Media studies Books

Book SynopsisThe Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has been bombarded with hundreds of thousands of complaints concerning the 2004 Super Bowl halftime show. Although the focal point of the complaints has been a public breast exposure, the complaints perhaps reflect the general outrage at a halftime show which has been described as a raunchy and disgraceful public display of indecency. The National Football League took a huge risk with its franchise presentation which has already reached over 100 million viewers. The FCC, however, is supposed to function as the guardian of what passes for a certain level of public decency and cultural acceptability. But has it been doing that or has it deteriorated to a little more than a back-water refuge for nepotism and industry fawning? This book presents media analyses of what the FCC is supposed to do -- not what it does based on results.

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Book SynopsisOn 8 September 2003 the Federal Communications Commission approved the merger of Univision Communications, Inc., the dominant Spanish language media company in the US (which owns the leading Spanish language broadcast television network, cable television network, television station group, music recording and publishing company, and Internet site) and Hispanic Broadcasting Corporation (HBC), the largest Spanish language radio operator in the US. The Commission explicitly rejected the argument that there is something unique about the needs of the Spanish speaking population in the US or about the financing, production, or distribution of Spanish language programming for US household, that requires a distinction to be made between Spanish language media outlet and other media outlets. The Hispanic community is the largest minority community in the US, but it is not linguistically homogeneous. Although most Hispanics speak English well, almost 8 million Hispanics speak English either ''not at all'' or ''not well''. Survey data indicate that Latino household tend to watch television as a family, rather than as individuals; when family members have varying levels of English proficiency, the family is likely to watch Spanish language programming -- particularly for news -- to accommodate those with limited understanding of English. As a result, more than half of all bilingual (Spanish-English) Latino adults prefer to watch primarily Spanish-language news programming on television. This book provides detailed tables of demographic, viewing, and market information on the Spanish-speaking population as well as detailed analysis of public policy issues.

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Book SynopsisThe media industry plays an important role in educating and entertaining the public. While the media industry provides the public with many national choices, media outlets located in a local market are more likely to provide local programs that meet the needs of residents in the market compared to national outlets. This book reviews (1) the number and ownership of various media outlets; (2) the level of minority- and women-owned broadcast outlets; (3) the influence of economic, legal and regulatory, and technological factors on the number and ownership of media outlets; and (4) stakeholders'' opinions on modifying certain media ownership laws and regulations.

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Book SynopsisIn a society predicated on information, the media has a pervasive presence. From government policy to leisure television, the information age touches us all. The papers collected in this book constitute some of today''s leading analyses of the information industry. Together, these essays represent a needed foundation for understanding the present state and future development of the mass media. Current trends in communications as well as media impact on public opinion are studied and reported on. Topics include teacher practices with mobile technology integrating tablet computers into the early childhood classroom; making personal and professional learning mobile; signalling theory predicting aggressive behaviours in video games; a social network study of friendship networks among college students; a critical reflection on Facebook-research methods and optical mediation; polling with mobile devices on university campuses; the impact of gender and field of study on Iranian students'' English web pages usage; and adoption of ICT-based market information and farm-gate prices received.

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Book SynopsisThis book is loaded with explosive revelations of plans by that master-group of financiers and politicians often referred to cynically as ''the boys in the back room''. The author takes us boldly into all the nation''s significant back rooms, the seamiest and the most sumptuous, and shows us where the real controls are concealed. We see not only how they are manipulated but also by whom. This daring account would seem a fantastic nightmare were it not so fully documented from unimpeachable sources. By George Seldes (1890-1995): crusading activist journalist and editor who knew world leaders personally, subject of the film, "Tell the Truth and Run". Topics: Names of those who control our institutions through the media and pressure groups. 99% of media push the agenda of the powerful and cover up suborning of the public interest and exploitation of the people by private influence. Example of Montana and Anaconda: the USA as a company town. The genesis of Time magazine; financed by Harriman and Morgan; covering up the Ambassador Page cable to Wilson in 1917, calling for war on Germany to serve Morgan financial interests. Conflict of interest between magazines and advertisers. Pro-Hitler line of Wall-Street-controlled newspapers. Commerce Secretary Hoover helps munitions makers circumvent the Geneva arms control conference. Dupont, ally of IG Farben and campaign funding champion, elects Hoover president. The white-washing of Wall Street. Each major industry dominated by a few corporations controlled by a few families like Rockefeller and Morgan. Financing of the Liberty League, the KKK, et al. Smedley Butler and the 1934 Morgan putsch against FDR. The Commission on Freedom of the Press condemns the press as liars and prostitutes. War profiteers destroy our hopes for a world of peace, prosperity and the American way.

