Understanding media in today’s world is more than a scholarly exercise; it is a necessary survival skill in a world that has been utterly changed by mass communication. All students, whether they will be practitioners, critics, or consumers, have to be able to analyze the ways in which mass media are being used to change the world. This book provides the tools they need to accomplish that analysis.
A QUICK GUIDE TO THE THIRD EDITION
As with previous editions, this third edition has around 100 rewritten pages, including current examples (often in the form of new close-ups and new chapter openers), updated statistics (often in the form of up-dated Fact Files), and rewritten sections that provide a treatment of new concepts and events that have evolved over the last year. Throughout the book there have been clarifications of old concepts and the addition of new industry terms.
Chapter by chapter, the following new material will be found in this edition:
Chapter 1, Introduction:
A new chapter opener on media literacy, democracy, and the selling of a war in Iraq.
New models of mass communication and converged media.
Chapter 2, Media Impact:
A new model of media effects.
Chapter 3, Books:
A new chapter opener on the impact of books in the election of 2008.
Chapter 4, Newspapers:
A new chapter opener on the significance of Sam Zell’s purchase of the Tribune Co.
A new Close-Up on History on Ida B. Wells-Barnett.
Chapter 7, Recordings and the Music Industry:
A new chapter opener on Ingrid Michaelson’s online fame.
A new Close-Up on Controversy on the music industry’s battle with its customers.
New Fact Files dealing with the economics of the music business.
Chapter 8, Radio:
A new Close-Up on Controversy on the shock jock Michael Savage.
Chapter 9, Television:
A new chapter opener on the effect of television drama on jury verdicts.
Chapter 10, The Internet:
A new chapter opener on the price of giving up privacy online.
A new section on the Internet’s effect on “long tail” economics.
Chapter 11, Electronic Journalism:
A new chapter opener on the significance of Jon Stewart as one of America’s favorite journalists.
Chapter 12, Public Relations:
A new chapter opener on the work being done to save Darfur.
Chapter 13, Advertising:
A new chapter opener on the “cell phone popcorn” viral videos.
New Fact Files on product placement.
Chapter 15, Media Ethics:
A new chapter opener on CNN anchor Lou Dobbs and his impact on immigration reform.
Throughout this revision you will also find a collection of new photographs that highlight such concepts as the place of celebrities like George Clooney, David Cook, Amy Winehouse, and the Spears sisters—Britney and Jamie Lynn—in this year’s media issues, as well as the meaning of new de-vices like Amazon’s Kindle and the iPod Touch, and the soap opera character turned author Kendall Hart, in today’s media world.
THREE-PART NARRATIVE APPROACH
Mass Media in a Changing World has a unique three-part narrative structure in which every chapter is divided into sections on history, industry, and controversy. This structure makes clear the way industry practices developed historically and how those practices have resulted in today’s issues. This is the story of where the media came from, why they do what they do, and why those actions cause contro-versies.
Dealing with history, industry practices, and controversies in each chapter creates a narrative flow that helps readers understand and remember essential concepts. This organizational scheme creates a rec-ognizable structure for students, providing them with a conceptual framework that breaks up the story of media into progressive chunks of easily mastered material.
The book also takes a middle path between industry and critical approaches, providing a survey that is useful not just to those students who want to enter the industry as practitioners, but also to those who plan to be critics, and to those who will continue to be media consumers (a category that includes all students).
This is the story of where the media come from, why they do what they do, and why those actions cause controversies.
ORGANIZATION OF THE TEXT
Because the breadth of content in this course can be overwhelming, Mass Media in a Changing World is organized for simplicity as well as comprehensiveness. Introductory chapters set the stage by introducing the essential concepts that are developed in later chapters. In Parts 2 and 3, each main-stream medium is discussed in its own chapter. In Part 4, electronic journalism, public relations, and ad-vertising are given chapters of their own so that students may become aware of the influence and interac-tion of information and persuasion industries. The final two chapters, in Part 5, organize and complete the discussions of media law and ethics. In various places in the book, therefore, issues such as violence, stereotyping, and censorship are examined both as general issues and from the perspective of different media. Because ethics is dealt with throughout the book in this way, the final chapter provides an espe-cially effective wrap-up for the content of this course.
