and McIntosh). I have decided to adopt Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication. It is simply more thorough in its sweep of history and contextualization of culture, more multi-layered in its theoretical perspectives, and more rich in its examples and insights. This books is recommendable not just as an open source text, but as it compares to any conventional text. Students will benefit greatly from reading this text.

Reviewed by Hsin-Yen Yang, Associate Professor, Fort Hays State University on 11/29/18

Understanding Media and Culture: an Introduction to Mass Communication covers all the important topics in mass communication and media history. It also provides case studies, Key Takeaways, Exercises, End-of-Chapter Assessment, Critical Thinking Questions, and Career Connections in every chapter. Although this book does not provide a glossary, the comprehensiveness of the book still makes it a great textbook choice.

While the information was accurate and the discussions on key issues were supported by good references, it was odd to see the questionable formatting and quality of the first reference on page 3: Barnum, P. T.” Answers.com, http://www.answers.com/topic/p-t-barnum. --> First of all, Answers.com is not considered as a credible source by many scholars and the other half of the quotation marks was missing.

The major weakness of this book is the fact that many of the references were outdated. For example, on page 479, the statistics in the section, "Information Access Like Never Before," the cited reports were from 2002 and 2004. When discussing topics such as Net Neutrality, digital service providers, new policies and technologies, the urgency for updated information becomes evident. However, as the author correctly pointed out: "Although different forms of mass media rise and fall in popularity, it is worth noting that despite significant cultural and technological changes, none of the media discussed throughout this text has fallen out of use completely."

The writing in this book is very clear and easy to understand. The colored images, figures and tables should be very helpful in terms of student comprehension and engagement.

The framework and terminology are consistent throughout the book.

Each chapter can be assigned to students as a stand-along reading, and can be used to realign with other subunits should an instructor decide to compile reading within this book or from different sources.

Each chapter follows similar flow/ format: the history, evolution, economics, case studies and social impact of a mass medium, followed by Key Takeaways, Exercises, End-of-Chapter Assessment, Critical Thinking Questions, Career Connections and References. It was easy to navigate the topics and sections in this book.

I downloaded the book as a PDF and had no problem to search or navigate within the file. The book can also be viewed online or in a Kindle reader.

I spotted a few minor formatting or punctuation issues such as the missing quotation marks stated earlier, but no glaring errors as far as I know.

While it mainly focuses on American media and culture, this book contains statistics and cases from many countries (e.g. Figure 11.7), provides many critical thinking exercises and is sensitive towards diverse cultures and backgrounds.

Overall, this is a high-quality textbook and it contains almost all the key issues in today's media studies in spite of the somewhat outdated data and statistics. The strengths of this book are: Excellent historical examples, critical analysis and reflections, clearly defined key issues and in-depth discussions. Even when using the most recent edition of textbooks, I always research for updates and recent cases. This open resource textbook makes an outstanding alternative to those high-priced textbooks.

Reviewed by Hayden Coombs, Assistant Professor, Southern Utah University on 8/2/18

Perhaps the best quality of this text, Understanding Media and Culture is a very comprehensive textbook. I have used this text in my Mass Media & Communication course for two years now. Each chapter focuses on a different type of medium, starting with the earliest books and working its way up to the latest technological advancements in mass media. Other beneficial topics include: Media & Culture, Media Effects, Economics of Mass Media, Media Ethics, Media and Government, and the Future of Mass Media. These topics provide a solid base for a 100 or 200-level introductory communication course. They also were written in a way that each chapter provided sufficient material for a week's worth of discussion.

This book was written in a very unbiased manner. It is completely factual, and not much room is left for subjective interpretation. The discussion questions allowed multiple themes and schools of thought to be explored by the students. Because this book is intended for an introductory course, the information is fairly basic and widely-accepted.

My biggest issue with this title was that the latter chapters were not written with the same quality as the first ten or so chapters. However, that was the thought I had after the first semester I used this text. Since then, multiple updates have been written and the entire text is now written in the same high-quality throughout. Because this title is being constantly updated by its authors and publishers, the text is never obsolete.

Terminology is clearly defined, and students have little trouble finding definitions in the glossary. Because this text is written for an introductory course, there are not many intense or confusing concepts for students to understand.

Consistency rating: 3

As previously mentioned, the biggest struggle I've had with this text is the fact that the latter third was not written to the same quality of the first ten chapters. However, this issue seems to have been remedied in the latest edition of this text.

The modularity was the biggest selling point for me with this text. Our semester runs 15 weeks, the same number of chapters in this text. I was able to easily focus our classroom discussions and assignments on the chapter theme each week. The text also provides plenty of material for two or three discussions.

Organization/Structure/Flow rating: 3

The text starts by introducing some basic concepts like culture and effects. From there, it focuses on ten different types of media (books, newspaper, radio, television, etc.). The concluding three chapters go back to concepts such ethics and the future of mass media. While not a major issue, there was a major difference in the tone of the two types of chapters.

This text is available in .pdf, kindle, .epub, and .mobi formats, as well as in browser. While nothing fancy or groundbreaking in terms of usability, it is simple and all of my students were able to download the format that best suited their individual needs.

The text contained no grammatical errors that I noticed in the latest edition, a tremendous improvement from the first semester I used this text.

I did not find the content to be culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It used a variety of examples from the world's history, but I found none of them to be inherently offensive. The subject matter and the fact that this is an introductory text probably assist with the cultural relevance because it is easy to understand, but the themes rarely get into "deep" discussion.

This is a fantastic text. Comparing it to other texts for my COMM 2200 Mass Media & Society text, this textbook was not only easier for my students to understand, but it was written and compiled in a way that made teaching the material enjoyable and easy. I have recommended this book to the other instructors of this course because it allows our students to save money without sacrificing anything in terms of content or learning.

Reviewed by Heather Lubay, Adjunct Faculty, Portland Community College on 8/2/18

Overall the book is comprehensive, covering everything from books to radio to electronic media & social media. Each topic has a descent amount of information on both the history and evolution, as well as where we are today (though, as tends to be the nature of the industry, the “today” piece gets outdated quickly. However, the text covers the topics that most other texts of this subject cover as well. I would have liked to have seen just a bit more depth and analysis, instead of the broad, surface-level coverage.

The text is fairly accurate, though, with the rapid rate of change, it’s difficult to be accurate shortly after publication. Using sites such as MySpace as an example, or only looking at movies put out through about 2007, impacts the accuracy as society has changed and moved on. Students in 2018 are given more of a historical perspective from when they were kids more so than having a representation of what media means in today’s world.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 2

This is a hard one because the historical information stands the test of time, but many of the examples fall short for today’s students. The Social Media chapter still references MySpace and Friendster as current platforms and only goes as far as FaceBook & Twitter. The author makes it a point to clarify when the book what published, which helps, but, again, it’ll be hard for a current student to see past that when they’ve grown up with the platform being discussed as “new” and have moved on.

The book is fairly fast-paced and easy enough to follow for lower level or beginner students. Examples are easy to follow and the key takeaway boxes and exercises help further basic understanding.

The chapters are fairly consistent, covering the basic history, evolution, and influence/impact.

The text can easily be used as formatted, or broken up into sections and moved around.

The organization is fairly straightforward. Earlier forms of mass communication are covered first, moving on to newer forms. Once students have a basic understanding of each form, they can then move on to topics like ethics, government, and economics, which need that basic understanding to fully grasp the larger concepts.

The book is easy to navigate with had no issues viewing the photos or charts.

The book is well written and free of any gratuitous errors.

The book does a good job of focusing on US media and society. It uses pretty typical examples, though it could incorporate more relevant examples to today’s students. Some case studies reference minority groups, but it would have been nice to see even more examples featuring minority groups. Also, Using YouTube as a “new” viewing outlet and discussing “The war between satellite and cable television” and DirectTV versus Dish makes the cultural relevance more towards older generations than younger ones.

Overall the book does a great job with the history of mass communication and society. It would work for any lower level course. However, the examples are fairly out of date and the instructor would have to present more recent and relevant examples in class.

Reviewed by Randy (Rachel) Kovacs, Adjunct Associate Professor, City University of New York on 6/19/18

I like the way that the author has broadened the scope of the book to incorporate so many aspects of culture, society, politics and economics that some people would be inclined to distinguish from the mass media, when in reality, all these aspects of contemporary life are intertwined with and influenced by media messages. It provides an historical retrospective but also shows how convergence and constantly-evolving technologies have driven the way consumers use the media and the way producers will use those technologies to rivet the attention (and influence the purchasing choices) of today’s consumers. The text incorporates the most salient areas of media’s evolution and influence.

The book appears to be objective and adopts a critical but non-partisan perspective. It presents data, including media laws and policies, accurately, and the cases it cites are well documented. The author provides sufficient references to support the facts he states and the conclusions he draws. Caveat--The media landscape and technologies are constantly evolving, so the book is accurate for its time of publication but needs to be updated to include new developments.

The way that the author integrates the historical perspective with current roles of social media in is a clear indication of its relevance. The dates may change, as may the celebrities, industrialists, spokespersons, and there may be geopolitical and cultural shifts, but the author’s explanation of theories/principles and the cases selected show how mass media power and influence are here to stay. The author advances the salient issues at each juncture and contextualizes so they we can relate them to current events. The book could be updated but is still has relevance/longevity.

The book is written in a language that is accessible to the layman/beginning student of mass media. The cases that are boxed, and key takeaways at the end of each chapter further distill what is already explicated. There are many concrete facts but a minimum of jargon and any terms used are adequately explained.

The framework and the terminology are consistent. There is also a consistent structure in terms of the visual layout and breakdown of each chapter’s sections, which makes the material far more accessible to students. It’s reassuring in a way, because students know where to go in each chapter for clarification of terms and restatement of the major media developments or areas of impact.

The book’s content is broken down within chapters into (pardon the expression) digestible chunks. The way each subsection is organized makes sense. The major sections where media, developments, policies, etc., are first introduced are illustrated by boxed portions and then reiterated clearly at the end of the chapter with small, chunked takeaways and questions that challenge the students to ponder issues more deeply. The modules are distinguished by color, typset, size of font, etc. which is aesthetically appealing.

The organization makes sense and the topics segue smoothly from one area of media focus to another. Also, the way the book opens with an overview of mass media and cultural is a good starting point from which to document specific historical eras in the development of communication and to transition from one era of communication to another within a context of technology, politics, industry and other variables.

: The text does not have any interface issues, as it is easy to navigate, all illustrations, charts, and other visuals are clear and distortion-free. All features of the book are legible and all display features are legible and functional.

The book is grammatically accurate and error-free.

The book represents a range of cultural groups in a sensitive and bias-free way. Its discussions of media with regard to both dominant cultures and various minority cultures is respectful, bias-free, and non-stereotypical. It is culturally relevant and inclusive.

For many years, I have used a textbook that I have regarded as very high quality and comprehensive, but as it has become increasingly expensive and out of reach financially for many of my students, I find it hard to justify asking my struggling students to add another financial burden to them. Why should I when they can use this OER textbook? I am seriously considering using Understanding Media and Culture in future semesters and recommending it to my colleagues.

Reviewed by Stacie Mariette, Mass Communication instructor, Anoka-Ramsey Community College on 5/21/18

This OER is very comprehensive. I used it for an online course as a PDF textbook. While this discipline evolves faster than any other communication area I teach, this book remains solidly grounded in a wide variety of resources and foundational... read more

As I use it more often, I find myself wanting to update it only for examples regarding the evolution in technology/platforms and the societal/cultural changes that result – not to change the historical content of what is already there.

I haven't come across any factual errors at all.

The examples in this book are often dated. This is my one very mild criticism of this text and only reflects the nature of the information. As we grow into new media and adapt as a society to those delivery methods, it's only natural. I actually use updating the examples in the textbook as an assignment for students.

Some closer to up-to-date examples that I have added into my teaching of the course and to the materials are:

"Fake news" and social media's role in spreading it, especially in terms of Facebook and the last election

Data mining and algorithm practices

"Listening" devices and digital assistants, like Siri and Alexa

The subculture of podcasts

Business models – both for artists and consumers – of streaming services across all media

The chapter on convergence is short and could be a text all on its own. Information relating to this topic is sprinkled throughout the book, but the concept itself is so important to analyze that I like to think about it on its own. This is an area I will beef up in future semesters for my own students.

Streaming services and online journalism overall are two areas that I have noted to update and reference in nearly every chapter.

The short segments and snippets of information are very helpful and clear for students. It's all very digestible and the vocabulary is at just the right level.

The discussion questions and further reading/information are placed in logical places in each chapter. And this consistency helps the reader understand their prompts and what to do next – and additionally the important topics to take away.

I love how this text can be reordered very easily. Since it's so comprehensive, I actually omit a couple of the chapters (radio and magazines) to take the info at a slower pace and have never struggled with remixing other chapters.

In fact, I plan to blend Chapters 11 and 16 (Social Media and New Technology) for my upcoming semesters and have no doubt the text and materials will allow for this.

I like how the chapters primarily focus on one medium at a time. From there, the structure of evolution, technological advancements, social/cultural implications and then a look at trends and emerging controversies helps to build to exciting and relevant discussions and for students to have the backdrop to bring their own insights.

The interface is reliable and easy-to-use. I deliver it as a PDF within my online classroom software. I have never had issues with students downloading and reading on multiple devices – or even printing and referencing – based on their preferences.

This book is very concise and grammatically crisp. It's clear that the authors of the version I am using valued precision in their language and it helps students to see this resource as high-quality!

Cultural and societal relevance are important in this discipline and it's purposely covered in each and every chapter. However, as I mentioned earlier, the examples are outdated in many cases. So I layer this into class discussions and supplement with further readings and assignments. Some of the topics I add are: Representation in entertainment media, like TV and film, for example how the #MeToo movement gained ground based on the film industry Ways that online gaming culture is permissive of the communication of –isms, like sexism and racism Ways that social media and screen time are impacting attention spans, interpersonal relationships/communication and child development How citizen-sourced video and reporting differs from that of trained journalists and how important the differences are The section on media effects is helpful and thorough. I always include a key assignment on this topic. It's also an area I plan to emphasize even more in the future – particularly the idea of tastemaking and gatekeeping. There are many crossovers to many examples that are more up-to-date than the version of the text I have been using.

I love this book and it is on-par with many others I have reviewed for my Introduction to Mass Communication class.

Reviewed by Stacy Fitzpatrick, Professor, North Hennepin Community College on 5/21/18

The presentation of the historical context of media evolution in the US is clear and reasonably detailed, providing a good foundation for an introductory level course. As other reviewers have mentioned, this text was published in 2010 and is out of date in multiple areas, particularly with respect to media laws and regulation, social media, and newer developments of technology (e.g. preference for streaming television, technological and social advancements in gaming). Beyond needing updates to reflect newer advancements in media, this text would benefit from more attention to global media structures, including how they vary across political systems and how they impact how citizens use media to communicate. Additionally, an index and glossary would be helpful for navigation.

I am basing this on the fact that this was published in 2010. Considering the publication date, the factual content for that particular time frame is presented accurately, clearly cited, and reasonably unbiased. There is perhaps an unintended gender bias in the presentation of some content (e.g. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is absent in the music section, as is Nina Simone), though this could be a result of a broader, societal gender bias. Images, charts, and graphs are used well and clearly explained.

The historical content is fine, but the text is almost 9 years out of date and there is a great deal of content that needs to be updated. Making the necessary updates may take some time since the content is tightly written and there are reflections of the date of publication throughout the examples used, images presented, and media discussed. Using this text in class would require the instructor to provide supplemental content on newer advancements in media.

This text is appropriate for a freshman/sophomore level course and reads well. Important terms are defined and each section includes an overview to set a context and clearly defined learning objectives.

The language, terminology, and organization of the text is consistent throughout. This makes moving between chapters easy since they follow a similar format.

With a few exceptions (chapters 1 and 2), the text lends itself well to using different sections at different points. Where there are self-references, there is typically a hyperlink to the section referenced. This is useful for those reading the text online, but less useful if printed sections of text were used.

Chapters 1 and 2 clearly present a structure that the following chapters follow. The only chapter that seems to really break that flow is Chapter 16, but that is more a result of the text being so out of date than a significant change in structure.

I found the online reading format the easiest to navigate. The Word and PDF versions are somewhat more awkward to navigate without using a search keyboard function.

There were a couple minor typos, but no significant grammatical errors that might impact comprehension. The readability assessment (via MS Word) indicated a reading grade level of 13.1, which is consistent with lower division college coursework.

There is a heavy focus on US media, which is acknowledged early on in the text. More integration of content related to global media would strengthen the text. There should be more examples that integrate multiple forms of diversity, such as gender, ability, age, sexuality, race, and ethnicity. Additionally, without an update, younger students may not understand some of the references. For example, younger students in 2018 don’t know Napster as a file-sharing site since it has rebranded to become a streaming site more similar to Spotify.

It would be great to see an update in the content of this text for 2018 that also incorporates broader perspectives of multiple identities and global perspectives. As is, I would use sections of the text and supplement that content with more current examples and issues. Balancing the cost of textbooks in this field with the quality and recency of the content is an ongoing challenge.

Reviewed by Craig Freeman, Director, Oklahoma State University on 5/21/18

The book covers all of the topics you would expect in an inter/ survey course. read more

The book covers all of the topics you would expect in an inter/ survey course.

The book does a good job of accurately surveying mass communications. Good job sourcing information.