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Book SynopsisReality television has become a world-wide phenomenon which has the capability to crossover cultural boundaries and appeal to distinctly different markets. Drawing theories from media studies, economics, cultural studies and social science, this book reviews how reality TV has conquered the world and has the potential to remove successful dramatic genres from the prime-time line-up.

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Book SynopsisThis special anthology of papers investigates the relationship of contemporary mass and communicative media, and legal practice, decision making and regulation. The volume has two main areas: representations of law events in mass media, and use of digital and video media in legal practice. Topics include the use of video and digital tools in courtroom proceedings, and consequent understanding of video as a medium; the use of media technology in court case management, and televised proceedings of court. A special theme of the volume will be on how digital and new media, and audio-visual technology generally, can become a tool or accessory in mediation the process and outcome of legal administration, mediation and decision-making. However the two areas, of mass and new media, will be seen as inter-related. Attention will be also given to past, present and potential role of media in courtroom, mediation and client setting, and in case administration.

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Book SynopsisOver the past 20 years, significant evidence has accumulated supporting the use of mass media campaigns in smoking cessation efforts. Studies have shown that smoke cessation campaigns can change beliefs and attitudes about quitting, increase motivation to quit and stimulate quit attempts. Also discussed in this book is the role of mass media in shaping and presenting certain forms of national identity; the prosocial messages in animated cartoons; the political use of fear and news reporting in Italy; media depiction of risky driving and adolescent driving behaviors; and the Axelrod Model of social phenomena and mass media.

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Book SynopsisIn a society predicated on information, the media has a pervasive presence. From government policy to leisure television, the information age touches us all. The papers collected in this book constitute some of today''s leading analyses of the information industry. Together, these essays represent a needed foundation for understanding the present state and future development of the mass media. Current trends in communications as well as media impact on public opinion are studied and reported on. Topics include successful migration of EPON to WDM EPON; Kony 2012 and the invisible children''s challenge of social media campaigning and digital activism; the process of liberalisation of the telecommunications market in the Republic of Serbia; wavelength multiplexing for super resolved imaging and spatial data compression; social media challenges for professional writers; transmission behaviour in ad hoc networks; and WSM dispersion-managed soliton transmission systems.

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Book SynopsisVideo provided through subscription video services, such as cable and satellite television, is a central source of news and entertainment for the majority of U.S. households. Technological advances have ushered in a wave of new products and services, bringing online distribution of video to consumers. Federal laws and regulations have sought to foster competition in the video programming and distribution marketplace, but many such laws were adopted prior to the emergence of these advances. This book examines (1) how competition has changed since 2005; (2) the increased choices that consumers have in acquiring video programming and content; and (3) stakeholders'' views on how the government''s regulations, reports, and other activities have kept pace with changes in the industry.

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Book SynopsisThe lack of communications services in Indian Country -- be it high speed internet or "broadband", traditional wireline phone service, mobile service, radio broadcast, or TV broadcast service -- is well known. As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has observed previously, "by virtually any measure, communities on Tribal lands have historically had less access to telecommunications services than any other segment of the population". The lack of robust communications services presents serious impediments to Tribal Nations'' efforts to preserve their cultures and build their internal structures for self-governance, economic opportunity, health, education, public safety, and welfare. This book examines federal efforts to bridge the digital divide in Indian country with a focus on the internet infrastructure in native communities and equal access to e-commerce, jobs and the global marketplace.

