Media Audiences And Identity

Using a unique combination of cultural studies research, neo-pragmatist philosophy, and psychoanalytic theory, the author sheds light on the formation of a social identity and the important role that mass media play in this process. Case studies covering a range of media and communities provide a model for developing a truly explanatory as well as descriptive account of self-media interaction that bridges the two opposing sides of the media audience debate and provides a significant new dimension to notions of 'passive' and 'active' media audiences.

This work takes both a chronological and a thematic approach, in order to explore the ways in which the audience as an analytical concept has changed, as well as examining the relationships which audiences have with texts and the ways in which they exert their power as consumers.

This handbook offers a comprehensive overview of the complexity and diversity of audience studies in the advent of digital media. Details the study of audiences and how it is changing in relation to digital media Recognizes and appreciates valuable traditional approaches and identifies how they can be applied to, and evolve with, the changing media world Offers diverse perspectives from which being an audience, theorizing audiences, researching audiences, and doing audience research are approached today Argues that the field works best by identifying particular 'audience problems' and applying the best theories and research methods available to solving them Includes contributions from some of the most outstanding international scholars in the field

Exploring key areas relating to media, power and cultural identity, this study looks at the effects of the media in Ireland, first radio, then television, and now the newer media.

Media, Ritual and Identity examines the role of the media in society; its complex influence on democratic processes and its participation in the construction and affirmation of different social identities. It draws extensively upon cultural anthropology and combines a commanding overview of contemporary media debates with a series of fascinating case studies ranging from political ritual on television to broadcasting in the third world.

Popular media present a vast array of stories about women and men. What impact do these images and ideas have on people’s identities? The new edition of Media, Gender and Identity is a highly readable introduction to the relationship between media and gender identities today. Fully revised and updated, including new case studies and a new chapter, it considers a wide range of research and provides new ways for thinking about the media’s influence on gender and sexuality. David Gauntlett discusses movies such as Knocked Up and Spiderman 3, men’s and women’s magazines, TV shows, self-help books, YouTube videos, and more, to show how the media play a role in the shaping of individual self-identities. The book includes: a comparison of gender representations in the past and today, from James Bond to Ugly Betty an introduction to key theorists such as Judith Butler, Anthony Giddens and Michel Foucault an outline of creative approaches, where identities are explored with video, drawing, or Lego bricks a Companion Website with extra articles, interviews and selected links, at: www.theoryhead.com.

The Routledge Companion to Media Audiences captures the ways in which audiences and audience researchers are adapting to emerging social, cultural, market, technical and environmental conditions. Bringing together 40 original essays, this anthology explores how our constantly changing encounters with media are complex, contradictory and increasingly commercialized in the modern world. Each specially commissioned chapter by both early-career and experienced international scholars surveys new conceptualizations and constitutions of audiences, and assesses key issues, themes and developments within the field. As such, this companion cements itself as an indispensable guide for students and researchers who seek a comprehensive overview and source of inspiration for a diverse range of topics in media audiences. The Routledge Companion to Media Audiences is an accessible, landmark tool which enhances our understanding of how media is utilized through advanced empirical research and methodological enquiry. It is a must-read for media studies, communication studies, cultural studies, humanities and social science scholars and students.

Pertti Alasuutari provides a state-of-the-art summary of the field of audience research. With contributions from Ann Gray, Joke Hermes, John Tulloch and David Morley, a case is presented for a new agenda to account for the role of the media in everyday life.

Living Room Wars brings together Ien Ang's recent writings on media audiences to ask what it means to live in a world saturated by media. What does our media audiencehood say about our everyday lives and social relations, and how does it illuminate the condition of contemporary culture ? Ang suggests that we cannot understand media audiences without deconstructing the category of 'audience' itself as an institutional and discursive construct. Her accessible style throws light on some of the complexities of media consumption in a postmodern world, including those related to gender politics and the globalization of culture. Living Room Wars points to the inherently contradictory nature of the media's role in shaping our identities, fantasies and pleasures, imbricated as they are in the exigencies of capitalist consumption and the institutions of the modern nation-state. Living Room Wars presents an indespensible tool for bridging audience studies, media studies and the larger concerns of cultural studies.

Whether we are watching TV, surfing the Internet, listening to our iPods, or reading a novel, we all engage with media as an audience. Despite the widespread use of this term in our popular culture, the meaning of "audience" is complex, and it has undergone significant historical shifts as new forms of mediated communication have developed from print, telegraphy, and radio to film, television, and the Internet. Media Audiences: Effects, Users, Institutions, and Power 2nd Edition explores the concept of media audiences from four broad perspectives: as "victims" of mass media, as market constructions and commodities, as users of media, and as producers and subcultures of mass media. The goal of the text is for students to be able to think critically about the role and status of media audiences in contemporary society, reflecting on their relative power in relation to institutional media producers.