Cultural Studies: An Anthology is a comprehensive collection of classic and contemporary essays in the diverse field of cultural studies. It is designed for classroom use in a variety of settings and departments, from communications and film studies to literature and anthropology. With an international scope and interdisciplinary approach, this book represents the diversity, depth, and leading scholarship of this complex field. A blockbuster anthology bringing together classic and contemporary essays in the fragmented field of cultural studies Takes an international and interdisciplinary approach, representing the diversity, depth, and leading scholarship of this complex field Offers a range of important perspectives on key topics, including policy, gender, sexuality, ethnicity, identity, visual culture, and diaspora Provides an overview of the history of the discipline, and argues for better placement of cultural studies within the academy Designed for classroom use in a variety of settings and departments, from communications and film studies to literature and anthropology, contextualizing essays with helpful introductory material and extensive bibliographic citations Michael Ryan is an internationally renowned academic and author; he is supported here by an global advisory board of leading scholars

"During the first century of the republic, two modes of communication at a distance - telecommunications - were etched into lands inhabited by Native Americans; contested by rival European powers; and occupied by the United States. Both telecommunications systems supported this expanding US territorial empire but, despite this overarching commonality, they branched apart in other ways. One network was owned by the state and the other by capital, and the two branches of the telecommunications system developed disparate rate structures, patterns of access, and social and institutional relationships. During the decades after the Civil War their divergence became politically charged. Would one model prevail over the other? Going forward, would it be the government Post Office or the corporate telegraph that set the terms of telecommunications development? The Post Office was the nation's originating system for communication at a distance. Both before and long after it was elevated to a cabinet department in 1829, furthermore, the Post Office was by far the largest unit of the central state. In 1831, the nation's 8700 postmasters comprised three-quarters of federal civilian employment; half a century later (excluding temporary postal employees and ordinary and railway mail clerks and letter carriers), some 50,000 postmasters accounted for perhaps one-third of all civilian employees in the executive branch. Though its relative weight as a government employer diminished after this, its workforce continued to swell. During the last two antebellum decades, meanwhile, an emergent technology - the electrical telegraph - was passed quickly from the federal government to private capital. The two systems' institutional identities immediately began to contrast in other ways"--

At free ebook version of this title is available through Luminos, University of California Press’s new open access publishing program. Visit www.luminosoa.org to learn more. Precarious Creativity examines the seismic changes confronting media workers in an age of globalization and corporate conglomeration. This pathbreaking anthology peeks behind the hype and supposed glamor of screen media industries to reveal the intensifying pressures and challenges confronting actors, editors, electricians, and others. The authors take on pressing conceptual and methodological issues while also providing insightful case studies of workplace dynamics regarding creativity, collaboration, exploitation, and cultural difference. Furthermore, it examines working conditions and organizing efforts on all six continents, offering broad-ranging and comprehensive analysis of contemporary screen media labor in such places as Lagos, Prague, Hollywood, and Hyderabad. The collection also examines labor conditions across a range of job categories that includes, for example, visual effects, production services, and adult entertainment. With contributions from such leading scholars as John Caldwell, Vicki Mayer, Herman Gray, and Tejaswini Ganti, Precarious Creativity offers timely critiques of media globalization while also intervening in broader debates about labor, creativity, and precarity.

