ABSTRACT
Media and Democracy addresses key topics and themes in relation to democratic theory, media and technology, comparative media studies, media and history, and the evolution of media research. For example:
- How does TV entertainment contribute to the democratic life of society?
- Why are Americans less informed about politics and international affairs than Europeans?
- How should new communications technology and globalisation change our understanding of the democratic role of the media?
- What does the rise of international ezines reveal about the limits of the internet?
- What is the future of journalism?
- Does advertising influence the media?
- Is American media independence from government a myth?
- How have the media influenced the development of modern society?
Professor Curran’s response to these questions provides both a clear introduction to media research, written for university undergraduates studying in different countries, and an innovative analysis written by one of the field’s leading scholars.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
chapter |6 pages
Introduction
part |2 pages
PART I Comparing media
chapter |19 pages
Shining city on a hill
chapter |19 pages
Questioning a new orthodoxy
chapter |14 pages
Media system, public knowledge and democracy: a comparative study
part |2 pages
PART II Media and democratic theory
chapter |21 pages
Entertaining democracy
chapter |13 pages
Liberal dreams and the Internet
part |2 pages
PART III Media and new technology
chapter |12 pages
Technology foretold
chapter |10 pages
The future of journalism
part |2 pages
PART IV Media and history
chapter |17 pages
Narratives of media history revisited
chapter |13 pages
Press as an agency of social control
chapter |16 pages
Advertising as a bounty system
part |2 pages
PART V Media and culture