Media and Democracy addresses key topics and themes in relation to democratic theory, media and technology, comparative media studies, media and history, and the evolution of media research. For example:
- How does TV entertainment contribute to the democratic life of society?
- Why are Americans less informed about politics and international affairs than Europeans?
- How should new communications technology and globalisation change our understanding of the democratic role of the media?
- What does the rise of international ezines reveal about the limits of the internet?
- What is the future of journalism?
- Does advertising influence the media?
- Is American media independence from government a myth?
- How have the media influenced the development of modern society?
Professor Curran’s response to these questions provides both a clear introduction to media research, written for university undergraduates studying in different countries, and an innovative analysis written by one of the field’s leading scholars.
Introduction Part I Comparing Media 1. Shining City on Hill 2. Questioning a New Orthodoxy 3. Media System, Public Knowledge and Democracy Part II Media and Democratic Theory 4. Entertaining Democracy 5. Liberal Dreams and the Internet Part III Media and New Technology 6. Technology Foretold 7. Future of Journalism Part IV Media and History 8. Narratives of Media History Revisited 9. Press as an Agency of Social Control 10. Advertising as a Bounty System Part V Media and Culture 11. Media as Custodians of Cultural Tradition 12. Media and Cultural Theory in the Age of Market Liberalism
Biography
James Curran is Director of the Goldsmiths Leverhume Media Research Centre, and Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths, University of London. He has authored and edited numerous books including Power Without Responsibility (7th edition with Jean Seaton, 2010), Media and Society (5th edition, 2010), and Media and Power (2002).
James Curran is the 2011 winner of the ICA's C. Edwin Baker Award for the Advancement of Scholarship on Media, Markets and Democracy.
‘... Curran’s Media and Democracy is a must-read book for students and scholars alike, delivering sharp analysis in a lively and accessible way’ Stephen Cushion, Journalism 13(2), 2012: 260
'...Curran's book is excellent and will no doubt appear as a central text in media studies courses around the world.' Greg Philo, British Politics