The most recent citations are from 2010. That's just too far in the past for a rapidly changing subject like mass communication.

The book is clear and easy to read. Well written.

The book is internally consistent, with recurring sections.

The book does a good job breaking the information down into smaller reading sections.

The book follows the standard structure and flow for introductory texts in mass communication.

The interface is fine. It's a big book. Would appreciate active links to help skip chapters.

No grammatical errors.

I would appreciate a little more diversity in the examples used.

Really wish the authors would update this a bit. It does a great job with the history. Needs updating on the modern issues.

Reviewed by Kateryna Komarova, Visiting Instructor, University of South Florida on 3/27/18

Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less

The title Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication suggests that we are looking at a comprehensive introductory text. In my opinion, this book is the most valuable to GE courses and entry level courses across Mass Communication disciplines, as it does excellent job in covering the fundamentals of mass communication. The textbook is heavy on history, which is a great thing.

I found the content to be accurate and, to my knowledge, error-free.

In comparison with other introductory texts, the content is generally up-to date with current trends. Yet, the distribution of attention towards various forms of media tends to be slightly disproportional. For instance, print magazines alone (essentially, one of many forms of print media that’s experiencing a stable continuous decline) receive as much attention as all forms of social media altogether. As a communications practitioner and an instructor, I was pleased to see information on the merge of paid media and social media (content partnerships and native advertising being the prime examples, albeit these particular terms were not used by the author). On the other hand, some aspects of current media landscape (such as the role of mobile apps, for instance) could be explored further.

The text is written in simple, easy-to-understand language and would be appropriate to non-native speakers.

I find this text to be consistent in terms of terminology.

The book is organized in rather non-trivial fashion, without a unified approach to chapter categorization. Yet, I found this approach refreshing. I loved that the author suggests specific learning outcomes for each section (example: "Distinguish between mass communication and mass media"), key takeaways, and practical exercises. The question bank provided as part of this textbook is a treasure box! It’s a great resource that allows me to have more fun in the classroom by asking interesting questions that wake up the students and generate some amazing answers. The chapters are designed to be used selectively, in no particular order. Big plus.

The content is presented in chronological pattern: from past to future. Other than that, I did not trace much consistency in the material. For instance, Media and Culture is followed by Media Effects, after which the author switches to reviewing various forms of media (Radio, Magazines, Newspapers, etc.). The chapters to follow are Economics of Mass Media and Ethics of Mass Media. I find to be an advantage, as the subsections may be used selectively, and the order may be easily redesigned.

I read the textbook online via the Open Library portal http://open.lib.umn.edu/mediaandculture/chapter/1-2-intersection-of-american-media-and-culture/ . I found the navigation to be very easy. Good interface.

I did not spot any grammatical errors.

I found the content USA-centric. For this reason, it may have limited application to global courses (such as Global Citizens Project courses offered at USF). The majority of case studies are drawn from the United States; much attention is paid to the history of mass media in the USA and current U.S. legislation safeguarding privacy. In today’s increasingly globalized culture and economy, a broader outlook on media and culture may be expected. More international references would enhance the points made by the author. It is important for students to understand that major trends in mass communication, such as convergence of the media, are not unique to the United States. Similarly, increasing media literacy should be positioned as a global, rather than national, priority.

It is a great introductory text that provides a current overview of various forms of media and highlights the role of mass communication in society.

Reviewed by Joel Gershon, Adjunct Professor, American University on 2/1/18

The book should be the perfect fit for my course Understanding Media, as it indeed covers all of the subject matter of the course. The problem is that it is not up to date and therefore detracts from the complete picture that each one of these topics delves into. For example, the music section poses the question: How do the various MP3 players differ? It refers to Spin as a magazine (it ceased its print operations in 2012). Or in the section on television, there is a question about the war between satellite and cable television. I think the winner of that is neither, as streaming a la carte is what people are talking about in 2017 as the direction TV is going in.

This criticism, of course, is obvious and easy. It's actually an exhaustive book that does contain a wealth of useful information, although no glossary or index – glaring omissions. Unfortunately, it suffers from not being up to 2017, when we are living in an up-to-the-second world. Especially in a field like media studies, it makes this book unusable in its entirety. The chapter ethics and economics aren't as badly out of date.

It is accurate for the time it was written in, but in today's world, much of this doesn't hold up. Just one example, there is the claim that Reader's Digest has the third highest circulation of all magazine, which is no longer the case in 2017. It is not in good shape. Even the references to "President Obama," obviously show that it was written a different era with a very different landscape for the media world. Still, the great majority of it appears to be represented fairly, albeit in an outmoded way. It's just that the trends and latest innovations in 2010 won't even make sense to a college freshman whose frame of reference likely came about three years after

Content is up-to-date, but not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time. The text is written and/or arranged in such a way that necessary updates will be relatively easy and straightforward to implement.

Obviously, this is a major weak link of the textbook. I've already commented on this, but I think any time the textbook is referring to MySpace or Friendster in a way that suggests that they are viable social media sites, it makes itself into a caricature of an outdated guide.

No real problem here. The book is fully clear, well-written and to the point. The problem is that the point was made in 2010. That said, there is no glossary or index.

Again, this book is solid as a foundational textbook to get students the basic information regarding the history and meaningful cultural highlights of different forms of media. From radio to media and democracy, the lessons are thorough and contain useful and important information. It's just that some of this information is outdated.

The book is quite easy to read, the organization is fine and reads like any typical textbook. I will say that there have been advancements made, and that this book should be more interactive and multi-media if it wants to keep up with the Joneses.

It's fine in this regard. The writing itself is great and it's broken up nicely. Very readable and I wish it was up to date because it's a solid textbook.

This is fine for 2010, but there is no interactivity or video or things to let us know that we are in 2017.It's basic and fine, but nothing stands out are particularly innovative.

Written well. No issue here at all.

Again, this is the fatal flaw of the book. It's just not going to be persuasive if it doesn't manage to maintain the sensibilities of someone in 2017. Between politics and technology there have been extreme shifts in the media in the past few years and a book like this would need to be updated monthly to stay relevant. It could work as a historical document to see how people thought in 2010, but not really as a relevant book today.

Reviewed by Suzi Steffen, Instructor, Linn-Benton Community College on 6/20/17

This text is rather comprehensive, at least for the time it was published. It covers pretty much any topic one might want to cover in a Media and Society or introductory media and communications class, though for those interested in topic areas like journalism, advertising, and public relations, this textbook is much more about the history of those areas than how they are surviving and functioning today (and that's fine with me; I can update with information that's more recent). There is no index (at least in this form), and there is no glossary, but terms are well-defined within each chapter and within pull-out boxes as well. It would be incumbent upon the professor and students to keep some kind of glossary or wiki, which is not a bad idea for a media history/media and society class in any case.

Often in a textbook for media and society or media history, one can see the author's world view shining through - is capitalism too much for media? Should media creators take an "unbiased" view of the world? How is a medium influenced by the way it is funded? The book has a solid conversational tone and is authoritative on its history, but I might prefer a little more analysis of media ownership and consolidation. As for accuracy, yes, the facts seem quite accurate to the best of my knowledge, and the text is written (and edited) by someone with a journalist's view of language - it's useful, it's best done well, and occasionally it lends itself to some essayistic moments.

I'm not sure there's a way to write a book like this that can keep it relevant past the month in which it was written, much less seven years later. Many of the examples the author uses to illustrate music, social media, books, newspapers (some of which don't exist anymore), magazines (ditto), etc., are simply no longer relevant. It *is* interesting to read about what the author thought was relevant at the time, and what the author thought would last, but this kind of book needs almost constant updating during this time of constant media churn and reinvention. I am giving it a 3, but really it's more like a 2.5 as any instructor would need constantly to find new examples that students will understand.

The book is accessible and lucid, absolutely. As with any history of a large discipline, the book contains a fair amount of jargon that is relevant to each portion of the subject matter covered, and the book is good about not only giving context and giving definitions but also setting aside boxed or special areas for examples that reinforce what it's talking about. The key takeaways at the end of each chapter, added to the exercises that are meant to help the students understand what's important in the dense historical detail and context of each chapter, are helpful as well.

This book is wonderfully consistent with terminology and the framework it employs to discuss media across a wide range of areas. From the beginning of each chapter, where an introduction lays out the plan of the chapter, to the end of each chapter - where a box of "key takeaways" explains what students should have learned - the book keeps a tone of very slightly amused detachment, mixed with earnest passion for certain topics, throughout, which is utterly consistent with how media people actually live their lives.

The text is definitely modular. It's written in a way that could easily be read in various chunks as the instructor or professor wishes to assign it. Blocks of text are broken up with images, a few charts, and a few stories that are boxed and that illustrate examples of topics within the chapters.

I think it's hard to know how to organize a media history/media and society textbook. Do you start with the printed word? But then, what about radio? Should radio come closer to magazines or closer to movies and TV? In that case, where do audiobooks and podcasts go? So, even as any instructor would grapple with these sorts of questions, the book is laid out in a way that made sense to the author - and that can be ripped apart and reassigned by each instructor. There's no need to read economics at the end of the course; perhaps, despite the fact that it's at the end of the book, it should come at the front end of the course - and because it's modular enough for flexibility, that's not a problem.

I read the textbook on my desktop Kindle and on my phone. It's not super with the images or charts, and the boxed questions and exercises at the end are especially hard to take. This interface could use a little attention, at least in the Kindle applications area. It's not impossible; it just needs some work.

No errors that I saw, though a textbook without at least a few grammatical errors is a miracle.

It's hard to say whether it's culturally insensitive or offensive because, well, I'm a white woman. I note that it talks about U.S. media's places (different for advertising, PR, newspapers, etc.) in the Civil Rights Movement and to a certain extent it discusses the ways that major media have been controlled or run by men, by white men, by straight white men. But I don't think the text addresses any of these things in the depth or with the clarity of thought that one would like to see in 2017. (Yes, it's a 2010 text.) In gaming, in Twitter discussions, in talking about newspapers or online media, the book is simply behind the times, and that makes it culturally problematic if not insensitive.

I am reluctant to adopt this book with students who really need more recent examples to make sense of how things are going now, today, in 2017, though it's also relevant for them to learn the history of how we got here (if anyone can really understand that at this point). I'd love to use a newer edition if one comes out. I might use or adapt parts of it along with other readings for my media and society class in 2018, but I'll be cautious about that.

Reviewed by Shearon Roberts, Assistant Professor of Mass Communication, Xavier University of Louisiana on 6/20/17

The textbook hits the standard areas for a typical Introduction to Mass Communication course: evolution of media industries, media and society, media effects and theories, media law and ethics, the digital age, and global media. It is comprehensive in its case studies and historical events that are typically taught for an Introduction to Mass Communication course. The text is current as there is a chapter on the Internet and Social Media and several chapters look at the digital revolution as it impacts media industries. There is no glossary or index, however. Instructors will have to rely on chapter sections for lesson planning.

From Gutenberg to Apple and Google, the book provides content that is accurate on the development of media. The author thoroughly cites case studies and provides questions for critical thinking about issues affecting media industry trends and on the impact of the media on the public. Statistics, data and trends are appropriately cited for reference check on accuracy of estimates.

Case studies and citations stop at 2010. However, the author makes projections for media trends up to 2020. Since media industries are most vulnerable to yearly change, the information in the book holds for now, although the positions of some of the digital media players have changed since the book has come out. However, the author is careful to clarify dates for events that were transformative for media industry changes, at the point in which these events occurred, even if changes have occurred since the book was published in 2010. Within another 5 years, the book is likely to need some updates to digital age developments.

The language used is accessible for a first year student taking an Introduction to Mass Communication course. The theory, ethics and law chapters are broken down for a 1000-2000 level course. The case studies and critical thinking boxes are useful in helping to break down and apply a wealth of information in the text for students to conceptualize the importance of historical events and their social or cultural impacts.

The author is clear on defining media industries, digital convergence and common theories in mass communication.

Instructors can easily use the text as is, or piece together sections on history, digitization and media and society from several chapters, depending on the instructor’s preference.

The text follows the standard logic for media introduction courses moving students through print, to audio, to film to broadcasting and to the digital age. The author wisely weaves in the impact of new media in each of these phases of evolution so the student does not have to wait until the end of the text to see the impacts of the changes of the industry, as they understand media to be today.

While the interface is simple, all graphics and text boxes, as well as assignments are designed similarly throughout the text and easy to locate as an e-text for student work.

Sentences throughout the text are concisely written and the text appears thoroughly proofed.

It was important for me to see examples of race, gender and global dimensions of the media represented as case studies, assignments and critical thinking in the book. From using The Birth of a Nation and its outcry from the NAACP in the film chapter to the rice of BET, or the understanding stereotyping of African Americans in TV, this book has relevant examples that relate to minority students or for a Historically Black University. I did however see no mention of the black press, or the work of alternative media in introduction narratives left out of the mainstream media. However, most introductory media textbooks, also leave this out. If this is an interest area for diverse students, unfortunately instructors are left to source that information themselves. But the most prominent case studies for diverse groups can be found in this text.

It was surprising to discover such an open-textbook as the cost of Intro to Mass Communication textbooks are typically over $100 and students only use this textbook once. This is a valuable resource. I hope the author would consider updating in a few years for recent developments and important case studies such as the #BlackLivesMatter movement and President Donald Trump's election for an examination of media literacy.

Reviewed by Gwyneth Mellinger, Professor and Director, School of Media Arts & Design, James Madison University on 6/20/17

The book covers all of the subject areas typically touched on in a media and society survey course; however, the discussions within chapters would benefit greatly from more examples and, in some cases, greater detail in explanation. I often thought the content was pretty thin. This was particularly so in Chapter 2, where the treatment of effects theories and media studies controversies required much more supporting discussion to be relevant to undergraduates. The greatest weakness in the text, and the specific reason I would not adopt it for my own course, is that the book's engagement of social and digital media is, for the most part, woefully out of date and separated into discrete chapter segments, rather than synthesized into discussions directly. A text on media and society assigned in 2017 cannot be comprehensive if it does not engage media in a way that makes sense to the students who are reading it. There is no index or glossary.

Content Accuracy rating: 2

There is no bias in the text and historical detail appeared to be represented accurately. Again, I question whether a book written in 2010, which lacks full context for the subject matter, can accurately reflect media and society for students in 2017. For example, in 4.6, online journalism is represented as blogs and online newspapers. That is an accuracy issue for today's students.

Relevance/Longevity rating: 1

The book is out of date. Examples and context stop at 2010, and many cultural references will not resonate with current students, which is the point of examples and cultural context. The Beatlemania example early in the book and the references to 2009 in the opening paragraphs advertise the lack of currency. Significantly, the book cannot be easily updated in its current form because its approach and perspective are also out of date. By failing to integrate social media and the Internet into the central narrative, the book emphasizes legacy media in a way that is no longer relevant.

The book is clearly written, though additional examples and context would be helpful in places.

The narrative is consistent in terminology and framework.

The modularity of the text would allow use of sections of the text at different points in a course.

The content in Chapter 11 on evolution of the Internet and the impact of social media belongs near the beginning, not the end, of the text. In addition, the impact of media economics on content is downplayed by sequestering this discussion in Chapter 13. Each chapter on legacy media ends with a section on the impact of new technology on that medium. These sections feel tacked on.

There were no interface issues. That said, the book lacked the visual engagement used by many media and society texts to capture and maintain the interest of today's students.

The text is clean. Of note, the text correctly uses "media" as a plural noun. There was, however, this awkward subheading at 1.2: "What Does Media Do?"

The text is not culturally insensitive. It acknowledges cultural imperialism and the digital divides as issues. There are examples of media content that would be deemed inclusive. That is not to say, however, that today's students would find the examples culturally relevant. The book is written from their grandparents' perspective.

Without irony, the unknown author of the text includes in a media literacy checklist and discussion (1.8) the advice that students should scrutinize the identity and credentials of authors. This same section warns against anonymous online sources. This is a conceptual problem with this particular online text. It's not clear why the author wants to distance her/himself from the project, but it creates a question of credibility.

Reviewed by Elizabeth England-Kennedy, Assistant Professor, Rhode Island College on 4/11/17

The book is extremely comprehensive. Not only does it include all forms of mass media, but it intelligently and thoughtfully addresses critical concepts such as ethics and culture. Photojournalism (especially the work of muckrakers such as Jacob Riis) is not included, and investigative reporting is too briefly addressed, although including advocacy journalism was a sound choice. There is no index or glossary. The lack of a glossary is surprising since key words are already highlighted in text.

The text is accurate and information is fairly represented and free of personal bias. No errors were found.

This is the most concerning characteristic of the book: The information has long-term relevance and is written in a highly readable way that will enhance its longevity. However, the examples tend to be temporally but often not generationally up-to-date and positioned for longevity. For example, beginning the book with an example that is this far removed from today's undergraduates' world may lessen their interest in reading further, as opposed to beginning with more focus on Beatlemania and then moving to an example of an artist/group more accessible to their generation. Additional examples used later in the book are drawn from recent time frames, but may not be commonly accessed. This is the only aspect of the book that would make me hesitate to adopt it.

The text is written in lucid prose that is accessible to introductory readers, though individuals whose first language is not English could have some difficulty reading independently. However, with minimal pre-reading guidance (e.g., introducing concepts that will be included in an upcoming reading assignment, instruction on how to use the Learning Objectives and Key Takeaways to best effect), these readers should also be able to understand and effectively use the text. Context is given for jargon/technical terminology, and definitions are generally clear.