SPECIAL FEATURES OF THE TEXT
To help students attain a clear understanding of all the important facets of this extensive field of study, Mass Media in a Changing World makes use of a number of important learning tools.
Chapter Highlights
Each chapter begins with a list of learning points that are covered in the history, industry, and controver-sies sections of the chapter. These highlights represent learning objectives that help students organize their reading and concentrate on key concepts.
Chapter-Opening Vignettes
Each chapter opens with a brief media-related story. These high-interest vignettes introduce the central theme of each chapter in such a way that the student enters a chapter with open eyes and an open mind.
Mass Media History
The history of mass media is an important element of any survey course on mass communication. Mass Media in a Changing World presents history using three easily assimilated features:
History section. Each chapter contains a history section to centralize the discussion of key events in mass communication history.
Milestones. A list of milestones appears at the end of the history section of each chapter. Each list summarizes the most important events in a chapter, providing the student with a set of pri-orities to guide them through their review of the history section.
Timeline appendix. The book contains an extensive timeline appendix, which gathers in one place all of the historical milestones discussed in the text.
Close-Up Boxes on History, Industry, and Controversy
These boxed features reinforce the three-part structure of every chapter. Each deals with an interesting example or trend that drives home an important concept in that section of the chapter. In the chapter on radio (Chapter 8), for example, the Close-Up on History box deals with the 1938 War of the Worlds broadcast and ensuing public panic. In the chapter on movies (Chapter 6), the Close-Up on Controversy box looks at the social effects of motion pictures that glamorize cigarette smoking. In the chapters on media impact (Chapter 2), media law (Chapter 14), and media ethics (Chapter 15), the Close-Up on Industry box has been recast as a special Close-Up box covering key issues affecting those areas of study.
Self Quiz Questions
Another unique feature of this text is the self quiz questions that run in the chapter margins. These ques-tions enable students to reinforce their comprehension of the material while it is still fresh in their minds. They also highlight the most important points for key passages in a chapter and make an effective review tool.
”Consider This” Questions
Critical-thinking questions headed “consider this” are also placed in the chapter margins. They pose thought-provoking questions to stimulate student thinking and to foster discussion. The instructor may also use these questions as discussion points for class or as writing assignments.
Call-Outs for Online Boxes
New to this edition are call-outs showing students where they can access additional information on impor-tant topics in the Online Learning Center in the form of Online Boxes. These boxes, from earlier editions of this book, may also be used for research assignments.
Fact Files
Fact Files are illustrations or tables providing snapshots of important data for a given industry, such as ownership patterns, revenue figures, market share, and consumer trends. They are designed to help stu-dents reinforce their understanding of important industry facts and trends. The unique visual design of the Fact Files makes the data easy to understand and retain.
Key Terms
Understanding the vocabulary of mass media is an important part of the introductory course. Mass Media in a Changing World reinforces mass media vocabulary by providing key terms and defini-tions in the margins of each chapter. Between 25 and 35 essential concepts are introduced in each chapter. These concepts, all of which are useful in areas of the liberal arts and sciences besides media studies, are set in boldface, carefully defined in the running narrative, and then amplified with examples chosen to stimulate student interest. In addition, the end of each chapter includes a list of that chapter’s key terms, with page reference numbers.
Talking Points
An end-of-chapter summary recaps the essential points of the chapter as a numbered list. This assists stu-dents in reviewing important themes, events, controversies, and concepts.
Global Perspectives Map
The global perspectives map found on the inside front cover illustrates where concepts from the book ex-tend into various parts of the world. This map helps students synthesize mass communication as a global phenomenon that relates to all areas of media studies.