The latest edition of the acclaimed volume on television studies, featuring new original essays from leading scholars in the field Although the digital age has radically altered the media and communications landscape worldwide, television continues to play a significant part of our lives. From its earliest beginnings through to the present day, television and its influence has been the subject of extensive study, critique, and analysis. A Companion to Television brings together contributions from prominent international scholars comprising a wide range of perspectives on the medium. Original essays define television in its current state, explore why it is still relevant, survey the ways in which television has been studied, discuss how television has changed, and consider what television might look like in the future. Now in its second edition, this compendium includes fresh chapters that cover technological changes affecting television, contemporary approaches to understanding television audiences, new programming trends and developments, and more. Addressing nine key areas of television studies, such as industry, genres, programs, and audiences, the Companion offers readers a balanced, well-rounded, integrative approach to scholarship in the field. This volume: Provides overviews of extensive original research from leading scholars and theorists Examines television’s development and significance in various regions of the world Includes national and regional outlines of television around the world Features theoretical overviews of various critical approaches to television studies Explores historical, economic, institutional, political, and cultural issues studied by media scholars Presenting diverse perspectives on topics ranging from television advertising to satirical representations of the industry, A Companion to Television, Second Edition is an invaluable resource for those in undergraduate courses in television studies, as well as in general media studies and communications.

"Hayes describes how, both during and after the period of cultural revolution, Mexico radio broadcasting was shaped by the clash and collaboration of different social forces - including U.S. interests, Mexican media entrepreneurs, state institutions, and radio audiences. She traces the evolution of Mexican radio in case studies that focus on such subjects as early government broadcasting activities, the role of Mexico City media elites, the "paternal voice" of presidential addresses, and U.S. propaganda during World War II.".

This reference book is designed as a road map for researchers who need to find specific information about American mass communication as expeditiously as possible. Taking a topical approach, it integrates publications and organizations into subject-focused chapters for easy user reference. The editors define mass communication to include print journalism and electronic media and the processes by which they communicate messages to their audiences. Included are newspaper, magazine, radio, television, cable, and newer electronic media industries. Within that definition, this volume offers an indexed inventory of more than 1,400 resources on most aspects of American mass communication history, technology, economics, content, audience research, policy, and regulation. The material featured represents the carefully considered judgment of three experts -- two of them librarians -- plus four contributors from different industry venues. The primary focus is on the domestic American print and electronic media industries. Although there is no claim to a complete census of all materials on print journalism and electronic media -- what is available is now too vast for any single guide -- the most important and useful items are here. The emphasis is on material published since 1980, though useful older resources are included as well. Each chapter is designed to stand alone, providing the most important and useful resources of a primary nature -- organizations and documents as well as secondary books and reports. In addition, online resources and internet citations are included where possible.

This comprehensive and authoritative volume traces the history of research leading to the development of the wireless radio systems. It discusses the methods adopted by a large number of inventors and the results they obtained to provide perspective on how historical methods and events can be a source of inspiration for future research. This book will be of interest to researchers and students in telecommunications engineering as well as to teachers of history of science and technology.

The Handbook of Communication History addresses central ideas, social practices, and media of communication as they have developed across time, cultures, and world geographical regions. It attends to both the varieties of communication in world history and the historical investigation of those forms in communication and media studies. The Handbook editors view communication as encompassing patterns, processes, and performances of social interaction, symbolic production, material exchange, institutional formation, social praxis, and discourse. As such, the history of communication cuts across social, cultural, intellectual, political, technological, institutional, and economic history. The volume examines the history of communication history; the history of ideas of communication; the history of communication media; and the history of the field of communication. Readers will explore the history of the object under consideration (relevant practices, media, and ideas), review its manifestations in different regions and cultures (comparative dimensions), and orient toward current thinking and historical research on the topic (current state of the field). As a whole, the volume gathers disparate strands of communication history into one volume, offering an accessible and panoramic view of the development of communication over time and geographical places, and providing a catalyst to further work in communication history.

This work shows in detail the emergence and consolidation of U.S. commercial broadcasting economically, politically, and ideologically. This process was met by organized opposition and a general level of public antipathy that has been almost entirely overlooked by previous scholarship. McChesney highlights the activities and arguments of this early broadcast reform movement of the 1930s. The reformers argued that commercial broadcasting was inimical to the communication requirements of a democratic society and that the only solution was to have a dominant role for nonprofit and noncommercial broadcasting. Although the movement failed, McChesney argues that it provides important lessons not only for communication historians and policymakers, but for those concerned with media and how they are used.