The text is consistent in format, terminology, framework, and tone.

Modularity rating: 1

The book is clearly divided into relatively short subsections that are logically sequenced. Longer sections tend to be broken up by images, all of which are relevant examples of concepts being discussed in the section. The Learning Objectives, Key Takeaways, End-of-Chapter Assessments, and Critical Thinking Questions sections for each module are useful for guiding student reading and could be easily adapted into learning exercises and assessments such as discussions, quizzes, exams, and writing assignments. The Career Connection section at the end of chapters is innovative, and could be especially useful for students considering majors in communications-related fields. Chapters and sub-sections could be used independently in reading packets or rearranged without their being weakened, making it a more flexible resource or textbook.

The organization is clear. Sections are clearly labeled and of approximately the same length. Titles of chapters and subsections are logical and clear. Topics are logical laid out: An overview of foundational concepts in the first two chapters frames the remaining chapters effectively. The remaining chapters are organized in a historically-logical order. This structure is well-designed to helps readers better understand how an increase in the number and forms of media channels impacts audiences and media effects. Chapters are also internally well-organized and could be used separately as desired.

There are no interface difficulties. Pictures are clear and free of distortion. Navigation is clear and easy to use. Because the sections are short, reader interest should be maintained despite the low level of images included. Multiple platforms can be used.

The text contains no grammatical errors. A nice touch by the author is to clarify and model the correct grammatical usage of "medium" vs "media."

No cultural insensitivity or offensiveness was found. The author acknowledges that the book is focused on US media and includes culturally diverse examples. Topics such as cultural imperialism are addressed specifically. Related topics such as cultural appropriation and marginalization are referenced, although these specific terms are not necessarily used (e.g., the latter is addressed in the chapter on music as an outcome of the oligopoly in music without using the term "marginalization"). This could have been taken further; for example, the section on "Issues and Trends in Film" does not address concerns about "whitewashing" or lack of diversity in Hollywood movies and the section on Independent films does not address movies that countered these trends (e.g., the work of Spike Lee and Robert Rodriguez). However, the book lays the groundwork necessary for a discussion of such concepts in class or for use of supplemental materials that build on this text.

The book could be used as a stand-alone for an introductory class. Sections could be used in more advanced classes as supplemental readings or in reading packets.

Reviewed by Kevin Smith, Instructor, Chemeketa Community College on 2/15/17

This text is comprehensive in its coverage of all major media platforms and key general concepts related to mass media. There are times (e.g. Chapter 2: Media Effects) when some concepts are defined vaguely, but this is not indicative of the book as a whole. There is no glossary nor index, but most terms are defined well in the context of each chapter. The review sections at the end of each chapter would also help students organize and recall relevant information as they study. There is little that I feel is missing from this textbook that would be appropriate for an introductory mass media course.

A neutral, objective tone is struck throughout, with no apparent errors or gaps in coverage of major media and concepts. To the best of my knowledge, I believe this text to be free of errors, although it needs to be updated.

While this text is outstanding in its coverage and clarity, it is now seven years out-of-date and needs to be updated. A text on mass media should reflect the most recent changes in technology and economic and political contexts.

This text appears to be written for college freshmen and sophomores. Perhaps even upper-level high school students could successfully grasp its content. Most jargon particular to the discipline is defined and illustrated thoroughly.

The text is rigorous throughout, with even weight given to all concepts. There are occasional overlaps between chapters in coverage of terms (e.g. media bias), but nothing that seems sloppy or out-of-place. The historical overview of media technologies blends seamlessly with the beginning and later chapters on media studies concepts.

The structure of the book lends itself exceptionally well to divisibility, while demonstrating the ability to maintain its own internal coherence. The text seems designed for a semester-long course, so those looking to use it for quarters or with students whose expected reading loads might be lighter will find it easy to pull only what they need from it without sacrificing clarity.

The book's content is designed expertly, with introductory chapters leading into a chronological overview of the history of media technologies (books to social media). The text concludes by expanding its scope to cover more general concepts (e.g.media ethics) that scaffold on previously discussed ideas. This framework would greatly aid students in comprehending central ideas in media studies as they relate to specific technologies and historical periods.

I did not notice any problems in this area, although a cover might be helpful in identifying the text.

I noticed some minor typos, but nothing that reflects poorly on the high level of discourse and mechanical aspects of the text.

The text employs examples that would be helpful to students as they seek to understand mass media in diverse settings. There was no inappropriate content noted. The text is respectful and inclusive in this sense.

The end of chapter summaries, takeaways, exercises and critical thinking questions are outstanding and would serve any instructor well in designing a course with relevant activities tied directly to the text, while also pointing to other sources in contemporary mass media. The book is an invaluable resource that deserves the attention of a group of scholars who can update its content in order that it be more relevant to students.

Reviewed by Amy Rawson, Professor, Century College on 2/8/17

Interestingly, this textbook was more comprehensive than I originally expected. The text covered all of the major areas to be expected in a mass communication textbook: Media, Books, Newspapers, Magazines, Radio, Movies, TV, Games, Internet & Social Media, Advertising & PR, Economics, Ethics, Media & Government and the Future of Mass Media. However, I am giving 4 stars because there is no index or glossary which I deem especially important for a mass communication textbook.

The textbook is accurate. I also like the chapter on the future of mass media. The textbook seems to be error-free and unbiased. Each chapter section includes a few learning objectives and a few "key takeaways." There are also exercise questions at the end of each chapter section. The examples in the exercise questions are dated. It would be nice to have more current examples. However, I would prefer questions about the chapter at the end of the entire chapter or at the end of each section in addition to the objectives, takeaways and exercises. Thus, I am giving 4 stars for outdated examples.

I agree with another reviewer that the examples are a bit dated (which quickly happens in a mass communication textbook). This affects the credibility of the overall text. For example, in Chapter 16.1 Changes in Media Over the Last Century the example box titled "Pay-for-it Content: Will it Work?" is from 2009! This is 2017.

The textbook is written in clear and easily understood language. It is accessible and comprehensible. It would be nice to have a glossary for students for the mass communication jargon.

The text seems to be consistent with terminology and framework. However, the textbook seems dated overall and new terminology and frameworks could be added to make it more relevant and interesting for students.

The modularity of the textbook is good. It is easily and readily divisible into smaller reading sections that can be assigned different points within the course. I like the division of the chapters into subsections.

The organization/structure/flow of the textbook is good. However, I agree with another reviewer that the textbook is too lengthy. In my opinion, 647 pages is too long. Although I have used other textbooks of similar length, there are many more vivid visuals for students and more timely information and examples.

The text is free of significant interface issues that may confuse or distract the reader.

The text contains no grammatical errors.

The textbook examples for cultural relevance could be more current.

Thank you for this opportunity. I like the idea of an open textbook and would be interested in doing more reviews in the future.

Reviewed by Tom Grier, Professor, Winona State University on 8/21/16

The book is comprehensive, covering the study of media and its intersection with culture, through an in-depth look at each of the major mediums, then content considerations, economics and ethics issues related to the mass media. read more

This text seems accurate. I didn't find glaring errors of fact in my reading. Though, as I will mention later in my review, many of the examples used in the text are now several years outdated, when more recent examples or case studies would be more relatable to a youthful college audience.

This is one area where I find some difficulty with the book -- as is the case with every text of this type. The world of media is ever-changing and fast-changing. The historical information about the invention, early adoption, and improvements to the mediums of mass communication (books, newspapers, radio, television, etc.) are fine. A few of the examples and case studies used to describe events related to the media feel outdated. This is most apparent in Chapters 1 and 2 on Media and Culture and Media Effects. Examples from 2010 and 2011, are not relative to college freshmen in 2016 who were in middle-school and probably not paying attention when these things happened. Therefore, the longevity of this text is limited, unless it is updated-revised at least every third year.

The author's writing style is informative and engaging. While the writing is clear and understandable, the chapters often get too deep and try to cover anything and everything in a particular content area-- or sub-chapter, when a couple statements and one case study would suffice.

I found the chapter formatting, writing style and narrative flow to be consistent from chapter to chapter.

Here, the text shines. First, it is broken into chapters that are easily identifiable and segment the content nicely. Within each chapter are several sub-chapters that allow readers to read and absorb material in smaller chunks. This will be helpful to the learning styles of younger people today.

For the most part, I agree with the author's organization and flow. My only thought, and it's just an opinion, is: Chapter 2 on Media Effects should be moved to Chapter 14, so it comes after the major media categories and then the economics of the media, and just before the ethics and law of media. To be fair, most mass media textbooks follow this same organization. When I teach the class, I always move the "effects" chapter to later in the semester, after I've discussed the media types, their history and development.

A second thought, I'd hold the footnoted source credits to the end of each chapter, or preferably to the end of the book. The sometimes very long list of footnoted sources between each sub-chapter stops the flow for readers that may wish to read a full chapter.

I downloaded the PDF version, and read that. I found the interface cumbersome. I wish paragraphs were indented. I wish it was easier to navigate from chapter to chapter or topic to topic without scrolling, scrolling, scrolling. I wish there was an easy way to get to a Table of Contents with one click, and then from there click topic-anchored reference points to skip to specific information sought.

I wish it had an index that had anchor links. I realize this would be a large undertaking to create and connect the links. But that would make searching and finding specific information easy and fast. If I was a college student studying for a chapter quiz or exam on the foundations of radio, I might like to scoot to the Index and click on Radio-Invention, or on Marconi and be led instantly to that content within the text.

And, probably an easy fix, I wish it was more evenly spaced. In my opinion, there should consistently be two spaces between sub-headed sections or sub-chapters. In most places in this text, a new, bolded subhead appears on the very next line under its preceding paragraph. This looks jammed and messy.

I have no problem with the grammar. It's clear, easy to follow, and written to be accessible to a college audience. I used the Gunning Fog Index to test several paragraphs throughout the text and found some of the writing aimed at an audience with 10-11 years of formal education, and in a few cases more than 15 years of education. The average of my selected readings came out at 12-13 years of education -- perfectly appropriate for a freshmen-level college course.

Other than my hope for some more recent case studies and examples, I find the text to be culturally relevant. A few of the examples mention MySpace, Napster and Kazaa as internet entities with which the audience should be familiar. In reality, today's college freshmen know almost nothing of these three internet terms. In my current Media and Society class, less than ten percent of the class had ever had a MySpace account. They had heard of MySpace, but really knew nothing. No one in the class knew about Napster or Kazaa first-hand... perhaps had heard of them in another class.

This text feels too long. This is a difficult thing. The author includes everything he feels needs to be discussed in each chapter. But it's too much for a college freshman-level class. Example: The chapter on Music is more than 50 pages long. While I agree college students should be able to read this much each week for a class, I'm confident they will not read this much. I believe the text could be condensed quite a bit while maintaining the content necessary to make it meaningful at the freshman level. It's a complete text, and would make a nice reference tool -- with better indexing and searching links within the body -- but it won't work at an entry level to the study of media. At my university, the "Media and Society" class is a 100-level course, used as a general education class that can fulfill a categorical credit-need for all students, not just Mass Communication majors. And we consider the class a "feeder" to the major, introducing students to the study of media and hopefully igniting an interest in students to consider a career in media, and therefore declare a Mass Communication major. This book, with its depth, might be more appropriate in an upper-vision media studies course.

Reviewed by Nick Marx, Assistant Professor, Colorado State University on 1/7/16

The text is a broad and comprehensive overview of all relevant forms of media today. Although this is a common organizational approach for survey textbooks of media, this particular volume utilizes it in a particularly clear and cogent manner. Instructors approaching media and culture from a mass comm/journalism standpoint are much likelier to find this text useful than are instructors who approach media and culture from a perspective emphasizing critical/cultural studies, historical poetics, and/or aesthetics.

Content is accurate and strikes appropriately diplomatic tones where contentious issues might arise that concern social and cultural power.

The text is quite relevant for the most part, but by the very nature of its subject matter will undoubtedly require updates every few years. Framing the intro of the "Future of Mass Media" chapter with a specific device--the iPad--rather than the set of cultural protocols such devices foster, for example, might prove to be one area where instructors redirect conversations after the next new device inevitably cycles through.

The text is lucid and easy to follow. The book is ideal for introductory-level courses, but is likely too survey-oriented for courses beyond that level.

The text is consistent in structure, tone, and subject matter.

Here the book really excels at guiding students through a programmatic approach to studying media. Each section of history/description is followed by useful discussion prompts and activities, easily lending itself to course adoption.

The book flows logically. Some medium-specific chapters might arguably be collapsed into others, but their separation provides instructors with a good range of options for organizing lesson plans as they wish rather than having to proceed sequentially.

The text is a cleanly organized PDF, but is quite cumbersome to navigate internally. At 700+ pages, there's no table of contents and little in the PDF that allows for quick and easy browsing without intense scrolling. I'd recommend a hyperlinked TOC and some mechanism that affords instructors/students the freedom to teach/read in a modular, not linear, fashion.

The book is very clean and free of any obvious errors.

The book appropriately qualifies and focuses on the US media context, drawing on a good diversity of examples throughout.

Reviewed by Robert Kerr, Professor, University of Oklahoma on 1/12/15

This book devotes almost 800 pages to achieving an impressive level of comprehensiveness, considering the vast subject material upon which it focuses. Moving from Gutenberg’s 15th-century invention of the movable type printing press, through the beginning of the contemporary media age launched by the introduction of the telegraph in the mid 19th century, on into the explosive era opened with the beginnings of wireless communication, and ultimately into the revolution of Internet communication that by 2008 meant that U.S. households were consuming 3.6 zettabytes of information annually, the equivalent of a seven-foot-foot tall stack of books that covered the entire nation and represented a 350 percent increase from just three decades previously. This book manages to cover that remarkable series of media developments, and actually a good bit more, while keeping it all in broader context and without getting bogged down in the tedium of too much minutia from any one topic area.

This reviewer came across no errors of fact nor any pattern of bias in presentation.

The author of any text on this subject is faced with the challenge of achieving up-to-date content on a subject that explodes with new developments faster than any static text could ever stay fully up to date on for long. This text addresses that challenge by focusing on presenting a fully, dynamic framework that is so fully developed that it provides readers with a quite useful and enduring framework for considering crucial issues of media and culture in a manner that should give it a considerable shelf life. That framework is designed to help readers understand not only today’s media landscape but to consider what may be ahead for that landscape in terms of the future of media and culture.

The text breaks down relevant concepts and terminology with lucid, accessible prose so that even readers at the most introductory level should be able to always understand the discussion. Throughout the text, it very clearly helps readers think about each concept and related elements very clearly and in context that illuminates their significance.

This book’s use of terminology and framework is remarkably consistent. The author clearly has an instinctive, unified understanding of the essential dynamics driving the media world as it has evolved, exists today, and is unfolding going forward, and consistently discusses all topics in a context that never loses connection with that broad, fluid picture.

Chapters are organized into small modules, short subsections that by and large can stand alone and could be reorganized as an instructor might find more useful for the purposes of particular courses. Each chapter and each subsection includes highly useful learning objectives, key takeaways, and exercises, links to source materials and end-of-chapter assessments.

The book begins with a thorough overview that takes the reader quickly through a multifaceted assessment of the relationship between media and culture. With that foundation established, it moves into discussion of what is understood about the complex subject of media effects. Then it moves into narrower topics within the broader view considered so far, moving on to discussions of books, newspapers, magazines, music, radio, movies, and television, and then on to more recent developments such as electronic games, the Internet and social media. Then it steps back again to consider broader media influences such as advertising/PR, the role of economics in shaping the nature of mass media, ethical considerations, and government influence, before concluding with a substantial discussion of the future of mass media. The final chapter very effectively brings together the many strands of discussion from preceding chapters and synergizes them with a forward looking discussion of what the media future may hold. A table of contents within the book pdf itself would be helpful, as would content outlines at the beginning of each chapter. However, each chapter does contain very good breakdown highlights of each subsection’s learning objectives, key takeaways, and exercises, as well as extensive links to source materials and end-of-chapter assessments.

There do not seem to be any interface problems. The book is easy to navigate and the images/charts are displayed clearly, without distortion. Display features are presented quite distinctly and effectively throughout and should present readers with not distractions or confusion. The layout is somewhat visually plain, compared to many websites and even many traditional textbooks with more graphically elaborate designs, but the simple layout is easy to negotiate. The number of images/charts is not abundant, but is sufficient.

Grammar is used correctly throughout -- including use of the term “media” as a plural noun, which even too many academics have begun to use incorrectly as a singular term. It even includes an explanation of why it is incorrect to make that term singular, despite its popular usage in such manner. The text is very well written throughout, lively and to the point, with an easy flow that should enable readers to move through it almost effortlessly.

Over the course of this 761-page book, the reader is taken through an extensive range of discussion examples that span a multitude of races, ethnicities, and backgrounds. This reviewer did not detect any instances of cultural insensitivity or offensiveness.

This book is written well enough to be of general interest as a stand-alone read, apart from the context of its use as a textbook.

Reviewed by Doug Trouten, Professor, University of Northwestern - St. Paul on 7/15/14

The text covers all of the major forms of media and significant related topics (advertising, media economics, ethics, etc.). While the text lacks a dedicated chapter for journalism, this topic is covered at length in some of the other chapters. No... read more

Content is accurate and free of glaring errors. Although written in a personal, conversational tone, the text avoids obvious personal bias.