Online Excursions
Each chapter concludes with an integrated set of online activities. Recommended Web sites related to the chapter are coupled with critical-thinking questions to help the student assess the content of a given site.
Notes
A comprehensive list of source notes is organized by chapter and included at the end of the book.
Full Glossary of Key Terms
A concise master glossary of essential vocabulary is included at the end of the book. These terms are also page-referenced in the index.
Complete Timeline of Mass Media Milestones
This complete timeline, located in the back of the book, integrates all the media milestones from each chapter and other important dates from the book into one comprehensive format. It provides a single place to view, compare, and contrast the historical developments of key mass media. The complete timeline is an effective study aid for the student who wishes to brush up on key historical events. There is also an interactive version of the timeline, on the companion Web site, that uses simple quizzing techniques to further reinforce the study of media history.
Integrated Electronic Resources
Mass Media in a Changing World is more than a text. Its accompanying Online Learning Center Web site allows it to work as an integrated learning system to drive home the basic concepts, history, in-dustry practices, and controversies surrounding mass media. This comprehensive system, using a combi-nation of print, multimedia, and Web-based materials, meets the needs of instructors and students with a variety of teaching and learning styles.
For the Student
Each chapter is supported by unique content located on the accompanying Online Learning Center (OLC) Web site for the book (www.mhhe.com/rodman3e). The OLC includes the following:
Student self tests for each chapter, providing a comprehensive set of review questions not found in the book.
Electronic timeline study guide, based on the Media Milestones from the text.
Web Excursions activities and links for each chapter.
Online Boxes for further research.
Complete glossary study guide.
Recommended readings, movies, and documentaries for each chapter.
The Media World online videos are produced exclusively by McGraw-Hill. They include video materials to reinforce the student’s understanding of the mass media industry and practices. Media World content is highlighted in the chapters so that students and instructors can integrate it with the total learning experience. The Media World videos include:
Media Tours videos, providing virtual field trips that give students an inside look at the day-to-day operations of real media organizations.
Media Talk videos, featuring newsworthy interviews about important developments in mass media from the NBC News Archives.
For the Instructor
Additional electronic resources have been developed with the instructor in mind. The Instructor’s Online Learning Center (OLC), at www.mhhe.com/rodman3e, features the following:
An Instructor’s Manual with optional activities for each chapter.
A Computerized Test Bank. McGraw-Hill’s EZ Test is a flexible and easy--to-use electronic testing program. The program allows instructors to create tests from book-specific items. It accommodates a wide range of question types, and instructors may add their own questions. Multiple versions of the test can be created, and any test can be exported for use with course management systems such as WebCT, BlackBoard, or Page-Out. EZ Test Online is a new service that gives instructors a place to easily administer EZ Test–created exams and quizzes online. The program is available for Windows and Macintosh environments.
PowerPoint presentations for each chapter.
Downloadable Interactive Classroom Question Bank. This resource consists of a question bank for the Classroom Performance System (CPS). CPS is a wireless response system that gives instructors immediate feedback from every student in the class. CPS units include easy-to-use software and hardware for creating and delivering questions and assessments to your class. Every student simply responds with his or her individual, wireless response pad, providing instant results. CPS questions for classroom use are included on the Instructor’s OLC for those instructors who choose to adopt this technology, which is available from your school’s McGraw-Hill service representative.
The author of this text also hosts an electronic discussion group for instructors and students in the basic course in mass media. This group, active since 1997, has been a handy device for distributing up-to-the-minute course updates, as well as serving as a forum for discussions about the nature of this course. You can join the group by sending a blank e-mail message to MediaProfs-subscribe@yahoogroups.com. Messages addressed to the author individually can be sent to grodman@brooklyn.cuny.edu.
To obtain an instructor login for this Online Learning Center, ask your local sales representative.
If you're an instructor thinking about adopting this textbook, request a free copy for review.
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