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Book SynopsisThe prevalence of social media avails individual users and organizations with unprecedented access to personal information that was once arduous to gather. Undoubtedly, privacy concerns on social media platforms become critically important as vendors can now potentially have access to a large collection of users'' personal information. This book discusses the privacy concerns in using social media. It discusses the negative impact social media has on different populations; the use of social media for job placement; the dangers of social media for the psyche; and videos as a form of transmedia storytelling.

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Book SynopsisTelevision and radio broadcasters air content, including advertisements and other programming, on a variety of issues, some of which directly address their interests as broadcasters. The FCC applies the Communications Act of 1934 to hold these broadcasters to a basic principle - that the public should know when and by whom it is being persuaded. Statutes and FCC regulations require licensed broadcasters to publicly disclose information about sponsored content. This book describes the disclosure requirements for broadcasters that air advertisements or programming that affect their interests and may be intended to influence Congress, and any requirements to air opposing views; and assesses what is known about the number and fair market value of these advertisements, and those of opposing views, aired from 2007 through 2012.

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Book SynopsisIn a society predicated on information, the media has a pervasive presence. From government policy to leisure television, the information age touches us all. The papers collected in this book constitute some of today''s leading analyses of the information industry. Together, these essays represent a needed foundation for understanding the present state and future development of the mass media. Current trends in communications as well as media impact on public opinion are studied and reported on. Topics include video conferencing via mobile devices in schools; managing the facility with lifecycle information; radio resource allocation in MU-MIMO LTE networks; a systemic modelling approach to interpreting service delivery; a morphogenetic approach to digital multimedia for college resources; and detection of spatially distributed signals by generalised receiver using radar sensor arrays in wireless communications.

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Book SynopsisUnderstanding the conceptual relationship between the building blocks of media and communication is important not just for one''s knowledge, but for what works in practice. This is important especially as societies become complex. From its macro-perspective, Media Anthology sees both media and communication landscapes as experiencing dramatic changes since the introduction of social media. It helps the reader to scope and digest trending issues presented within the field of mass media and communication. For students of media and communication, this book opens an array of information. And to the practitioner, it introduces an opportunity to locate and fuse practice with professionalism in a dynamic and contested field like media and communication.

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Book SynopsisSemiotics is being applied more and more to the study of digital media, which have made the production and use of new sign forms a daily event-forms that seem to evanesce almost as quickly as they emerge. These include, especially, memes, emojis, and digital narratives. How are these affecting our perception of meaning? What do they imply for the future narration of history? These are the types of questions that will be examined in this book. It has been written in as non-technical a style as possible, covering the main aspects of traditional semiotic theory and projecting them onto the contemporary world of digital communications.Table of ContentsPreface; Digital Semiotics; Memes; Emojis; The Digisphere; Communication in the Digisphere; References; Index.

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Book SynopsisNow in its third edition, In the News is the standard Canadian textbook on media relations, used across the country. The authors provide an introduction to media relations, grounded in both communications theory and hands-on, day-to-day experience. Whether you need to promote your issues to the nation or reach small, targeted groups, this book is your step-by-step guide. In the News is perfect for communications students; media relations practitioners in the private, public and voluntary sectors; and anyone who wants to break a story.