The content is up-to-date, including discussion of social media and references to recent works of media criticism. The rapid development of new media makes it likely that some of the material in this (or any) book will quickly seem dated, but the most time-sensitive material is confined to a few chapters, which should facilitate future updates.

The book is written in clear, easy-to-understand language that should appeal to today's college-age reader.

The text shows good consistency, introducing key ideas early and using them to facilitate understanding of material covered in subsequent chapters.

The chapters are clearly divided into subsections, each with clearly stated learning objectives, key takeaways and learning exercises. Most subsections could stand on their own, and chapters focusing on specific forms of mass media could easily be rearranged or skipped if desired.

The topics are presented in a logical fashion. After introducing basic ideas about media and culture and media effects, the text moves to discussion of various forms of media in chronological orders, and ends with chapters on various mass media applications and issues, such as advertising, public relations, ethics and government regulation.

The text is a basic PDF, with fixed line breaks that limit display options. Most URLs are live links. Footnote numbers and references to chapter sections look like links but are not, which may confuse some readers. A format better-suited for e-readers would be welcome.

The text strives to be culturally neutral, and should not offend any particular group of readers. The text clearly focuses on the U.S. media context, and acknowledges this limitation early on.

This is an impressively comprehensive overview of mass communication, written in a clear and engaging manner. Discussion questions and exercises are helpful resources for classroom use. A glossary, index and more flexible e-format would make this text even more useful. This text is a welcome addition to the field, and will serve students and teachers well.

Chapter 1: Media and Culture
Chapter 2: Media Effects
Chapter 3: Books
Chapter 4: Newspapers
Chapter 5: Magazines
Chapter 6: Music
Chapter 7: Radio
Chapter 8: Movies
Chapter 9: Television
Chapter 10: Electronic Games and Entertainment
Chapter 11: The Internet and Social Media
Chapter 12: Advertising and Public Relations
Chapter 14: Ethics of Mass Media
Chapter 15: Media and Government
Chapter 16: The Future of Mass Media

Ancillary Material

University of Minnesota Libraries Publishing

About the Book

According to the author, the world did not need another introductory text in mass communication. But the world did need another kind of introductory text in mass communication, and that is how Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication was birthed.

The only question was: What would be the purpose of another introductory mass communication text?

Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication was written to squarely emphasize media technology. The author believes that an introduction to mass communication text should be a compelling, historical narrative sketching the *ongoing evolution* of media technology and how that technology shapes and is shaped by culture — and that is what he set out to deliver with his new textbook.

Today's students are immersed in media technology. They live in a world of cell phones, smart phones, video games, iPods, laptops, Facebook, Twitter, FourSquare, and more. They fully expect that new technology will be developed tomorrow. Yet students often lack an historical perspective on media technology. They lack knowledge of the social, political and economic forces that shape media technology. This is not knowledge for knowledge's sake. It is knowledge that can help them understand, comprehend, appreciate, anticipate, shape and control media technology.

With this focus, Understanding Media and Culture becomes an appropriate title. Indeed, the title has particular significance. Marshall McLuhan's Understanding Media is a key text in media studies. Written in the 1960s, Understanding Media was the subject of intense debates that continue to this day. Its central message was that the technology of media — not their content — was their most important feature. In a typically pithy phrase, McLuhan said, "The medium is the message." The title, Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication , situates the introductory text in a large, engrossing theoretical conversation.

The goal is to adopt a textbook that will support and complement your teaching of this course. Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication will support an engaging and interesting course experience for students that will not only show them the powerful social, political and economic forces will affect the future of media technology, but will challenge students to do their part in shaping that future.

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Introduction

3 Functions of Media

Learning Objectives

Identify four roles the media perform in our society.

Why do media play such an important role in our lives and our culture? With reflection, we can see that media fulfill several basic roles.

One obvious role is entertainment . Media can act as a springboard for our imaginations, a source of fantasy, and an outlet for escapism. In the 19th century, Victorian readers, disillusioned by the grimness of the Industrial Revolution, found themselves drawn into books that offered fantastic worlds of fairies and other unreal beings. In the first decade of the 21st century, American television viewers could relax at the end of a day by watching singers, both wonderful and terrible, compete to be idols or watch two football teams do battle. Media entertain and distract us in the midst of busy and hard lives.

Media can also provide information and education . Information can come in many forms, and often blurs the line with entertainment. Today, newspapers and news-oriented television and radio programs make available stories from across the globe, allowing readers or viewers in London to have access to voices and videos from Baghdad, Tokyo, or Buenos Aires. Books and magazines provide a more in-depth look at a wide range of subjects. Online encyclopedias have articles on topics from presidential nicknames to child prodigies to tongue-twisters in various languages. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has posted free lecture notes, exams, and audio and video recordings of classes on its OpenCourseWare website, allowing anyone with an Internet connection access to world-class professors.

Another useful aspect of media is its ability to act as a public forum for the discussion of important issues. In newspapers or other periodicals, letters to the editor allow readers to respond to journalists, or voice their opinions on the issues of the day. These letters have been an important part of U.S. newspapers even when the nation was a British colony, and they have served as a means of public discourse ever since. Blogs, discussion boards, and online comments are modern forums. Indeed, the Internet can be seen as a fundamentally democratic medium that allows people who can get online the ability to put their voices out there—though whether anyone will hear is another question.

Media can also serve to monitor government, business, and other institutions . Upton Sinclair’s 1906 novel The Jungle exposed the miserable conditions in the turn-of-the-century meatpacking industry. In the early 1970s, Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein uncovered evidence of the Watergate break-in and subsequent cover-up, which eventually led to the resignation of then-president Richard Nixon. Online journalists today try to uphold the “watchdog” role of the media.

Thinking more deeply, we can recognize that certain media are better at certain roles. Media have characteristics that influence how we use them. While some forms of mass media are better suited to entertainment, others make more sense as a venue for spreading information. For example, in terms of print media, books are durable and able to contain lots of information, but are relatively slow and expensive to produce. In contrast, newspapers are comparatively cheaper and quicker to create, making them a better medium for the quick turnover of daily news. Television provides vastly more visual information than radio, and is more dynamic than a static printed page; it can also be used to broadcast live events to a nationwide audience, as in the annual State of the Union addresses given by the U.S. president. However, it is also a one-way medium—that is, it allows for very little direct person-to-person communication. In contrast, the Internet encourages public discussion of issues and allows nearly everyone who wants a voice to have one. However, the Internet is also largely unmoderated and uncurated. Users may have to wade through thousands of inane comments or misinformed amateur opinions in order to find quality information.

As mentioned earlier in this book, the 1960s media theorist Marshall McLuhan took these ideas one step further, with the phrase “the medium is the message.” McLuhan emphasized that each medium delivers information in a different way and that content is fundamentally shaped by that medium. For example, although television news has the advantage of offering video and live coverage, making a story come vividly alive, it is also a faster-paced medium. That means stories get reported in different ways than print. A story told on television will often be more visual, have less information, and be able to offer less history and context than the same story covered in a monthly magazine. This feature of media technology leads to interesting arguments. For example, some people claim that television presents “dumbed down” information. Others disagree.

We do not have to cast value judgments but can affirm: People who get the majority of their news from a particular medium will have a particular view of the world shaped not just by the content of what they watch but also by its medium . Or, as computer scientist Alan Kay put it, “Each medium has a special way of representing ideas that emphasize particular ways of thinking and de-emphasize others.” [1] The Internet has made this discussion even richer because it seems to hold all other media within it—print, radio, film, television and more. If indeed the medium is the message, the Internet provides us with an extremely interesting message to consider.

Key Takeaways

Media fulfill several roles in culture, including the following:

Entertaining and providing an outlet for the imagination
Educating and informing
Serving as a public forum for the discussion of important issues
Acting as a watchdog for government, business, and other institutions

[1] Alan Kay, “The Infobahn is Not the Answer,” Wired , May 1994.

This chapter is adapted from Chapter 1 of Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication by The Saylor Foundation.

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12.1 The Media as a Political Institution: Why Does It Matter?

Learning outcomes.

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain the importance of a free press both in the United States and abroad.
Describe how the media acts as a watchdog and give examples.
Understand and define how political information is mediated.

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances. —The 1st Amendment to the United States Constitution

The press is the only profession explicitly protected in the United States Constitution. Many attribute this protection to James Madison and his writings in the Federalist Papers , but the idea of a free press stretches back to well before Madison wrote out his ideas on what constitutes a perfect democracy. The origins of the free press in the United States can be traced back to Cato’s letters , a collection of essays written in the 1720s by two British writers, John Trenchard and Thomas Gordon . Using the pseudonym Cato, they published their articles in the British press, criticizing the British monarchy for its corruption and tyrannical practices. Decades later, American colonists felt the effects of these letters during their own struggles against the Crown, 1 and in 1776, Virginia became the first state to formally adopt a constitutional provision to protect press freedom. 2 Why is the idea of protecting the press so embedded in the United States’ concept of government, and why is this concept so important? Do other nations protect the media to the same extent, or even more? The next section will examine these questions.

The Fourth Estate and Freedom of the Press

The importance of a free press can be boiled down to a sentence from esteemed University of Illinois at Chicago lecturer Doris Graber ’s seminal work Mass Media and American Politics : “The mass media . . . serve as powerful guardians of political norms because the American people believe that a free press should keep them informed about the wrongdoings of government.” 3 Another common way of defining the media’s role is to say that it acts as the fourth estate , or the unofficial fourth branch of government that checks the others. The term fourth estate is credited to Scottish writer Thomas Carlyle , who wrote, “Burke said there were Three Estates in Parliament; but, in the Reporter’s Gallery yonder, there sat a Fourth Estate more important far than they all.” 4 In other words, people look to the media—the fourth estate—to keep the government in check. The role of the media must be protected if it is to carry out that task.

Throughout US history, the media has fulfilled this role as intended. In the late 1960s, Rand Corporation analyst Daniel Ellsberg provided classified documents to the New York Times and the Washington Post proving that the government was concealing protracted military involvement in the Vietnam War. The New York Times withstood government pressure and a Supreme Court case to go on to publish a series of articles now known as the Pentagon Papers , which revealed the extent to which the American public had been lied to about the country’s progress in that war. The Watergate scandal is perhaps the most famous example of press freedom and the role of the press as watchdog (another term for the fourth estate ). In this instance, a government informant known as Deep Throat fed Washington Post reporters Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein confidential information about then president Richard Nixon’s corrupt campaign practices. An ensuing series of investigative pieces by the two journalists revealed multiple abuses of power in Nixon’s reelection campaign, and their reporting ultimately led to the indictment of multiple presidential aides and the eventual resignation of the president himself.

In this video clip, investigative journalists Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, editor Barry Sussman, and former executive editor Ben Bradlee recall how, when they worked for the Washington Post in 1972, they broke the story of the Watergate scandal, a story that started with an investigation of a break-in at a Washington, DC, hotel and led to a constitutional crisis, the resignation of President Richard Nixon, and almost 50 criminal convictions.

In the case of the Pentagon Papers, the Supreme Court ruled 6–3 that the president’s argument—that prior restraint 5 was necessary in order to protect national security—was not enough “to abrogate the fundamental law embodied in the First Amendment ,” 6 and this is the most important First Amendment case because it addresses the sweeping right of the press and press protections in the 20th century. Watergate showed how a protected press is free to serve one of its main purposes, which is to reveal government misconduct. New Yorker staff writer Richard Harris wrote at the time that, “The press was potentially Mr. Nixon’s enemy—far more than the courts or Congress, because only the press could dig out and tell the story (whatever help reporters might get from the courts or Congress) in a way that would arouse the people to demand an accounting.” 7

Watchdogs do not have to be journalistic behemoths like the New York Times or the Washington Post. In the United Kingdom, a small, independent newspaper called the Rochdale Alternative Paper revealed decades-long abuse allegations against Liberal Party MP 8 Cyril Smith . The exposé in the paper, which had a circulation of 8,000 at its highest, 9 eventually led to both a police and an independent government investigation into a child abuse ring that involved several high-level government officials, including MP Peter Morrison, the private secretary to then prime minister Margaret Thatcher . 10 Another way to understand the watchdog function of the press is through the term muckraker , referring to reform-minded investigative journalists during the Progressive Era in the United States (late 1800s to early 1900s) who exposed the wrongdoings of industry leaders. One famous example of a muckraker was Upton Sinclair , who wrote the novel The Jungle based on the corrupt and inhumane practices in American meatpacking companies at the turn of the 20th century. The publication of The Jungle led to governmental action on food safety. In his 1919 work The Brass Check , Sinclair exposed the journalism industry’s penchant for yellow journalism , or journalism that relies on catchy titles and human interest stories to drive sales over well-researched articles or pieces on civic affairs. Sinclair was not afraid to take on media titans such as William Randolph Hearst , who owned the nation’s largest chain of newspapers at the time.

Watchdogs and muckrakers act as a check on government action and corruption. They play an important part in exercising the role of a free press as a cornerstone of a functioning democracy. As Yale University professor and member of the Council on Foreign Relations Timothy Snyder writes, “If nothing is true, then no one can criticize power, because there is no basis upon which to do so.” 11 The media allows the public to understand what is happening in government in order to hold elected officials accountable. Or, perhaps more simply put, “A free press is important because it is the freedom upon which all of our other freedoms are contingent.” 12

How free is the press? The answer is not black and white, as evidenced by the 2021 World Press Freedom Index . Published every year by Reporters Without Borders , the Freedom Index measures freedom in 180 countries “based on an evaluation of pluralism, independence of the media, quality of legislative framework and safety of journalists in each country and region.” 13 The map in Figure 12.3 below shows that the press is freer in some countries (in pink and purple on the map) than in others (in blue and green).

According to the index and as reflected in the map, Norway, Finland, Sweden, and Denmark have the freest presses in the world. Notably, Norway tries to discourage media concentration in order to ensure a variety of outlets, something that will be discussed in later parts of this chapter. The 2021 index ranked the United States 44th, after South Africa (32nd), Botswana (38th), and South Korea (42nd).

George Mason University professor Sam Lebovic explains that two main factors, the rise of concentration in ownership and increased state secrecy, are responsible for the inadequacy of press freedom in the United States, which is an ongoing and serious problem. 14 The modern US media faces unprecedented struggles against declining viewership and revenues, which work to limit the number of outlets and decrease the number of working journalists. At the same time, legislation such as the Patriot Act , passed after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, has made it more difficult for the press to verify state information because of increasing pressure on sources not to cooperate and prosecution of journalists who do ascertain information. In addition, the Trump administration further hampered press freedoms through the prosecution of news sources, public statements that discredited journalists, and encouragement of foreign leaders to take steps to restrict their own media. 15 The future of press freedom in America, while still unstable due to media concentration and surveillance laws such as the Patriot Act, may show some signs of improvement; in a speech on Press Freedom Day in 2021, President Joe Biden decried the imprisonment of 274 reporters worldwide, criticized the lack of local media outlets, and said that the United States “recognize[s] the integral role a free press plays in building prosperous, resilient, and free societies.” 16 Despite these laudatory comments about a free press, however, it is clear the United States faces challenges in protecting journalists’ ability to fulfill their roles.

A study of the United States and Latin America provides an example of how this idea of the importance of a free press is shared across cultures. In the study, journalists representing both cultures shared a common definition of a free press as one that functions without government pressure and to promote social and economic development. 17 This study considered whether or not a free press is related to increased economic development, a question that to date has not been conclusively answered. While the notion that political freedoms (such as freedom of the press) should naturally encourage economic growth and increased standards of living is a common one, current research has not found conclusive evidence either supporting or refuting the claim. 18

There is more of a consensus on the benefits of a free press when it comes to preventing corruption. Studies of press freedom around the world, conducted by scholars in England, Argentina, and Australia, confirm this theory. 19 In this way, the watchdog role that the press plays is based on democratic ideals and has real-world effects for the public.

The Mediated Nature of Political Information

The political information most people receive is mediated information . What does this mean? Unless they work directly in government, most citizen’s understanding of politics comes completely from the media, whether via television news, podcasts, or social media feeds. The media may be a gatekeeper, but it is also a storyteller. As such, it is important to realize that what people see in the media is actually a manufactured view of the political world. Journalists and others who create the news follow routines and are influenced by institutional values that manifest themselves in media content. As Columbia University professor Herbert Gans writes in his study of the American media, “The news does not limit itself to reality judgments; it also contains values, or preference statements. This in turn makes it possible to suggest that there is, underlying the news, a picture of nation and society as it ought to be.” 20 Gans acknowledges that professional journalists try to be objective, yet the news does in fact make judgments and value statements. For example, crime news alerts viewers to the idea that there are undesirable actors within society and that criminals should be punished. Judgments and value statements such as these are different from political bias; while some news outlets are overtly liberal or conservative, Gans’s study shows that the media produces stories with cultural values that people may not detect because they are so used to seeing stories presented this way. For example, according to Gans, ethnocentrism and altruistic democracy are two of the key enduring values in the news. Ethnocentrism in the news refers to the idea that the American media values the United States above all other nations. This manifests most obviously in war coverage, where the press rarely questions American involvement—and to do so would be unpatriotic. In a similar vein, Gans explains that the American news media emphasize an altruistic democracy , the ideal held up by the media that politics should be based on public service and for the public interest. 21 In these ways, the news makes statements about what is right and what is wrong and presents political news through these lenses.

