The Future Of The Mass Audience

This book focuses on how the changing technology and economics of the mass media in post-industrial society will influence public communication.

In the early 20th century, a new and distinctive concept of the audience rose to prominence. The audience was seen as a mass -- a large collection of people mostly unknown to one another -- that was unified through exposure to media. This construct offered a pragmatic way to map audiences that was relevant to industry, government, and social theorists. In a relatively short period of time, it became the dominant model for studying the audience. Today, it is so pervasive that most people simply take it for granted. Recently, media scholars have reopened inquiry into the meaning of "audience." They question the utility of the mass audience concept, characterizing it as insensitive to differences among audience members inescapably bound up with discredited notions of mass society, or serving only a narrow set of industrial interests. The authors of this volume find that these assertions are often false and unwarranted either by the historical record or by contemporary industry practice. Instead, they argue for a rediscovery of the dominant model by summarizing and critiquing the very considerable body of literature on audience behavior, and by demonstrating different ways of analyzing mass audiences. Further, they provide a framework for understanding the future of the audience in the new media environment, and suggest how the concept of mass audience can illuminate research on media effects, cultural studies, and media policy.

Looks at the emerging phenomenon of online journalism, including Weblogs, Internet chat groups, and email, and how anyone can produce news.

Annotation Napoli examines the ongoing redefinition of the industry-audience relationship by technologies that have moved the audience marketplace beyond traditional metrics.

“a simple yet excellent overview of the multilayered path of audience research, tracing its evolution over the last century…” European Journal of Communication *How has the concept of 'the audience' changed over the past 50 years? *How do audiences become producers and not just consumers of media texts? *How are new media affecting the ways in which audiences are researched? The audience has been a central concept in both in media and cultural studies for some considerable time, not least because there seems little point exploring forms of increasingly global communication in terms of their content if the targets of media messages are not also the focus of study. This book ranges across a wide literature, taking both a chronological as well as 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. We also look at the political economy of audiences and the ways in which they are 'delivered' to advertisers as well as attending to the ratings war being waged by broadcasters and the development of narrowcasting and niche audiences. Finally, the book looks ahead to the future of audience research, suggesting that new genres such as 'reality TV' and new ICTs such as the internet, are already revolutionising the way in which research with audiences is taking place in the 21st century, not least because of the level of interactivity enabled by new media.

This handbook surveys the history, organization, role, major issues, and future outlook for different segments of the mass media industry and for its various audiences in the United States. Following a brief introductory overview, experts offer broad perspectives through analyses of the advertising, book, cable, film, magazine, newspaper, public relations, radio, recording, and television industries and of present views about their audiences of minorities, women, children, the disabled, religious groups, and sports enthusiasts. Each chapter reviews and synthesizes the important literature today, current policies and problems, the responsibility and effectiveness of the sector or group under study, and trends in the 1990s and to the year 2000. Bibliographies defining important readings as well as regular sources of information add to the usefulness of this handbook for college, university, institutional, and public libraries. Each chapter on a different sector or audience reviews and synthesizes the important literature to date, discusses current responsibilities, evaluates the sector's effectiveness or weaknesses, audience concerns, and advises about trends and future developments. Bibliographies point to important readings for future research and comment on regular sources of information for further study. The handbook is designed for college students, researchers in mass media, and public library audiences.

We are willing participants in our own surveillance

Ed Shane here traces a change in the American pervasive mass media that once disseminated information quickly and stimulated mass cultural response, to a de-massified individual media that incubate a new electronic narcissicism, producing an inwardly-focused society.

The Future of Journalism: Developments and Debates analyses the radical shifts in journalism which are changing every aspect of the gathering, reporting and reception of news. The drivers of these changes include the rapid innovations in communication technologies, the competitive and fragmenting markets for audiences and advertising revenues, and the collapse of traditional business models for financing media organisations, as well as changing audience requirements for news, the ways in which it is presented and the expansive number of (increasingly mobile) devices on which it is produced and consumed. Each of these trends has significant implications for journalists - for their jobs, workplaces, products and perceptions of their professional roles, ethical judgements and day-to-day practice. They also pose significant challenges for the future funding of a sustainable, critical and high ‘quality’ democratic journalism. The Future of Journalism: Developments and Debates comprises the research-based responses of distinguished academic specialists and professional journalists to the challenging issues involved in assessing the future of journalism. It is essential reading for everyone interested in the changing role of journalism in the economic, democratic and cultural life of communities locally, nationally and globally. This book was originally published as two special issues of Journalism Studies and Journalism Practice.