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Book SynopsisAs we face the compounded crises of late capitalism, environmental catastrophe and technological transformation, who are the thinkers and the ideas who will allow us to understand the world we live in? McKenzie Wark surveys three areas at the cutting edge of current critical thinking: design, environment, technology and introduces us to the thinking of nineteen major writers. Each chapter is a concise account of an individual thinker, providing useful context and connections to the work of the others. The authors include: Sianne Ngai, Kodwo Eshun, Lisa Nakamura, Hito Steyerl, Yves Citton, Randy Martin, Jackie Wang, Anna Lowenhaupt Tsing, Achille Mbembe, Deborah Danowich and Eduardo Viveiros de Castro, Eyal Weizman, Cory Doctorow, Benjamin Bratton, Tiziana Terranova, Keller Easterling, Jussi Parikka.Wark argues that we are too often told that expertise is obtained by specialisation. Sensoria connects the themes and arguments across intellectual silos. They explore the edges of disciplines to show how we might know the world: through the study of culture, the different notions of how we create such things, and the impact that the machines that we devise have had upon us. The book is a vital and timely introduction to the future both as a warning but also as a road map on how we might find our way out of the current crisis.Trade ReviewA provocative and compelling exploration of our digital world as it crashes towards ecological disaster. Counter-intuitive, insightful, and imaginative, Capital is Dead is a timely reminder that there are things worse than capitalism - and we may just be living through them -- Nick Snricek, co-author of Inventing the Future * [in praise of Capital is Dead] *a playbook for the Anthropocene, a set of moves and strategies extracted from an unexpected canon of texts formed by a mash-up of the Soviet avant-garde and the Californian high-tech imaginary. * Radical Philosophy [in praise of Molecular Red] *A very imaginative, historically smart, politically generative thesis . that I think we urgently need. -- Donna Haraway, author of A Cyborg Manifesto * [in praise of Molecular Red] *A wonderful book . informative and moving . a great recovery of an instructive life and literary effort. The book makes the case for a kind of political vision and action we need to recognize and enact. A true pleasure to read. -- Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Mars Trilogy * [in praise of Molecular Red] *Wark is a fine aphorist ... Playful, angry, depressed, celebratory, this is a book for anyone not convinced that there is no alternative to the way we live now. -- Observer * [In Praise of The Beach Beneath the Streets] *

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Book SynopsisDennis Barker has written a hard-hitting expose of the erosion of standards and values in the media world of newspapers, TV and radio over the past twenty years, in particular those of integrity, independence of thought and accuracy. He was prompted to start work on his book by the low standing of journalists - at the bottom near estate-agents and politicians - in recent opinion polls on the esteem in which the public holds those in different professions. He takes the reader through a whole gamut of journalistic 'tricks', which pinpoint the failings of the media, in over fifty short chapters, including 'the death of the reporter', 'prejudicial words', 'shovel it all in', 'the sub's role', 'my beautiful career', 'same old celebrities', 'money worship' and 'headlines and fib-lines'. In 'snubbing', we see how a colourfully dramatic conflict or a cauldron of ill-will can be created where possibly none exists. The general public is becoming increasingly aware of the unsatisfactory state of affairs in media journalism, which is highlighted by the periodic distortions caused by the political ambitions of chief executives and tycoons, misleading headlines, and its extraordinary obsession with celebrity culture. "Tricks Journalists Play" is essential reading for the majority of us who care about the pernicious effects of spin, misrepresentation and deception and social and international prejudice, the purveying of half-truths in relation to crucial issues that affect our future, and the failure to report fully and accurately on matters that have a bearing on freedom and democracy in this country. An experienced journalist himself, Dennis Barker has worked for the "Guardian" since the 1960s in many roles, from feature writer and media correspondent to general columnist, and at the moment is a contributor of obituaries, mainly in the media and entertainment spheres.Trade ReviewSarah Birke in New Statesman: 'Journalists are seen as a cynical bunch -- not just by politicians, but by the general public as well. Noble ideas of honesty, accuracy and a bit of hard graft seem to have been abandoned in favour of networking and re-spun press releases...[Barker] does well to call for more investigative journalism and a public campaign to rethink within the profession.' Tom Easton in Lobster, no.55, summer 2008: Apropos of Flat Earth News, he writes: 'Other reporters, including, for example, a Guardian writer of a slightly earlier vintage than [Nick] Davies, Dennis Barker, have given insider insight on what goes on. Barker's low-key [book] deserves a wide audience for its breadth and witty clarity.'Table of ContentsAcknowledgements, vii; Introduction, 1; 1 A Revealing Battle, 7; 2 The Price of Progress?, 11; 3 The Death of the Reporter, 18; 4 Upper and Lower Case, 21; 5 Prejudicial Words, 25; 6 Puns, 32; 7 Concealing the Questions, 35; 8 Puffery, 39; 9 Firsts, 43; 10 He Told Me, 46; 11 'Friends', 49; 12 Shovel It All In, 52; 13 Let Me Through, I'm a Cliche, 55; 14 Wilful Ignorance, 58; 15 The Feeling In the Office..., 60; 16 Absentee Commentators, 65; 17 Apologize!, 68; 18 Heroes and Villains, 71; 19 Rudeness, 73; 20 To Be Fare..., 76; 21 The Sub's Role, 79; 22 Critics, 82; 23 A Scandal or Not?, 86; 24 Sources and Work, 90; 25 The Unexpected, 94; 26 In Yer Face, Or Hello, Goodbye, 97; 27 The Encroaching 'Public', 101; 28 Or Is It a Publicity Stunt?, 104; 29 Closing the Notebook, 109. 30 Phoney War, 111; 31 Dumbing Down, 113; 32 Answer! Answer! Answer! Answer!, 116; 33 Gone for Ever?, 118; 34 Sex, 120; 35 Anti-TV Prejudice, 124; 36 Woolly Motives, 126; 37 My Beautiful Career, 129; 38 The Stand-Up Approach, 131; 39 A Revelatory Disaster, 133; 40 The Yob's Perspective, 141; 41 Distress, 145; 42 A Good Row, 147; 43 Single Idea, 150; 44 Picture Versus Story, 153; 45 'Snubbed', 156; 46 The Disappearing Broadsheet, 159; 47 In Real Terms, 163; 48 Same Old Celebrities, 167; 49 Money Worship, 170; 50 Reporting the Future, 173; 51 Distortion and Spin as the Story, 175; 52 Headlines and Fib-lines, 179; 53 In Extenuation: Part 1, 182; 54 In Extenuation: Part 2, 185; 55 In Extenuation: Part 3, 188; 56 Relevant Questions, 190; In Conclusion, 191; Index, 197.