Journalists also share other professional values as to what makes a “good” news story, such as proximity, negativity, scope (how big is the story?), timeliness, and unexpectedness (novelty). 22 Because journalists share these professional values, there is a certain homogeneous quality to the news, otherwise known as pack journalism . This means that people receive the same type of news story repeatedly, though this has been changing since the advent of online news, a topic that will be discussed later in the chapter. Journalists’ common ideas about what should be in the news and why color their coverage and presentation of the news—and, as a result, the public’s perception of politics.

It is important here to note that the concept of news values differs across countries—what is newsworthy in the United States may not be in other nations—and the role of the media differs as well. A study on the news in Japan found that strong cultural forces and local needs drive how news is produced and delivered. 23 Other scholars have found that Western news organizations highlight human interest stories, while Arabic news focuses more on social responsibility and Islamic values. 24 University of Leicester Professor Vincent Campbell echoes the sentiment that news organizations in different countries are fueled by different values and that this influences what stories their audiences see. In authoritarian countries, journalists focus less on performing the watchdog role and more on promoting state activities. 25 This is the case in countries such as North Korea and China, where the state government runs the media.

Related to the idea that the media in large part decides what is a good news story is the concept of the media’s gatekeeping role and its agenda-setting powers. In other words, according to agenda-setting theory , the media decides both what to ignore or filter out and what to show the public. As University of Texas professor Maxwell McCombs and University of North Carolina professor Donald Shaw write, “In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality. Readers learn not only about a given issue, but also how much importance to attach to that issue from the amount of information in a news story and its position.” 26 Whether it is a producer who selects the topics for the evening news or an algorithm that creates a social media news feed, people know what is “news” by what is fed to them, they know what is important based on how often it gets airtime, and they understand that there are lead stories and stories that don’t matter very much. The public doesn’t make these decisions; professionals within the news industry make them for the public. (Later parts of this chapter will discuss how this power dynamic has changed thanks to social media and how, in many ways, it is no longer media professionals who select what the public sees.)

If the media decides which stories to present, it also has a hand in deciding how stories are presented. According to framing theory , the way the media frames political information can affect people’s understanding of it. University of Illinois professor David Tewksbury and University of Wisconsin professor Dietram A. Scheufele explain:

“Artists know that the frame placed around a painting can affect how viewers interpret and react to the painting itself. . . . Journalists—often subconsciously—engage in essentially the same process when they decide how to describe the political world. They choose images and words that have the power to influence how audiences interpret and evaluate issues and policies.” 27

For example, a study on gubernatorial races found that female candidates were more likely to be framed in terms of personal characteristics than their male counterparts, who were more likely to be framed in terms of their positions on policy issues. 28 In a separate study, researchers found that one common way the Dutch national media framed news on the European Union (EU) was in terms of assigning responsibility for social problems to the government. This study suggests that the Dutch media’s presentation of political news reflects the public expectation that the government will provide social welfare programs. 29 By highlighting certain aspects of a story and ignoring others, frames can affect people’s judgments and opinions on policy issues, and just as with agenda setting, elected officials fight to make sure they are framed in the correct light.

The public, and individual viewers, should know that while the media is a critical tool that aids people’s political decision-making, it is guided by professional values that dictate the content. Individuals’ views on politics can sometimes be out of their control, but they can work to assemble a better picture of the world by turning to a variety of media outlets and becoming aware of what goes into story selection. While internal pressures (such as professional norms) or external forces (such as authoritarian governments) can influence how the media portrays information, ownership can also affect what the public sees. The next section will examine the different types of media—and, perhaps more importantly, who owns them and how this affects their role in the political world.

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Everything you need to know about multimedia presentations

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Anete Ezera May 25, 2023

Crafting a well-executed multimedia presentation can be the determining factor between success and failure when delivering presentations. The impact of a multimedia presentation is undeniable, but what exactly does it entail, and what are the essential considerations to keep in mind when creating one?

In this article, we’ll explore the key components involved in creating compelling multimedia presentations and delve into the strategies that can help you assemble these elements to craft the perfect presentation. We’ll discuss the importance of content structure, visual design, and engaging storytelling techniques that capture your audience’s attention and leave a lasting impact. Additionally, we’ll provide insights on leveraging Prezi’s features to enhance your multimedia presentations, making them more dynamic and interactive.

What is a multimedia presentation?

A multimedia presentation is a computer-based presentation that uses various forms of media to effectively communicate and engage an audience. In today’s fast-paced world, multimedia presentations have emerged as one of the most powerful and impactful means of communication. Complex ideas and information can be challenging to convey using only traditional tools. However, by harnessing the potential of visually engaging images, high-quality audio clips, and captivating video content, you can deliver a wealth of information that isn’t only clear, but also interesting, easy to understand, contextual, detailed, and engaging.

To facilitate the creation of multimedia presentations, Prezi offers a user-friendly and intuitive platform that empowers presenters to transform their ideas into attention-grabbing visual stories that move. One of the standout features of Prezi is its dynamic zooming capability. With this feature, presenters can seamlessly navigate between various levels of content, zooming in to emphasize critical details and zooming out to provide a comprehensive overview. This interactive zooming functionality not only adds visual interest to your presentation but also enables you to guide your audience’s focus and create a fluid and engaging storytelling experience. Furthermore, the presentation canvas allows for more creativity and freedom as you don’t need to be limited by the traditional slide-based presentation format.

A man showcasing a multimedia presentation

The psychology of multimedia

Multimedia presentations are not just about what you say but also how you make your audience feel and remember. Let’s discover how colors, visuals, and sounds can influence your audience’s perception and memory retention.

Color psychology

Colors evoke emotions and convey messages. For instance, red can signal urgency and passion, while blue suggests trust and calmness. Choose your color palette wisely to align with the emotions you want to portray to your audience.

Visual impact

Visuals are your secret weapon. The brain processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Use attention-grabbing images and graphics that resonate with your message. For example, if you’re presenting about eco-friendly initiatives, images of lush forests and clear skies can speak volumes.

Soundscapes

Sound can set the mood and reinforce key points. Think about the background music in movies – it enhances the overall emotional impact of a scene. In your presentation, use background music or sound effects thoughtfully to complement your content.

Memory retention

Did you know that people tend to remember only about 10% of what they hear after three days? However, if you pair that information with relevant visuals, retention jumps to 65%. Craft your multimedia presentation with this in mind; use visuals to reinforce your message for better recall.

Incorporate these psychological cues effectively, and your multimedia presentation will not only capture attention but also leave a lasting imprint on your audience’s memory.

Young woman teaching online from her living room. Young woman wearing headphones while having a online training at home.

Which elements can be included in a multimedia presentation?

Multimedia presentations have come a long way from the relatively simplistic options of the past. Now a whole range of different elements can be used to ensure your stand-alone presentation wows your intended audience. Some of the examples of what you can add to your multimedia presentations include:

Slides: Slides are the backbone of most multimedia presentations. They consist of visual elements like text, images, graphs, and charts. Slides help you organize information and guide your audience through your presentation. For example, in a business pitch, slides can showcase product images, market data, and key points.
Videos: Videos add motion and life to your presentation. You can use them to demonstrate processes, showcase testimonials, or provide visual explanations. In an educational setting, a biology lecture might include videos of animal behaviors or experiments.
Audio clips: Audio clips can range from background music to voiceovers. They enhance the auditory experience of your presentation. In a travel presentation, you might include the sounds of waves crashing on a beach to create a more immersive feel.
Animations: Animations breathe life into static content. They can illustrate processes, emphasize key points, or add a touch of humor. In a marketing presentation, animations can show how a product evolves or highlight its unique features.
Music: Music sets the mood and tone of your presentation. It can create excitement, relaxation, or suspense. In a fashion show presentation, music may compliment the models’ walk down the runway, enhancing the overall experience.
Images: Images are powerful visual aids. They can create certain emotions, provide context, and simplify complex ideas. In a history lecture, images of historical events and figures help students visualize the past.
Text: Text is one of the most crucial parts of your content. It provides information, explanations, and key points. In a scientific presentation, text can explain research findings or provide definitions of complex terms.
Podcasts: Podcasts are audio presentations that offer in-depth discussions or storytelling. They are excellent for sharing interviews, discussions, or storytelling. In a business conference, you might use a podcast-style presentation to share insights from industry experts.
Pop-ups: Pop-ups are interactive elements that can surprise and excite your audience. They can include clickable links, additional information, or even mini-quizzes. In an e-learning module, pop-ups can provide learners with instant feedback on their progress.

For any professional who wants to stand out from the crowd with multimedia presentations that truly dazzle and inspire, Prezi’s multimedia platform brings you everything you need.

Choosing the right multimedia for your presentation subject

When creating a multimedia presentation, it’s crucial to select the appropriate multimedia elements that align with your presentation subject. By choosing the right multimedia, you can effectively convey your message, enhance understanding, and captivate your audience. Consider the following factors when selecting multimedia for your presentation:

A man in front of a class presenting a multimedia presentation.

Content relevance: does it fit your message?

Evaluate the relevance of each multimedia element to your presentation subject. Determine how each element contributes to the overall message and supports your key points. Choose multimedia that directly relates to your topic and enhances the understanding and engagement of your audience.

Visual impact: how visually appealing is it?

Visual elements play a significant role in multimedia presentations. Assess the visual impact of different multimedia options such as images, videos, and animations. Opt for high-quality visuals that are visually appealing, clear, and reinforce your message. Balance aesthetics with substance to maintain a professional and engaging presentation.

Audio enhancement: does it complement your content?

Determine if your presentation would benefit from audio elements such as background music, sound effects, or voiceovers. Audio can evoke emotions, set the mood, and reinforce key points. However, use audio sparingly and ensure it complements your content rather than overpowering it.

Data visualization: can it simplify complex data?

If your presentation involves data or statistics, explore options for effective data visualization. Choose charts, graphs, or maps that you can find on Prezi and incorporate those into your presentation. These elements will help you present complex information in a clear and digestible format. Visualizing data will also help your audience grasp the main points quickly and facilitate better comprehension.

Multimedia integration: do all elements work together?

Aim for a cohesive and seamless integration of multimedia elements into your presentation. Ensure that different multimedia components blend well together and create a unified visual and auditory experience. Avoid using too many diverse multimedia elements that may distract or overwhelm your audience.

Accessibility considerations: is it accessible to everyone?

Keep accessibility in mind when selecting multimedia elements. Ensure that any visual or audio content you include is accessible to individuals with disabilities. Provide captions or transcripts for videos and ensure that any audio content is accompanied by text summaries. Consider the needs of all your audience members to ensure an inclusive and engaging presentation.

Technical feasibility: will it work smoothly during your presentation?

Assess the technical feasibility of incorporating various multimedia elements into your presentation. Consider the equipment and software requirements for displaying and playing different multimedia formats. Test the compatibility and functionality of multimedia elements in the presentation environment to avoid any technical glitches during your actual presentation.

By carefully considering these factors, you can choose the right multimedia elements that enhance your presentation’s effectiveness and engage your audience. Remember, the key is to strike a balance between informative content, compelling visuals, and appropriate interactivity to create a memorable and impactful multimedia presentation.

Smiling professional young women giving a good presentation online.

What makes an effective multimedia presentation?

An effective multimedia presentation is like a good book you can’t put down or a catchy new song you hear on the radio that you can’t stop humming to all day long – it has your audience instantly engaged and wanting more.

Gone are the days when we were limited to presentations that only featured text and basic graphics. Nowadays, using a combination of audio, video, and images can help anyone effectively communicate their message to any audience.

Prezi enables users to create attention-grabbing presentations that move their audience. You can create your own presentation from scratch or start out with a template that you can find in Prezi’s template gallery.

8 things to consider when creating a multimedia presentation

Creating a multimedia presentation can be very straightforward. It just requires some basic planning and preparation and the correct tools to implement those plans. Follow these steps when enhancing a presentation with multimedia.

What is your message?

What exactly are you presenting, and what key messages do you wish to communicate to your audience? Take time to thoroughly think through these questions before constructing your multimedia presentation.

Who is your audience?

You must understand who exactly your audience is. After all, there is likely a huge difference between what might work best with 20-something IT specialists or a group of senior management. Are you hoping to sell a product to potential investors? Delivering a quarterly report to your bosses? Or preparing a presentation for a job interview? Be very clear about who your audience is.

Preparation is vital, and with it comes research. You can’t wait to get started creating your new multimedia presentation. And the temptation is often to begin without first investigating fantastic examples of other people’s work for ideas or not taking advantage of Prezi’s awesome customizable presentations that are freely available to you, the user. Simply head over to Prezi’s Gallery and get inspired!

Create your content outline

What content do you wish to include in your presentation? Once you have decided, it’s time to create a content outline for your multimedia presentation. You can begin building the structure of your presentation by splitting your topic into separate ideas that run in a clear, logical sequence. If you want to learn more about how to create an effective presentation structure, watch the following video:

Decide which visualization mediums work best

There are literally dozens of visualization mediums to choose from. The hard part sometimes is deciding which of these works best for you. Options include GIFs, short animation clips, audio clips, TED Talk video clips – the list goes on and on. The great news is that you can easily integrate all of these elements into your Prezi presentation. What’s more, Prezi has an extensive library of different multimedia elements like GIFs, stickers, images, icons, and more that you can pick and choose while creating your presentation.

Utilize templates

You might start entirely from scratch, building the presentation from the bottom up, which is great if you already have a clear idea in your mind. However, if you’re still trying to figure out what you want the end result to look like or want to spend less time on presentation design, explore the numerous tried and tested templates available on Prezi. You’ll discover various templates that are great for multimedia presentations.

It’s time to add your multimedia

Don’t overdo the types of multimedia content you use in your presentation. Why? Because using too many different kinds can feel overwhelming and a little too ‘show offish’. Focus on 2-4 types of content that will work best with your target audience. Try to hit that balance between simplicity and style. If you are using video or animation, use it occasionally.

If you need to present online, take advantage of Prezi Video’s option to share your content next to you on-screen during your presentation. This will engage your audience and keep them hooked throughout your multimedia presentation even online.

Review and analyze your work

Your multimedia presentation is ready. Or is it? Invest some time reviewing your presentation. Is it clearly structured and cohesive? Do the multimedia elements you have added achieve what you wanted them to achieve? Be honest with yourself and trust your intuition. If something doesn’t feel right with your presentation, don’t be afraid to make changes!

Best practices for delivering a multimedia presentation

Delivering a multimedia presentation requires careful planning and execution to effectively engage and captivate your audience. Follow these best practices to ensure that you leave a lasting impression on your audience.

Know your material

Familiarize yourself with the content of your presentation to make sure you can confidently deliver it without relying too heavily on notes. Thoroughly understand the key points, supporting evidence, and transitions between different sections. This will enable you to maintain a natural flow and deliver a confident presentation. Also, consider using Presenter Notes . They serve as a reminder of important talking points and additional information during your presentation. Only visible to you, the presenter, the notes remain hidden from the audience. This allows you to effectively communicate your points without any interruptions.

Practice timing

Time your presentation to ensure it fits within the allocated time frame. Practice transitions between different multimedia elements, such as slides, videos, and interactive features, to maintain a smooth flow. Keep in mind that pacing is crucial, so allocate sufficient time for each part of your presentation while maintaining an engaging pace.

Use visual aids strategically

Visual aids are a powerful tool for conveying information and enhancing understanding. However, it’s essential to use them strategically to support and highlight your message, rather than distract from it. Use visuals sparingly and ensure they’re clear, visually appealing, and easy to understand. Avoid cluttered slides and prioritize concise and impactful visuals that reinforce your key points. If you want to learn more about good presentation design practices when it comes to adding visual content, watch the following video on the topic:

Speak clearly and confidently

Effective communication is key to delivering a memorable presentation. Project your voice to ensure everyone in the audience can hear you clearly. Maintain eye contact with your audience to establish a connection and demonstrate confidence. Speak with clarity and conviction, emphasizing key points and using appropriate pauses for emphasis. A confident and engaging delivery will help your audience connect with your message.

Incorporate storytelling techniques

Storytelling is a powerful way to engage and captivate your audience. Incorporate storytelling techniques to create a narrative structure for your presentation. Begin with a compelling introduction that sets the stage and grabs attention. Use storytelling elements such as anecdotes, examples, and personal experiences to illustrate your points and make the content relatable and memorable. A well-crafted story can evoke emotions and leave a lasting impact on your audience.

Practice with technology

Familiarize yourself with the multimedia tools and technology you will be using during the presentation. In particular, get to know the endless features and capabilities of Prezi, the powerful multimedia presentation tool. Take the time to explore its features and understand how it can enhance your presentation. Familiarize yourself with the different templates, transitions, and interactive elements available. By mastering Prezi, you’ll be able to create attention-grabbing presentations that move.

Adapt to the audience

Tailor your presentation to resonate with your specific audience. Consider their demographics, interests, and background when delivering your content. Use language that is accessible and appropriate for your audience, avoiding jargon or technical terms that may be unfamiliar. Incorporate relevant examples and references that relate to their experiences. By adapting your presentation to their needs and preferences, you can create a stronger connection and enhance their overall engagement.

Engage the audience

Use interactive features to involve your audience and make the presentation more engaging. Incorporate audience polling, where participants can vote or provide feedback on specific questions or topics. Additionally, include dedicated Q&A sessions to encourage active participation and address any queries or concerns. Engaging the audience in this way promotes interaction and makes your presentation more dynamic.

Business people raising hands to ask questions during a presentation. Woman giving a good presentation with people sitting in front raising hands at convention center.

