This fully-updated new edition of Politics and the Mass Media provides a comprehensive introduction to the role of mass communications in politics at all levels, from election campaigns, news reports and lobbying groups to the media activities of pressure groups. The relationship between politics, politicians and the media is a matter of increasingly contentious debate, as politicians' awareness of the importance of the media becomes more sophisticated amidst rapidly-advancing media technology and control. Providing a review of the nature and content of political communications and of recent theoretical developments, Negrine addresses the issues surrounding today's mass media, including cable and satellite television, investigation of the press, the relationship between the state and broadcasing institutions and the ever-present question of whether or not Britain needs a media policy. This new edition includes: * Case studies from television and the press * Fully revised text with updated sections on the press, broadcasting and media legislation * Brand new chapters on Europe and globalisation

Power Without Responsibility is a classic introduction to the history, sociology, theory and politics of the media in Britain. It is an essential guide, both for students and teachers of media and communication studies, and for all those involved in the production and consumption of the media. The new edition has been substantially revised to bring it right up-to-date with developments in the media industry, new media technologies and changes in the political and academic debates surrounding media policy. In this new edition, the authors consider: * whether we are on the threshold of a new communications revolution * the role of global media empires * the rise of video, cable and satellite * the global information society and contradictions in media policy * the BBC and broadcasting at the end of the 1990s * the evolving relationship of the press and the Conservative party. Assessing the press and broadcasting at a time of radical change, the authors suggest a manifesto for media reform.

This important new text provides an up-to-date account of the complex interrelationship between politics and the media in Britain. It starts by setting key policy areas in the context of technological convergence, globalization and initiatives at European level. It then addresses the key issues the role of the media in politics and elections.

The Mass Media and Power in Britain is a thorough, lievely introduction to the role, importance, and power of the mass media in contemporary British society. What is the mass media, and how does it help shape life in modern Britain? After introducing the student to discussions around these questions, the authors examine the historical development of the mass media, issues of ownership, and the roots of its power in the public and political sphere. Contemporary questions surrounding todays media are also addressed. What is the role of the audience? How do people take pleasure from media culture? What are the issues surrounding the news, advertising, public services broadcasting, the shaping of public understanding, censorship, violence, and `moral panics'? The authors also look towards the future, considering prospects for a global media and the possible effects of the information superhighway. An invaluable introduction and point of reference for students ofsociology, media studies, politics and human geography, The Mass Media and Power in Modern Britain will be essential reading for anyone interested in our mass media _

Based on an analysis of media content from selected periods in 1986 and 1996, this study examines the changing nature of parliamentary and political coverage in Britain, Germany and France. The comparison of the output suggests that although there are differences in political structures and media practices, there are also important similarities, such as a reduction in the length of politicians' sound-bites on television, and changes in the make-up of newspapers which affect the nature of parliamentary and political coverage. The findings are placed within a broader context of a continually changing relationship between political institutions and actors in the media.

This book looks at the rapid expansion of professional public relations and discusses its effects on the mass media and political process.