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Book SynopsisStories that Bind: Political Economy and Culture in New India examines the assertion of authoritarian nationalism and neoliberalism; both backed by the authority of the state and argues that contemporary India should be understood as the intersection of the two. More importantly, the book reveals, through its focus on India and its complex media landscape that this intersection has a narrative form, which author, Madhavi Murty labels spectacular realism. The book shows that the intersection of neoliberalism with authoritarian nationalism is strengthened by the circulation of stories about “emergence,” “renewal,” “development,” and “mobility” of the nation and its people. It studies stories told through film, journalism, and popular non-fiction along with the stories narrated by political and corporate leaders to argue that Hindu nationalism and neoliberalism are conjoined in popular culture and that consent for this political economic project is crucially won in the domain of popular culture. Moving between mediascapes to create an archive of popular culture, Murty advances our understanding of political economy through material that is often seen as inconsequential, namely the popular cultural story. These stories stoke our desires (e.g. for wealth), scaffold our instincts (e.g. for a strong leadership) and shape our values. Trade Review"In this beautifully written and timely book, Murty explores how popular cultural forms become politically charged. Moving across journalism, film, and other mediascapes, she shows how new forms of storytelling made sense of and won popular consent for majoritarian nationalism in a nation transformed by neoliberal reforms. Rigorously conceptualized and deeply researched, Stories That Bind is a brilliant exemplar of media and cultural studies." -- Aswin Punathambekar * University of Virginia *"In this beautifully written and timely book, Murty explores how popular cultural forms become politically charged. Moving across journalism, film, and other mediascapes, she shows how new forms of storytelling made sense of and won popular consent for majoritarian nationalism in a nation transformed by neoliberal reforms. Rigorously conceptualized and deeply researched, Stories That Bind is a brilliant exemplar of media and cultural studies." -- Aswin Punathambekar * University of Virginia *Table of ContentsIntroduction: Spectacular Realism and Political-Economic Change 1 The Development Story: Caste, Religion, and Poverty in “New” India 2 Iconicity: Moving between the Real and the Spectacular 3 The Entrepreneur: New Identities for New Times 4 Love in New Times Conclusion AcknowledgmentsNotes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThis book systematically examines various factors that shape graduates’ entry into media work, which include the state and its policies, industrial and organizational practices and cultures, and media education. However, the book does not take a typical political economic or even media industries approach to this exploration. Rather, it innovatively traces how these forces are operationalized to shape media work from the perspective of the graduates, their educators and their employers. These varying perspectives are analyzed to see how graduates experience the outcomes of policy, education and industry cultures. The book examines the impact that policy, education and industry have in redefining what media work means for parts of industry that are responsible for cultivating new entrants into the creative industries.Table of ContentsChapter 1 - Introduction.- Chapter 2 -The Irish (Small Nation) Context.- Chapter 3 - What does media education do to media graduates?.- Chapter 4 - New Entrants and Pathways into Media Work.- Chapter 5 - State Policy and the Impact on Media Graduates.- Chapter 6 - Industry on Education: What's the Point?.- Chapter 7 - Conclusion.