Ask for feedback

You can practice your presentation in front of people to get honest feedback. This way you can make any changes or work on specific areas that may need tweaking before the real thing. After your real presentation, you may even want to seek feedback from your audience to gather insights on what worked well and areas for improvement.

Remember, a well-delivered multimedia presentation is a combination of interesting content, effective visuals, and confident delivery. By following these best practices, you can create an engaging experience for everyone in the room.

How to engage your audience with interactive multimedia presentations

In addition to the essential components and best practices we’ve discussed, incorporating interactive elements can take your multimedia presentations to the next level. By engaging your audience in an interactive experience, you can captivate their attention and create a memorable presentation. Let’s explore some strategies for incorporating interactivity into your multimedia presentations:

Interactive charts

Instead of static images, use interactive charts to convey data and complex information. Allow your audience to explore different data points, toggle between visualizations, and interact with the content. This hands-on approach enhances understanding and engagement.

Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR)

If applicable, consider incorporating VR or AR elements into your multimedia presentations. These technologies provide immersive experiences that can transport your audience to different environments or allow them to interact with virtual objects. VR and AR can be particularly effective in fields such as architecture, education, and product demonstrations.

Gamification

Introduce gamification elements to make your presentation more interactive and enjoyable. Create quizzes, challenges, or interactive scenarios that require audience participation. Offer rewards or incentives for active engagement, such as badges or prizes.

Collaborative activities

Foster collaboration among your audience by including interactive activities. For example, you can divide your audience into small groups or pairs and provide specific tasks or discussions related to your presentation topic. Encourage participants to share their insights or findings with the larger group afterward.

The class tutor uses storytelling to engage students.

Live demonstrations

If possible, incorporate live demonstrations of software, tools, or processes directly into your presentation. Showcasing practical examples in real-time can enhance understanding and engage the audience through active participation.

Remember, interactivity should align with your presentation goals and content. Incorporate interactive elements strategically to support your message and keep your audience engaged throughout the presentation. Prezi offers various interactive features and templates to help you create dynamic and immersive multimedia presentations.

By embracing interactivity, you can transform your multimedia presentations into memorable experiences that leave a lasting impact on your audience.

Common concerns with multimedia presentations

People often share some common concerns when diving into multimedia presentations. Here are a few of those concerns and simple solutions to tackle them:

Technical glitches

Worry: Fear of technical issues derailing your presentation.
Solution: Always have a backup plan in case technology decides to be temperamental. Test your setup beforehand to avoid unexpected surprises.

Media overload

Worry: The fear of overwhelming your audience with too much media.
Solution: Strike a balance by using multimedia elements strategically. Less can often be more when it comes to engaging your audience effectively.

The evolution of multimedia tools

The world of multimedia presentation tools has seen quite a transformation over the years, making the process more user-friendly and accessible than ever before. Platforms like Prezi are at the forefront of this evolution, continuously updating and improving the presentation creation process. With intuitive interfaces and a wide range of creative options at your fingertips, multimedia tools have truly democratized the art of multimedia presentations. Whether you’re a seasoned professional or a newcomer to the presentation scene, the evolution of multimedia tools has made it easier than ever to craft the perfect presentation.

Multimedia presentation examples

Your audience will immediately lose interest if all you offer them is a traditional slide deck. Instead, take advantage of Prezi’s Gallery and get inspired by dynamic, interactive, and engaging presentations that include various multimedia elements.

Below are a few examples of attention-grabbing and creative multimedia presentations that you can get inspired by or even reuse as templates for your own presentation topic.

Summer Plans presentation

The summer plans presentation inspires and captivates. The template is perfect for delivering a story, sharing an experience, or presenting a plan. It features multiple media elements, such as animations, images, and data visualizations.

Why Leaders Need to Get Out of Their Own Way presentation

This presentation grabs our attention with its visually appealing design and strategic use of visuals. The simple yet engaging layout divides the presentation into four parts, creating a well-defined structure that is easy to follow. You can reuse this presentation as a template for delivering a topic that you need to unpack in a certain order.

Corporate Social Responsibility presentation

This multimedia presentation engages and captivates with animations, images, icons, and more. As a template, it’s perfect for creating and delivering informative presentations, where you need to dive into the details of certain topics.

Earth Day presentation

The Earth Day presentation is a great example of how one can create a timeline presentation with Prezi. It includes various media elements that make this multimedia presentation highly engaging and informative.

Future-proofing your presentations

To make sure your multimedia presentations stay useful and up-to-date in the long run, here are some straightforward tips:

Pick the right formats

Use common file types like PDF, MP4, and JPEG since they’re likely to stay usable in the future.

Keep things fresh

Don’t let your content get old. Update it regularly with new information and visuals to keep it interesting and relevant.

Fit different screens

Make your multimedia presentations so they can work on big screens and small devices like phones or tablets.

Try new tech

Keep an eye on new technologies like virtual reality and interactive features. They can make your presentations more exciting and modern.

Listen to your audience

Pay attention to what your audience likes and dislikes. Their feedback can help you improve your multimedia presentations and keep them interesting.

With these easy steps, you can make sure your multimedia presentations will still be great in the future!

Create attention-grabbing multimedia presentations with Prezi

In conclusion, crafting a well-executed multimedia presentation is crucial for achieving success in delivering presentations. This article has explored the key components involved in creating compelling multimedia presentations and provided insights on how to assemble these elements effectively. By considering the importance of content structure, visual design, and engaging storytelling techniques, presenters can capture their audience’s attention and leave a lasting impact. Furthermore, leveraging Prezi’s features can enhance multimedia presentations, making them more dynamic and interactive. By incorporating these strategies and utilizing the right tools, presenters can elevate their presentations to a new level and increase their chances of achieving their desired outcomes. Ultimately, mastering the art of multimedia presentations opens up opportunities for effective communication and successful presentations in various professional and academic settings.

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International Media and Information Literacy e-Platform

Unit 1: Understanding Media and Information Literacy – An Orientation
Unit 2: MIL, Civic Participation and Right to Information
Unit 3: Interacting with media and other content providers such as libraries, archives and internet communications companies
Unit 4: MIL, digital skills, cultural participation/creativity and entrepreneurship
Unit 5: MIL, Teaching and Lifelong Learning

Unit 1: Understanding Media and Information Literacy - An orientation

Defining the similarities and differences between 'information' and 'media'
Exploring the importance of the content providers
Describing key learning outcomes of media and information literacy

Learning Objectives

At the end of this module educators should be able to:

Identify key learning outcomes/elements and convergence of media and information literacy and digital skills
Understand media and information literacy, and its importance and relevance in the lives of learners and educators today
Identify and explore the normative roles of content providers such as libraries, archives, museums, media, digital communications companies
Explore these roles as manifested (or absent) in a variety of texts

Level of Competencies Targeted in this Unit:

Basic / Intermediate

Multiple Roles of Media

Media, digital communication companies, and other content providers play a central role in information and communication processes. They are one way of communicating information, although their role is much broader than that. To the extent that such media are an important part of every society’s communication system, their institutional make-up is often meshed with a variety of non-media content providers, such as libraries, museums, archives, Internet communication companies, other information organizations and citizens who produce their own content.

For the purpose of this MIL curriculum, news media are normatively defined (irrespective of the nature and technologies used) as sources of credible and current information created through an editorial process determined by journalistic values whereby editorial accountability can be attributed to a specific organization or a legal person. This is not to ignore the realities where norms are not lived up to – such as through “media capture” cases and other normative failures, which is why critical thinking, through MIL, should be applied to the media as to all the content providers.

Media and other content providers can be assessed as to whether they live up to their normative roles. They are expected to:

Act as channels of information and knowledge through which citizens communicate with each other and make informed decisions
Facilitate informed debates between diverse social actors
Provide us with much of what we learn about the world beyond our immediate experience and serve as means by which a society learns about itself and builds a sense of community
Function as a watchdog of government in all its forms, and promote transparency in public life and public scrutiny of those in power through exposing corruption, maladministration and corporate wrong-doing
Be essential facilitators of democratic processes and one of the guarantors of free and fair elections
Be a vehicle for cultural expression and cultural cohesion within and between nations
Function transparently as an advocate and social actor in their own right while respecting pluralistic values

Convergence

UNESCO and experts in different fields, have coined the umbrella concept of media and information literacy bringing together related fields that have the same overall learning objective to empower learners and citizens to develop critical skills in the consumption, use, creation and sharing of content.

Information could be grouped into primary sources, for example research reports, and theses; secondary sources, for example books, journals, magazines, newspapers; and tertiary sources taken from primary and secondary sources, such as databases, repositories, and bibliographies. On one side, MIL addresses textual outputs (either electronic or paper-based publications) that normally undergo peer-review and long editing processes. This is intellectual property from which citations, references and bibliography can be taken. MIL is also about mass media which considers the subtleties of image, colour, and sound in messages availed by different providers, such as television, social networks, and filmmaking companies. Although institutions do not always live up to normative expectations, the media broadly should exist to inform, educate and entertain.

See Table (1.1) which illustrates the relation and convergence of content, issues, methods, tools, components of information, media, and technology.

Pedagogical Approaches and Activities

In summary: as discussed earlier in this Curriculum (Part 1) various pedagogical approaches are possible. Please review the list in Part 1 and decide which approach to apply to the suggested Activities below and others that you may formulate.

Consider the characteristics of MIL described in Figure 1 in the Media and Information Literacy Curriculum and Competency Framework for Educators (Part 1). Discuss each characteristic. Write down what each of these means to you. Do you think this description is complete? What do you think should be included?

Media literacy
Library literacy
Computer literacy
Freedom of expression literacy
Internet literacy
Digital literacy
News literacy
Cinema literacy
Games literacy
Social media literacy
AI literacy
Data literacy
Safety literacy
Security literacy
Privacy literacy

Using the Internet or a library, research various definitions of each of these terminologies. What do you observe about the relationship between and among these individual terminologies or notions of MIL? Write one paragraph describing what would be your rationale for combining media literacy and information literacy as MIL.

Sourcing Information

The proper use of information made available by media and various information providers depends on people’s abilities to understand their information needs, and to locate, retrieve and evaluate the quality of the information they can access. Today, there is an extremely wide and diverse selection of information material, content, and resources available, particularly on the Internet, varying greatly in accuracy, reliability, and value. In addition, this information exists in a variety of forms (e.g. as text, image or statistic, electronically or in print), that can be made available through online repositories and portals, virtual and real libraries and documentary collections, databases, archives, museums, etc. The most important factor, however, is that the quality of this information can range from ‘very good’ to ‘very bad’.

Before evaluating information sources, it is important to think about what the information is for. This will help you to identify credible information sources. The key questions might be:

What source or what kind of source would be the most credible for providing information in this particular case? Which sources are likely to be fair, objective, lacking hidden motives, showing quality control?

We can think of information as being held by media and other information providers, such as libraries, museums, archives and the Internet.

Information providers roles

facilitate teaching and learning processes
provide access to all types of information (often free of charge, plural, reliable and without restrictions)
serve as a gateway to information
promote universal values and civil rights, such as freedom of expression and information
serve as society’s collective memory
gather information
preserve cultural heritage

At the same time, these providers sometimes play other over-riding roles as means to make money, as a political tool, as a cultural hegemony, etc

List of activities and exercices

Explore content differences among various types of content providers, for example: which provide more information than advertising or entertainment; which give oxygen to misinformation or hate speech. Also identify the content types - for example, monographic vs serial formats and understand how they differ. Learners could explain what is the difference between each type of publication as appropriate; and name two examples for each type of publication.
Library catalogues are a source of quality information. Ask learners to familiarize themselves with the key entries: author, title and subject, and define a topic and search for two sources of every type of information and media that they can find.
Survey the media to find resources or media texts that are examples of the functions listed above. Identify texts that illustrate these roles on a local, national and global level.
Compare the characteristics of library catalogues so you can use them to find the information you are researching in order to optimize time and dedication. a) Mention the library catalogues you are familiar with and search for four more, preferably from colleges. b) Do a search on a topic of your interest in the catalogues that you consider to be the best among those consulted. c) List five references of books or other materials that you found in the catalogues that you consider to be the best. Reflect on and provide arguments as to why you think they are the best.
Survey college/university or public libraries to find books or other resources which provide information about sustainable development, democracy, other parts of the world, different cultures, social and economic life, or other issues of interest to you. Explore questions such as: Who decides on the level of resources that should be allocated to libraries? Who decides which books should be included in the library and which should be excluded? Who decides which books are more important than others? How does budget and copyright impact on role? Are libraries serving their purposes? (A similar activity could be organized for museums or archives).
The media can encourage the development and building of a nation but can also foster exclusivist nationalism. Discuss how and why media exercise these functions. Think about the content of the media in your country. How many different points of view can you find on development, nation building and national interests and from which perspective?
Search the web to find stories relating to the deliberate destruction of libraries, museums or archives or certain books due to war, conflicts, etc. How can you verify that this story is true? Given that this is the first unit, educators may not have been exposed to the requisite skills to answer this question, so should signal this as an upcoming competence and move on to the other questions. How could the destruction of media, libraries, archives, and of digital communications and other resources, affect people, their history or culture? What are some other implications, based on your observation, of such actions?
What is public domain information? Research how public domain information is treated by two government institutions in your country. Debate the adequacy of information provided by these institutions. Are there national policies for how information should be made public? Do access to information laws exist in your country? Are these being used? What are citizens’ entitlements to transparency?
Based on the answers provided from the activity suggested above, indicate the outcomes for media and information literacy (what the media and information literate person should be able to do).
Make a list of media that are present in the daily lives of learners and educators today. What are the key roles and functions that each of these media perform? What do you think it means to be ‘literate’ when it comes to using these content providers? What knowledge, skills and attitudes are necessary?
Keep a journal for one day in which you record your daily use and interaction with content providers, such as libraries, archives, museums, media and digital communications companies. What patterns emerge in your personal use? How many hours do you spend engaged with platforms such as the Internet, television or radio, gaming devices, etc.? What roles are these content providers playing in your life?
Take a walking tour of your school or neighbourhood. List the examples of content providers that are present in these environments. Which of the roles listed above do these examples illustrate?

Imagine that you wake up one day and there are no more media, libraries, or

institutions offering lnternet and mobile telephone services. ln addition, all newspapers, magazines, radio stations and TV channels have disappeared. Analyse in small groups what would happen to citizens:

How would they be informed now?
How would they communicate news about facts and events?
What would happen with the decisions you usually make?
What would you – personally – most miss in such a situation?
What would society lose with this kind of problem?
Write a ‘letter to the editor’ with your conclusions on the value of the content providers in a democratic society, provided they live up to their normative roles.

Importance of MIL for Citizens

MIL is concerned with giving people an understanding of the importance of content providers such as libraries, archives, museums, media and Internet communications companies in order to:

differentiate between information and other content, and assess content providers
make informed decisions
learn about information verification through reseach
build a sense of community based on shared facts and rights respecting narratives
maintain public discourse conducive to democracy and sustainable development
critically participate in the life cycle of information and other content
engage in lifelong learning

Further, MIL should spur citizens to become active producers of information and innovators of media and information products. MIL should incite them to use new and traditional media for self-realization, creativity and greater participation in their country’s democracy and the global information network.

Assessment & Recommendations

Written examinations
Essays, reflection and reaction papers to lectures, case studies, audioviual presentations/viewings
Participation in grup learning activities
Production of information-education-communication materials (e.g. posters, brochures, infographics, social media cards, vlogs)
Research paper
Investigative story/report

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Role of the Media.

Published by Monica Fleming Modified over 5 years ago

Presentation on theme: "Role of the Media."— Presentation transcript:

Exam Technique PAPER TWO

What must students cover

Modern studies higher Question Stems.

Developing a Thesis Based Response Area of Study: Belonging – Section 3.

Media Studies 2009 External Achievement Standards.

UNIT 3 PHILOSOPHY SAC 2 CRITICAL COMPARISON Pointers for essay structure.

Media Literacy. Purpose To gain an understanding for the role that media plays in our lives To be able to analyze various forms of media text To make.

IB: Language and Literature

Lesson objective: to prepare for Paper 1 Section A of the English Language exam by understanding the terms purpose & audience and being able to answer.

Qualifications Update: Higher Media Qualifications Update: Higher Media.

> MS4: Text, Industry & Audience Exam: 15th June 2010 (2.5 hrs)

LO: To understand the structure of the exam and criteria needed to write a good answer.

AS Media Studies MS1: Media Representations and Responses Please have your folder, paper and a pen out ready to begin the session.

Media. UNIT 3 SAC: Narrative - 40 marks – (All 3 SAC’s - 12%) SAT: Production Exercises SAT: PDP UNIT 4 SAT: Media Process SAC: Social Values - 40 marks.

I.B. Psych Exam Review. Exam outline HL Overall exam weight – 80% Day 1 – May 13 th – 2 hrs. Paper 1 – 35% Day 2 – May 16 th – 2 hrs. Paper 2 – 25% –

AQA Religious Philosophical & Ethical Studies

Non-fiction and Media Higher Tier.

BA Art Extension Examination Preparation

Overview of Media Literacy Through Critical Thinking

The Specialist Study Unit

About project

The Significance and Impact of the Media in Contemporary Society

First Online: 10 March 2018

Cite this chapter

Faith Gordon 3

Part of the book series: Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies ((PSLS))

1099 Accesses

This chapter explores the significance of the media and the impact it has on the meaning-making processes in contemporary society. It draws on key national and international academic literature and previous studies on the role and functions of the media. This includes the key theoretical debates on deviancy amplification, folk devils and moral panics. It assesses the media’s impact on criminal justice policies and on public opinion of, and support for authoritarian ideologies and policies. In particular, it will focus on exploring how the media can influence popular culture and the impact of media portrayals of crime on societal perceptions, responses and reactions directed towards social groups, in particular children and young people ‘in conflict with the law’.

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It has long been acknowledged that the media are difficult to capture and define (Craig 2004 : 3). As outlined in Chap. 1 , the terms ‘media’ or ‘mass media’ refer to the traditional definition of the media, as consisting of newspapers (the print media), radio (broadcast media) and news bulletins and programs (televised media). While choosing to focus on the contemporary media, this book acknowledges from the outset that there is an extensive body of work existing on the historical origins of the media; mass communication and its impact, and the role of technological development (see Downing 1980 ; Frost 2000 ; Curran 2002 ).

There has been much criticism of pluralist theories on the media, including the arguments that pluralism is an ideological justification for the media and that the basis of the theory is not grounded in evidence. Rather the pluralist model assumes that the content of the media is diverse, without presenting evidence to reinforce or prove this theory (see Blumler and Gurevitch 1995 ).

Rupert Murdoch’s ownership of a range of media outlets in the United Kingdom (UK) and United States (US) is a prime example of the concentration of power and the influence of owners on media content (see Golding and Murdock 1991 ; Horrie 2003 ; Cole 2005 ). Further to this, academics such as Barker ( 1999 : 46) argue that conglomeration has aided a general concentration of media ownership, with research such as Bagdikian’s ( 2004 ) stating that the US media were controlled by 50 corporations in the 1980s, and by 2003 this had been reduced to five controlling the majority of the 178,000 media outlets. Significantly as Tait ( 2012 : 518) observes, the ‘scale and intensity’ of the phone hacking scandal in 2011, saw the resignation of the chief executive of one of the UK’s most influential newspaper groups, the resignation of one of the UK’s most senior police officers, the arrest of Andy Coulson, who had acted as the then Prime Minister, David Cameron’s head of communications, the resignation of two senior executives from key companies in the Murdoch empire, as well as the collapse of the takeover deal in relation to BSkyB and the closure of the News of the World (see also Keeble and Mair 2012 ; McKnight 2012 ; Watson and Hickman 2012 ).

As Barrat ( 1994 : 61) notes, the majority of media organisations are influenced by ‘a variety of commercial influences’, including the need to be profitable and also obtaining revenue through ‘advertising’. Some media outlets are part of the public sector, such as the BBC and they have the requirement ‘to provide a public service’, by ‘informing, educating, and entertaining audiences’ (Barrat 1994 : 61).

Tait’s ( 2012 : 520) analysis of the phone hacking scandal asserts that it has ‘revealed some fundamental issues in British political communications, the political system and the practice and regulation of journalism’. His analysis also documents ‘a secret history’ between Murdoch and British politics (Tait 2012 : 520–523).

Semiology provides a suitable vehicle for studying the meanings behind media content (see O’Connor 1989 ; Hall 1997 ; Berger 1998 ; Barker 2000 ; Schirato and Yell 2000 ). In contemporary literature it is now referred to as semiotics and was first developed by the Swiss linguist, Saussure, who proposed that meaning was ‘produced through … language systems’ (Schirato and Yell 2000 : 19). He focused on the ‘linguistic sign’, which he divided into the ‘signifier’, ‘the signified’ and the ‘sign’ (Schirato and Yell 2000 : 19).

As the findings of a number of content analysis studies highlight, the media exaggerate the levels of crime, in particular violent crime in the UK (see Ditton and Duffy 1983 ; Schlesinger and Murdock 1991 ; Williams and Dickinson 1993 ; Callanan 2005 ; Greer 2005 ; Reiner 2007 ).

Dorfman and Schiraldi’s ( 2001 ) research found that 76 percent of the public said they formed their opinions about crime from the media, whereas 22 percent reported that their knowledge of crime was formed through their personal experiences.

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Gordon, F. (2018). The Significance and Impact of the Media in Contemporary Society. In: Children, Young People and the Press in a Transitioning Society. Palgrave Socio-Legal Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-60682-2_2

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Front Psychol

Immersive Media Presentation and Preschoolers’ Prosocial Behaviors: The Mediating Role of Theory of Mind

1 School of Humanities and Communication, Anhui Xinhua University, Hefei, China

Chenglin Jin

2 School of Business, Anhui Xinhua University, Hefei, China

3 School of Management, University of Science and Technology of China, Hefei, China

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The raw data supporting the conclusions of this article will be made available by the authors.

Although scholars have asserted that it is necessary to explore the effect of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors, the empirical research, as well as the moderating roles of this link, remained limited. One hundred and twenty preschoolers (mean age = 5.4 years) were involved in three experiments of four waves. This study empirically examined the effect of media presentation, including immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation, on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors and the moderating effect of theory of mind (ToM) on such links. After the experimental intervention, we find that the extent to which traditional media presentation and immersive media presentation impact preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors is different. First, the results show that preschoolers, who have been involved in traditional media presentation, do not notably reveal the development of their prosocial behaviors. However, in the group of high ToM, we find that traditional media presentation positively and significantly relates to preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. That is to say, the positive influence of traditional media presentation depends on ToM. Second, the results also show that immersive media presentation positively and significantly relates to preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors whether ToM is high or not. Furthermore, ToM encourages the positive influence of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors.

Introduction

Prosocial behaviors, the voluntary physical reactions intending to benefit others ( Dunfield and Kuhlmeier, 2013 ; Yu et al., 2020 ), are widely regarded as a critical topic in developmental psychology and educational psychology ( Newton et al., 2014 ; Paulus, 2014 ; Imuta et al., 2016 ; Benish-Weisman et al., 2019 ; Wu et al., 2020 ; Zeng et al., 2020 ). Guidelines for Kindergarten Education, issued by the Ministry of Education of China in 2001, puts forward four goals about the development of preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors, such as the willingness to comfort, cooperate, help, and share ( Dunfield and Kuhlmeier, 2013 ). This policy points out the importance of the research on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. In addition, prior studies indicated that preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors positively relate to their future development ( Lohndorf et al., 2019 ), interpersonal harmony ( Zeng et al., 2020 ), and social implications ( Malonda et al., 2019 ). Therefore, it is essential to explore how to promote preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors ( Yu et al., 2020 ).

Prior studies indicated that media presentation may impact the development of preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. For example, Chang et al. (2011) indicated that traditional media presentation has potential influence on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors ( Franklin, 2004 ), because media technology enables the information conveyance and storage ( Sanchez and Fairfield, 2003 ). The study of Flook et al. (2015) also contended that the curriculum with a mindfulness-based kindness can promote preschool children’s prosocial behaviors, such as the behaviors of helping and learning from each other. With the development of immersive media technologies (i.e., Virtual Reality, 360° Imagery or Video, and 3D Content), scholars in domain of developmental psychology and educational psychology called for more grainy research about the relationship between the use of immersive media technologies and preschoolers’ development. For example, Widowati (2018) documented that the alignment of watching animations and role-play games in immersive virtual environments will generate a better effect on learning outcomes. Ma (2020) proposed that immersive stories have a positive influence on students’ prosocial attitudes and willingness to help. Although prior scholars noted that the use of advanced immersive technique plays a critical role in enhancing preschoolers’ helping and sharing behaviors ( Ferguson, 2015 ; Benish-Weisman et al., 2019 ), the empirical investigation on the effect of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors still remains limited. In this study, we differentiate the effect of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors from the traditional media presentation to response to scholarly calls and propose our first research question as follow:

RQ1 : How immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation affect preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors? And what are the differences?

Additionally, previous research indicated that the degree to which media presentation impacts students’ behaviors depends on their cognitive capability ( Imuta et al., 2016 ), such as the theory of mind (ToM). ToM refers to an individual cognitive ability to understand psychical states. Such cognitive ability can facilitate preschoolers to understand others’ affection and intention, as well as to predict and interpret others’ behaviors ( Wellman et al., 2001 ; Lecce et al., 2014 ; Bigelow et al., 2021 ). ToM was widely regarded as a critical enabler of social living and social reasoning ( Meins et al., 2002 ; Peterson and Wellman, 2019 ). Prior study revealed that preschoolers’ ability to understand others’ feelings and behaviors may improve the effect of teaching approaches on preschoolers’ learning progress ( Imuta et al., 2016 ). In this logic, we contend that for preschool children, ToM may encourage the effect of media presentation on their prosocial behaviors. That is to say: ToM, a typical cognitive capability, may play a critical moderating effect on the relationship between media presentation (i.e., immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation) and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. However, few empirical studies have investigated the moderating role of ToM in this link. Thus, we propose another research question:

RQ2 : How ToM moderates the relationship between the media presentation (i.e., immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation) and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors?

To untangle the two research questions, we used the data deriving from our three experiments of four waves to empirically examine the effect of media presentation (i.e., immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation) on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors and the moderating role of ToM in such link. We make two key contributions in this study. First, we enrich the research about the relationship between immersive media and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors through empirically exploring how immersive media presentation impacts preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors, and differentiating that from the effect of traditional media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. Second, we also expand the contingencies of the relationship between media presentation, including immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation, and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors through empirically investigating the moderating effect of ToM. We thus respond to the scholarly call for more research on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors ( Lockwood et al., 2014 ; Lohndorf et al., 2019 ). In our study, we find that after the experimental intervention, the extent to which traditional media presentation and immersive media presentation impact preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors is different. First, the results show that preschoolers who have been involved in traditional media presentation do not notably reveal the development of their prosocial behaviors. However, in the group of high ToM, we find that traditional media presentation positively and significantly relates to preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. That is to say, the positive influence of traditional media presentation depends on ToM. Second, the results also show that immersive media presentation positively and significantly relates to preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors whether ToM is high or not. Furthermore, ToM encourages the positive influence of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. Our findings thus provide the teachers or managers of kindergarten with underlying approaches to facilitate preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors.

Hypothesis Development

Prosocial behaviors refer to the voluntary physical reactions intending to benefit others ( Dunfield and Kuhlmeier, 2013 ; Yu et al., 2020 ). Prior studies showed several antecedents of preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors, such as parents’ discourse about emotions with their young children ( Brownell et al., 2013 ), parents’ values (i.e., self-enhancement values, self-transcendence value, and self-conservation values; Benish-Weisman et al., 2019 ), peer influence and status ( Choukas-Bradley et al., 2015 ), interpersonal synchrony ( Cirelli et al., 2014 ), moral perfectionism ( Zeng et al., 2020 ), and parental sensitivity ( Newton et al., 2014 ). Besides these factors, prior scholars also indicated that appropriate training and education can enhance the preschoolers’ intentions of prosocial behaviors. For example, Ferguson (2015) noted that children’s prosocial behaviors can be guided when they are watching video-games. Flook et al. (2015) and Hafenbrack et al. (2020) reported that the mindfulness-based kindness courses promotes preschool children’s prosocial behaviors. However, few researches have empirically explored the effect of media presentation, especially immersive media presentation, on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors.

Immersive media presentation refers to a teaching presentation involved in immersive virtual technologies ( Ma, 2020 ), while traditional media presentation reflects a teaching presentation synchronized with images, words, audios, and videos ( Yetlen and Nunamaker, 1991 ; Patrick, 2015 ; Widowati, 2018 ). Children’s prosocial orientation can be promoted when they consciously copy the behaviors from the videos or cartoons that they have watched whether using traditional media technologies or immersive media technologies ( Carpenter et al., 2013 ). Watching videos or cartoons using different media technologies may have distinct effect on facilitating the tendency of preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors ( Helt et al., 2020 ). Immersive media, such as virtual reality, augmented reality, and 360° video, offers preschoolers so high a degree of vividness that they can better understand what have been conveyed. In addition, immersive media technologies can also help to reduce the cognitive and psychological difficulties through amplifying the feeling of spatial presence; thus, compared with traditional media presentation, watching cartoons embedded with immersive media technologies have a stronger positive influence on children’s tendency to mimic what they have learned ( Widowati, 2018 ). Following these logic, we contend that the effect of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors is stronger, compared with the impact of traditional media presentation. Based on the argument above, we propose three hypotheses as follows:

Hypothesis 1 : Both immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation related positively to the development of preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. Furthermore, the effect of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors is stronger than that of traditional media presentation.

Prior scholars noted that preschoolers’ development of ToM related positively to their executive functioning ( Carlson et al., 2002 , 2004 ; Sabbagh et al., 2006 ), children’s language development ( Astington and Jenkins, 1999 ; Ruffman et al., 2002 ; Milligan et al., 2007 ), moral judgments ( Gonultas et al., 2021 ). For example, Kim et al. (2021) have noted that ToM skills relate to discourse understanding and the relationship between ToM and narrative understanding is more stronger than the relationship between ToM and informational text understanding. Prior psychological scholars also indicated that the social behaviors acceptable results from the continuous interactions of social affective and social cognitive processes, considering these processes are executed by separable and independent area of brains ( Preckel et al., 2018 ). In addition, children’s theory of mind plays an essential positive role when they reading and understanding others’ feelings and behaviors ( Kidd and Castano, 2013 ). Follow this logic, we propose the hypothesis as follow:

Hypothesis 2 : Preschoolers’ ToM ability strengthens the positive influence of media presentation (including traditional media presentation and immersive media presentation) on their development of prosocial behaviors.

Methodology

In our study, we focus on the preschoolers located in the China’s Yangzi River Delta. First, before the preschoolers attended the training courses, we measured their original prosocial behaviors through watching them. Second, the preschoolers chosen would be arranged to watch the teaching materials prepared in advance. We then watched and recorded their change in such behaviors. Third, after experimentation, we would compare their behavior between before and after experimentations.

Participants

Two hundred and eighteen preschoolers were randomly selected from several kindergartens located in Yangtze River Delta of China. Before the formal experiment, we conducted an experiment regarding preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors, and 45 % of these preschoolers showed such behaviors. Then, we choose the rest, 120 preschoolers, who failed the prior test as our research sample and divided them into two groups. One group was arranged to participate in the courses with immersive virtual technologies to investigate the effect of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors, and the other group was settled to take part in the courses with traditional media technologies to explore the effect of traditional media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors.

Prosocial Behaviors

We adapted the research of Newton et al. (2014) and Lohndorf et al. (2019) to measure the development level of preschoolers’ prosocial behavior. We first set up two hypothetical scenarios for every category of prosocial behaviors, including the behaviors of helping, comforting, sharing, and cooperating, added up to 8 scenarios. Then, we observed and recorded their behaviors. Two points would be scored when children have the spontaneous prosocial behaviors. One point would be scored if they showed the prosocial behaviors only with the experimenters’ linguistic hints. Otherwise, we would mark this item as zero point. The aggregate scores of the eight items revealed the level of prosocial behavior development, ranging from 0 to 16. Furthermore, in order to avoid common method bias, we differentiated the hypothetical scenarios in post-test from those in pre-test. Similarly, all the selected scenarios are consistent with the level of preschoolers’ cognitive development, and the scoring criteria is the same.

Theory of Mind

We adapted the research of Melot and Angeard (2003) and Misailidi and Kapsali (2020) to measure the ToM. This measurement included five items covering the test of unexpected-location tasks (two items), unexpected-content tasks (two items), and appearance-reality task (one item). If the subjects respond to each item correctly, they would be scored one point. The aggregate scores of the five items are five points.

Media Presentation

We first adopted the teaching methods of traditional media presentation. Eight clips from domestic animations with scenarios for helping, cooperating, sharing, and comforting were selected and evaluated by several scholars who specializes in prosocial behaviors. We then aligned these eight animation clips into teaching schemes. Forty subjects were arranged to watch two animation clips every week. The whole experiment lasted for 4 weeks. We also adopted the teaching methods of immersive media presentation. The subjects wearing head-mounted displays watched eight animation clips and their subsequent behaviors were evaluated by the scholars who specializes in preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. The theme of these animation clips is also related to the prosocial behaviors, such as the behaviors of helping, cooperating, comforting, and sharing. This experiment also lasted for 4 weeks.

Research Procedure

The pre-test of preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors.

The research process of our study is divided into four waves. In the first wave, based on the sample pool of two hundred and eighteen subjects, we conducted a pre-test in which our research assistants were arranged to observe whether the chosen preschoolers showed the tendency of prosocial behaviors, such as the ones to help or comfort others. According to the alignment of our on-site observations and subsequent analyses, we labeled the ones who have not revealed the prosocial behaviors. The whole pre-test lasted 5 days and we got 120 samples for subsequent experiments.

The Experimentation of Theory of Mind

In the second wave, after the pre-test, based on 120 preschoolers who failed the pre-test, we conducted another experimentation about ToM which used to examine the cognitive capability to understand others’ emotions and behaviors. In such experimentation, we collected and recorded the data about preschoolers’ capability to understand others’ feeling and behaviors. According to the scores of this experimentation, we divided the subjects into two parts, namely high ToM and low ToM. The data were used to analyze the contingent effect of ToM on the relationship between media presentation (including traditional media presentation and immersive media presentation) and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. This experimentation lasted 2 days.