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Book SynopsisThis open access edited volume provides theoretical, practical, and historical perspectives on art and education in a post-digital, post-internet era. Recently, these terms have been attached to artworks, artists, exhibitions, and educational practices that deal with the relationships between online and offline, digital and physical, and material and immaterial. By taking the current socio-technological conditions of the post-digital and the post-internet seriously, contributors challenge fixed narratives and field-specific ownership of these terms, as well as explore their potential and possible shortcomings when discussing art and education. Chapters also recognize historical forebears of digital art and education while critically assessing art, media, and other realms of engagement. This book encourages readers to explore what kind of educational futures might a post-digital, post-internet era engender.Trade Review“Post-digital, Post-Internet Art and Education: the Future Is All-Over … is highly recommended to those interested in recognizing their postdigital status and seeking new opportunities for art education. … an outstanding source of ideas that push us out of our comfort zones and challenge us to think differently about digital art education. This is a collectively written book, open to multiple interpretations and full of varied experiences, and bound to inspire its readers in thinking about and creating their own art education praxis.” (Julia Mañero, Postdigital Science and Education, Vol. 4 (3), 2022)Table of Contents1. Introduction: It's all over! Post-Digital, Post-Internet Art and Education2. Post-Digital, Post-Internet: Propositions for Art Education in the Context of Digital Cultures3. Post-Internet Art and Pre-Internet Art Education4. A Meditation on the Post-Digital and Post-Internet Condition: Screen Culture, Digitization and Networked Art5. Bodies of Images: Art Education after the Internet6. Post Scripts in the Present Future: Conjuring the Post-Conditions of Digital Objects7. Educating the Commons and Commoning Education: Thinking Radical Education with Radical Technology8. A New Sujet/Subject for Art Education9. New Intimates10. Notes on Corpoliteracy: Bodies in Post Digital Educational Contexts11. Aesthetic Practice as Critique: The Suspension of Judgement and the Invention of New Possibilities of Perception, Thinking, and Action12. What is the Poor Image Rich In?13. Educating Things: Art Education Beyond the Individual in the Post-Digital14. Toward an Anti-Racist and Anti-Colonial Post-Internet Curriculum in Digital Art Education15. Embracing Doubt. Teaching in a Post-Digital Age16. Creative Coding as Compost(ing)17. Post-Internet Verfremdung

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Book SynopsisThe terms "mind" and "matter" appear to signify two concepts irreplaceable and permanent in nature. The increasing challenges and modes of reflection of digital life and cultural creation have contributed to a productive doubting of said dichotomy. Net culture has exposed the causality of the two only superficially contradictory systems and translated these into new technological realities. This publication, using an interdisciplinary approach, strives to investigate the entanglement of cultural, artistic and technical praxis, to document the developments, to clarify the status quo of the scientific community in a practical and exemplary fashion and to enable glimpses of potential future developments.