The Experimentation of Media Presentation

In the third wave, the 120 preschoolers who have not showed prosocial behaviors in the pre-test were randomly divided equally into three groups. First, for the 40 preschoolers in group one, we conducted an experimentation on traditional media presentations. This experimentation would last 4 weeks, in which the chosen preschoolers would be involved in watching eight animation clips. During the process, our research assistant would watch and record the preschoolers’ behaviors. Second, at the same time, based on another 40 subjects in group two, we simultaneously conducted the experimentation on immersive media presentation lasting 4 weeks. In this 4 weeks, the chosen preschoolers were involved in watching eight animation clips with the elements of prosocial behaviors through wearing head-mounted displays. Our research assistants are also required to observe and document the subjects’ actions. Third, the rest 40 preschoolers were arranged into the controlling group that would not be involved in the experimentation of media presentation.

The Post-test of Preschoolers’ Prosocial Behaviors

In the fourth wave, after the experiments of ToM and media presentation, based on the 120 subjects, we subsequently conducted a post-test of prosocial behaviors. To alleviate the common method bias, we adopted another measurement in the post-text. The standards and procedures in the post-test are the same with those in the pre-test. This test lasted for 2 days.

Media Presentation and Preschoolers’ Prosocial Behaviors

Having finished all experiments, we applied SPSS 26.0 software to process and analyze the data collected in four waves ( Jin et al., 2022 ). We anticipated that the preschoolers who were involved in the experimentation of media presentation, including traditional media presentation and immersive media presentation, are more likely to show the prosocial behaviors than those who have not.

Specifically, in terms of the relationship between the behaviors of comforting others and media presentation, the result of covariance analysis shows that the effect of immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation on preschoolers’ behaviors of comforting is different ( F = 11.087, p < 0.001). We further conducted a post hoc examination to verify the results. The results show that after the intervention, the scores of the group who have taken the courses with immersive media presentation are 0.869( p < 0.001) higher than the scores of controlling group and are 0.656 ( p < 0.05) higher than that of the group who have taken the courses with traditional media presentation, while the score difference between the group who have taken the courses with traditional media presentation and the controlling group is insignificant.

In terms of the relationship between the behaviors of cooperating others and media presentation, the result of covariance analysis shows that the effect of immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation on preschoolers’ behaviors of comforting is different ( F = 12.543, p < 0.001). We further conducted a post hoc examination to verify the results. The results show that after the intervention, the scores of the group who have taken the courses with immersive media presentation are 0.860 ( p < 0.001) higher than the scores of controlling group and are 0.600 ( p < 0.05) higher than that of the group who have taken the courses with traditional media presentation, while the score difference between the group who have taken the courses with traditional media presentation and the controlling group is also insignificant.

In terms of the relationship between the behaviors of helping others and media presentation, the result of covariance analysis shows that the effect of immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation on preschoolers’ behaviors of comforting is different ( F = 21.602 p < 0.001). We further conducted a post hoc examination to verify the results. The results show that after the intervention, the scores of the group who have taken the courses with immersive media presentation are 1.082 ( p < 0.001) higher than the scores of controlling group and are 0.692 ( p < 0.001) higher than that of the group who have taken the courses with traditional media presentation. Meanwhile, the scores of the group who have taken the courses with traditional media presentation are 0.390 ( p < 0.05) higher than the scores of the controlling group.

In terms of the relationship between the behaviors of sharing with others and media presentation, the result of covariance analysis shows that the effect of immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation on preschoolers’ behaviors of comforting is different ( F = 30.176 p < 0.001). We further conducted a post hoc examination to verify the results. The results show that after the intervention, the scores of the group who have taken the courses with immersive media presentation is 1.095 ( P < 0.001) higher than the scores of controlling group and is 0.430 ( p < 0.05) higher than that of the group who have taken the courses with traditional media presentation. Meanwhile, the scores of the group who have taken the courses with traditional media presentation are 0.665 ( P < 0.001) higher than the scores of the controlling group.

In H1, we predict that both immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation positively related to preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors and that the effect of immersive animation presentation on prosocial behaviors is stronger than that of traditional media presentation. According to research results mentioned above, although immersive media presentation can both promote four types of prosocial behavioral development, traditional media presentation only facilitates the helping and sharing behaviors. Furthermore, the effect of immersive media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors (e.g., the comforting, cooperating, helping and sharing behaviors) is stronger than that of traditional media presentation. Thus, H1 is partly supported (see Table 1 ).

Results of the relationship between media presentation and prosocial behaviors.

The Moderating Role of ToM

In the second wave, according to the scores of ToM, the subjects were labeled as high ToM (ToM_H) or low (ToM_L). The results of covariance analysis show that the extent to which media presentation impacts preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors depends on the role of ToM. After the intervention of media presentation, the preschoolers with high ToM show an even stronger tendency of prosocial behaviors. Specifically, in terms of the effect of media presentation on the behaviors of comforting, when ToM is higher, after the intervention of immersive media presentation, preschoolers are more likely to show the behaviors of comforting ( F = 16.975, p < 0.0 5 ) comparing with the intervention of traditional media presentation (see Table 2 ). Considering the effect of media presentation on the behaviors of cooperating, when ToM is higher, after the intervention of immersive media presentation, preschoolers are more likely to show the behaviors of cooperating ( F = 11.79, p < 0.05, η 2 = 0.169) comparing with the intervention of traditional media presentation (see Table 2 ). Considering the effect of media presentation on the behaviors of helping, when ToM is higher, after the intervention of immersive media presentation, preschoolers are more likely to show the behaviors of helping ( F = 14.026, p < 0.05, η 2 = 0.195) comparing with the intervention of traditional media presentation (see Table 2 ). Considering the effect of media presentation on the behaviors of sharing, when ToM is higher, after the intervention of immersive media presentation, preschoolers are more likely to show the behaviors of sharing ( F = 19.414 p < 0.05, η 2 = 0.251) comparing with the intervention of traditional media presentation (see Table 2 ). Thus, consistent with our expectation, the role of ToM encourages the positive effect of media presentation, including immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation, on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors; thus, H2 is supported.

Results of moderating effect of ToM in the relationship between media presentation and prosocial behaviors.

Our experimentation results reveal that those preschoolers who have participated in the courses with the immersive media presentation are more likely to show their prosocial behaviors, such as the ones to comfort or help others and the ones to share or cooperate with others. That is to say, the teaching approaches of media presentation using immersive virtual devices enable preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. Furthermore, we also find that the immersive media presentation has a stronger effect on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors than that of traditional media presentation. A possible explanation is that immersive media (e.g., 360° imagery or video, virtual reality, and 3D content) can make the teaching materials more comprehensible and be used to reduce the psychological and cognitive gap. Thus, this approach is more advisable.

Our study also explores the moderating role of ToM in the relationship between different approaches of media presentation and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. The experimentation results reveal that both immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation have a stronger influence on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors when their ability to sense and understand others’ emotions and behaviors is higher. That is to say, the ToM has a positive contingent effect on the relationship between media presentation and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. A possible explanation is that the external knowledge or information need to be processed by internal cognitive capability, especially for preschoolers whose ability to understand others behaviors varies with each individual.

Theoretical Implication

In our study, we integrate the role of media presentation and ToM to explore how to facilitate preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. Our research team makes two theoretical contributions. First, we enrich the understanding of how to guide preschooler’s prosocial behaviors based on teaching methods using immersive media technologies and traditional media technologies. Scholars in education management called for more empirical investigation about the role of immersive media in promoting preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. Focusing on media presentation, we empirically explore the effect of immersive media presentation and traditional media presentation on preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors, which respond in part to the scholarly call. In addition, we contribute to the studies of contingent factor in the relationship between media presentation and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors. We find that the extent to which the media presentation impacts preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors relies on preschoolers’ capability to understand others’ behaviors ( Wellman et al., 2001 ). Our research confirms the necessity to realize the importance of training preschoolers’ cognitive abilities while improving teaching approaches. We thus also extend the understandings of the contingent conditions of the research of preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors.

Practical Implication

Our study supplies three primary implications with parents, kindergartens, and the society. First, for kindergartens and preschoolers’ parents, they should deepen the understanding that preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors play a critical role in promoting their healthy development and these behaviors can be trained through taking appropriate teaching courses. Furthermore, comparing with the teaching method using traditional media technologies, using immersive media technologies will generate a better positive effect. Thus, both kindergartens and families should highlight the daily collection of ideal teaching materials with the elements of prosocial behaviors, especially those cartoon materials. Second, considering the teaching materials, such as the animations and cartoons with the elements of prosocial behaviors, can direct preschoolers’ behaviors effectively, and because of the relative deficiency in the development of domestic cartoons compared with several developed countries, it is essential for our society to encourage the creation and distribution of superior domestic animations. Furthermore, the details of the cartoons should be under the strict supervision ( Fedorov et al., 2018 ). Third, our study also finds that the extent to which media presentation affect preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors depends on the theory of mind. Preschoolers’ capability to sense and understand others’ feelings and behaviors plays a critical role in the positive effect of media presentation on their prosocial behaviors. Thus, to guide the preschoolers’ behaviors in a greater extent, all the teaching units, including kindergartens, families, and the society, should not only focus on taking the immersive-media-embedded and traditional-media-embedded teaching measures but also should emphasize on enhancing preschoolers’ capability to sense and understand others’ feelings and behaviors at the same time.

Limitations and Future Research

Three limitations suggest directions for future research. First, the samples of our study are confined to kindergartens in China. Thereby, it may be risky to generalize our research conclusions to other countries and regions. Future research covering more regions may enrich our research. Second, although our experimentations are consisted of the data of four waves, the sample size remains to be enlarged. Efforts to enlarge the size of samples, as well as the size of research team, may be extend our findings. Third, our research team only explores the contingent roles of preschoolers’ capability to understand others’ feelings and behaviors. Future research may contribute to our study by investing the potential moderating influence of social and environmental factors on the relationship between media presentation and preschoolers’ prosocial behaviors.

Data Availability Statement

Author contributions.

TC involved in conceptualization, methodology, and writing—original draft preparation. CLJ took part in methodology, writing—reviewing and editing, and funding acquisition. All authors have read and agreed to the submitted version of the manuscript.

This study was supported by Education Department of Anhui Province (grant numbers gxbiZD2021018 and gxyq2021046), Anhui Xinhua University (grant numbers 2019rw013 and 2021jy005), and Department of Hefei Science and Technology (grant number 2020005).

Conflict of Interest

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

The Reviewer J-BL declared a shared affiliation with the authors to the handling editor at the time of review.

Publisher’s Note

All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article, or claim that may be made by its manufacturer, is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.

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Dubai’s Extraordinary Flooding: Here’s What to Know

Images of a saturated desert metropolis startled the world, prompting talk of cloud seeding, climate change and designing cities for intensified weather.

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A dozen or so cars, buses and trucks sit in axle-deep water on a wide, flooded highway.

By Raymond Zhong

Scenes of flood-ravaged neighborhoods in one of the planet’s driest regions have stunned the world this week. Heavy rains in the United Arab Emirates and Oman submerged cars, clogged highways and killed at least 21 people. Flights out of Dubai’s airport, a major global hub, were severely disrupted.

The downpours weren’t a freak event — forecasters anticipated the storms several days out and issued warnings. But they were certainly unusual. Here’s what to know.

Heavy rain there is rare, but not unheard-of.

On average, the Arabian Peninsula receives a scant few inches of rain a year, although scientists have found that a sizable chunk of that precipitation falls in infrequent but severe bursts, not as periodic showers.

U.A.E. officials said the 24-hour rain total on Tuesday was the country’s largest since records there began in 1949 . But parts of the nation had experienced an earlier round of thunderstorms just last month.

Oman, with its coastline on the Arabian Sea, is also vulnerable to tropical cyclones. Past storms there have brought torrential rain, powerful winds and mudslides, causing extensive damage.

Global warming is projected to intensify downpours.

Stronger storms are a key consequence of human-caused global warming. As the atmosphere gets hotter, it can hold more moisture, which can eventually make its way down to the earth as rain or snow.

But that doesn’t mean rainfall patterns are changing in precisely the same way across every corner of the globe.

In their latest assessment of climate research , scientists convened by the United Nations found there wasn’t enough data to have firm conclusions about rainfall trends in the Arabian Peninsula and how climate change was affecting them. The researchers said, however, that if global warming were to be allowed to continue worsening in the coming decades, extreme downpours in the region would quite likely become more intense and more frequent.

The role of cloud seeding isn’t clear.

The U.A.E. has for decades worked to increase rainfall and boost water supplies by seeding clouds. Essentially, this involves shooting particles into clouds to encourage the moisture to gather into larger, heavier droplets, ones that are more likely to fall as rain or snow.

Cloud seeding and other rain-enhancement methods have been tried across the world, including in Australia, China, India, Israel, South Africa and the United States. Studies have found that these operations can, at best, affect precipitation modestly — enough to turn a downpour into a bigger downpour, but probably not a drizzle into a deluge.

Still, experts said pinning down how much seeding might have contributed to this week’s storms would require detailed study.

“In general, it is quite a challenge to assess the impact of seeding,” said Luca Delle Monache, a climate scientist at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography in La Jolla, Calif. Dr. Delle Monache has been leading efforts to use artificial intelligence to improve the U.A.E.’s rain-enhancement program.

An official with the U.A.E.’s National Center of Meteorology, Omar Al Yazeedi, told news outlets this week that the agency didn’t conduct any seeding during the latest storms. His statements didn’t make clear, however, whether that was also true in the hours or days before.

Mr. Al Yazeedi didn’t respond to emailed questions from The New York Times on Thursday, and Adel Kamal, a spokesman for the center, didn’t immediately have further comment.

Cities in dry places just aren’t designed for floods.

Wherever it happens, flooding isn’t just a matter of how much rain comes down. It’s also about what happens to all that water once it’s on the ground — most critically, in the places people live.

Cities in arid regions often aren’t designed to drain very effectively. In these areas, paved surfaces block rain from seeping into the earth below, forcing it into drainage systems that can easily become overwhelmed.

One recent study of Sharjah , the capital of the third-largest emirate in the U.A.E., found that the city’s rapid growth over the past half century had made it vulnerable to flooding at far lower levels of rain than before.

Omnia Al Desoukie contributed reporting.

Raymond Zhong reports on climate and environmental issues for The Times. More about Raymond Zhong

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Understand media and information literacy, and its importance and relevance in the lives of learners and educators today; Identify and explore the normative roles of content providers such as libraries, archives, museums, media, digital communications companies; Explore these roles as manifested (or absent) in a variety of texts
Role of Media.
Presentation on theme: "Role of Media."— Presentation transcript: 1 Role of Media. 2 Define these terms Public opinion- The public sphere is a place where society discusses the issues that affect everyone. Public Agenda - The public agenda is a list of issues that much of society agrees are a priority.
Role of the Media.
5 Role of the Media To answer the role of the media question you need: A range of texts to refer to (we will mainly use moving image and print adverts, but, films and TV programmes are also valid) A range of potentially controversial issues to write about - we will focus on how the media influences behaviour by perpetuating, maintaining, and challenging dominant ideologies around gender and ...
The Role of Media in Development
The Role of Media in Development . Topics to be discussed • Construction of national, regional and diasporic identity • Promotion of Cultural experience and exchange • Responding to cultural imperialism • Promotion and Defence of rights and citizens. Development vs. Growth Studies show that babies given no love will be stunted intellectually Babies that are shown love, simply being ...
Role Of Media
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The Significance and Impact of the Media in Contemporary Society
The mass media is a significant, powerful and pervasive social institution embedded into contemporary society, which is experiencing 'unprecedented levels of media saturation and social change' (Devereux 2007: 2), particularly since the advent of the internet. Footnote 1 The centrality and impact of the mass media in society have long been topics of great intellectual concern.
(PPT) The Role of the Media in a democracy
The media is the fourth pillar of democracy after the executive, the legislature and the judiciary. Media as control over the three pillars and underpin their performance with checks and balances. to be able to perform its role should be upheld the freedom of the press in conveying public information in an honest and balanced manner. besides ...
How to Create a Multimedia Presentation (& Tools to Use)
Step #4: Add multimedia content. At this stage, your presentation probably looks good-looking, but static. Let's make it interactive by adding unique multimedia presentation tools. Start adding multimedia content to the slides that need it.
PPT
Role of Media in Development Communication Presentation by: Dr. Tanu Dang Assistant Professor Dept. of Journalism and Mass Communication, Khwaja Moinuddin Chishti Urdu, Arabi - Farsi University, Lucknow. Understanding Development Communication Development communication refers to the use of process and tools of communication to facilitate social development.
ROLE OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN MODERN SOCIETY
The role of social media in modern society is huge. The main purposes of social media are for judgment, communication and information accessibility, and human engagement. It is a useful instrument for spreading information and facilitating communication with people locally and globally. NEGATIVE EFFECTS - 1. 2.
Immersive Media Presentation and Preschoolers' Prosocial Behaviors: The
In our study, we integrate the role of media presentation and ToM to explore how to facilitate preschoolers' prosocial behaviors. Our research team makes two theoretical contributions. First, we enrich the understanding of how to guide preschooler's prosocial behaviors based on teaching methods using immersive media technologies and ...
Dubai's Extraordinary Flooding: Here's What to Know
The role of cloud seeding isn't clear. The U.A.E. has for decades worked to increase rainfall and boost water supplies by seeding clouds. Essentially, this involves shooting particles into ...