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Book SynopsisPopular newspapers like the British "The Sun" and the German "Bild" regularly invite controversy over their morals and methods, power and responsibility, political and social impact. At best, their reporting is rejected as trivial, vulgar and tasteless; at worst, it is deemed hazardous to the workings of democratic society. Yet, the papers are able to attract large audiences, and contribute significantly to the daily lives of millions of readers. This book looks at popular newspapers from an audience point of view. Examining the crucial relationship between news and entertainment, it provides timely empirical evidence for the values tabloids really have for readers and modern day Britain and Germany. Contradicting common myths and stereotypes, the book calls for fresh perspectives on the popular media and their audiences. With a foreword by Peter Dahlgren, Lund University, Sweden.

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Book SynopsisThe charge of "Ressentiment" can in today's world - less from traditionally conservative quarters than from the neo-positivist discourses of particular forms of liberalism - be used to undermine the argumentative credibility of political opponents, dissidents and those who call for greater "justice". The essays in this volume draw on the broad spectrum of cultural discourse on "Ressentiment", both in historical and contemporary contexts. Starting with its conceptual genesis, the essays also show contemporary nuances of "Ressentiment" as well as its influence on literary and philosophical discourse in the 20th century.

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Book SynopsisWhile feminists have long recognised the importance of self-managed, alternative media to transport their messages, to challenge the status quo, and to spin novel social processes, this topic has been an under-researched area. Hence, this book explores the processes of women's and feminist media production in the context of participatory spaces, technology, and cultural citizenship. The collection is composed of theoretical analyses and critical case studies. It highlights contemporary alternative feminist media in general as well as blogs, zines, culture jamming, and street art.

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Book SynopsisStarting from an analysis of practices of participation in contemporary print and other media, the volume opens up a historical perspective, probing the potential of the concept of participatory cultures for the exploration of past forms of collaboration between individual and collective actors (i.e. authors, editors, publishers, fans, critics etc.). In doing so, the volume sheds new light on the historically, culturally, and medially specific forms and functions as well as on the economic, political and institutional parameters that contributed to the emergence and transformation of what turn out to be precarious alliances.Trade Review"The individual articles offer a rich variety of subjects, and many of them are rewarding in their own right or will be helpful for readers interested in specific subjects." Sebastian Domsch, Anglistik, 29/1 (2018)

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Book SynopsisThe anticipatory logic of speculation and preemptive politics of risk are increasingly gaining significance in a globalizing neoliberal world. This study traces risk and speculation as aesthetic and political-economic strategies in factual and fictional discourses emerging at the North American Pacific Rim within a decade around 2000. Its exemplary close readings in particular focus on three fictional texts (Kathryn Bigelow's Hollywood film "Strange Days", 1995, Karen T. Yamashita's novel "Tropic of Orange", 1997, and Larissa Lai's novel "Salt Fish Girl", 2002) whose intricate aesthetics pass perceptive critique on concurrent political-economic discourses and their subtle reconfiguration of race, class, and gender. The speculative near-future scenarios projected by these artifacts expose the rise of risk as a new rationality of governance. At the same time they illustrate neoliberal speculation as a new paradigm of subject formation at a hyper-capitalist, millennial Pacific Rim.

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Book SynopsisSince the introduction of photography by commercial studio photographers and the colonial state in Kenya, this global medium has been intensely debated and contested among Muslims on the cosmopolitan East African coast. This book does not only explore the making, circulation, and consumption of popular photographs, but also the other side, their rejection and obliteration, an essential aspect of a medium's history that should not be neglected. It deals with various "social spaces of refusal" in the local Muslim milieu and in that of "traditional" spirit mediums in which (gendered) visibility was (and is) contested in various and creative ways. It focuses on the "aesthetics of withdrawal": the various ways and techniques that process the photographic act as well as the photographic image to theatricalize the surface of the image in new ways by veiling, masking, and concealing. In a fragmented historical perspective, Heike Behrend seeks to complement, decenter, and counter the history of photography as it has been told by the West and to narrate another history beginning with preceding local media such as textiles and spirit possession.

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Book SynopsisIncreasingly, the virtual became reality by a hybridization of the world as we knew it: the process that went on in recent years is one of a technically assisted hybridization of both space and self, the "old" world is becoming virtualized and functionalized to a degree never experienced before. For the first time in human history, we have reached a threshold where we have not only to re-assert but to redefine ourselves, as regards our fundamental terms of understanding what world means for us, our base of existence and now an assemblage of mixed realities; and connected, what being human means. With a Preface by Gerd Stern.

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Book SynopsisScientific research on climate change has given rise to a variety of images picturing climate change. These range from colorful expert graphics, model visualizations, photographs of extreme weather events like floods, droughts or melting ice, symbols like polar bears, to animated and interactive visualizations. Climate change graphics have not only increased knowledge about the subject, they have begun to influence popular awareness of global weather events. The status of climate pictures today is particularly crucial, as global climate change as a long-term process cannot be seen. When images are widely distributed, they are able to shape how the world is thought about and seen. It is this implicit basic assumption of the power of images to influence reality that this book addresses: today's images might become the blueprint for tomorrow's realities. "Image Politics of Climate Change" combines a wide interdisciplinary range of perspectives and questions, treated here in sixteen interdisciplinary case studies. The author's specializations include both visual practice and theory: in the fields of climate sciences, computer graphics, art, curating, art history and visual studies, communication and cultural science, environmental and science & technology studies. The close interlinking of these viewpoints promotes in-depth insights into issues of production and analysis of climate visualization.

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Book Synopsis"Postnaturalism" offers an original account of human-technological co-evolution and argues that film and media theory, in particular, needs to be re-evaluated from the perspective of our material interfaces with a constantly changing environment. Extrapolating from Frankenstein films and the resonances they establish between a hybrid monster and the spectator hooked into the machinery of the cinema, Shane Denson engages debates in science studies and philosophy of technology to rethink histories of cinema, media, technology, and ultimately of the affective channels of our own embodiment. With a foreword by media theorist Mark B. N. Hansen.Trade ReviewBesprochen in: Literatur in Wissenschaft und Unterricht, 1/2 (2014), Dennis Büscher-Ulbrich

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Book SynopsisFrom "Avatar" to danced versions of "Romeo and Juliet", from Bollywood films to "Star Wars Uncut": This book investigates film remakes as well as forms of remaking in other media, such as ballet and internet fan art. The case studies introduce readers to a variety of texts and remaking practices from different cultural spheres. The essays also discuss forms of remaking in relation to neighbouring phenomena like the sequel, prequel and (re-)adaptation. "Remakes and Remaking" thus provides a necessary and topical addition to the recent conceptual scholarship on intermediality, transmediality and adaptation.

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Book SynopsisMedia depictions of Arabs and Muslims continue to be framed by images of camels, belly dancers, and dagger-wearing terrorists. But do only Hollywood movies and TV news have the power to frame public discourse? This interdisciplinary study transfers media framing theory to literary studies to show how life writing (re-)frames Orientalist stereotypes. The innovative analysis of the post-9/11 autobiographies "West of Kabul, East of New York", "Letters from Cairo", and "Howling in Mesopotamia" makes a powerful claim to approach literature based on a theory of production and reception, thus enhancing the multi-disciplinary potential of framing theory.Trade Review"Although the book discusses only autobiographiesas an effective reframing tool, it stands out as an astounding monograph about Arab/Muslim American scholarship in general, and will be of use to diverse scholarsin pursuit of ethnic, transnational, and postcolonial studies." Ali A. Alhajji, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes, 106 (2016)

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