Introduction to Media and Politics
- Sarah Oates - University of Maryland, USA
'This book has the truly international perspective that helps to put politics and media in the context of current world events...a unique and valuable text' - Professor Lynda Lee Kaid, University of Florida
'...a new and promising perspective to the study of media and politics in a comparative dimension' - Professor Paolo Mancini, Università di Perugia
Introduction to Media and Politics draws together evidence from the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia and beyond to provide students with an understanding of the relationship between the media and the political sphere.
This highly accessible text:
- balances theory with case studies on elections, war, terrorism, and the emerging role of the Internet, enabling the reader to think critically about how the media should work in the service of democracy.
- places the study of media and politics in a comparative perspective, allowing the reader to consider how the same media institutions - including commercial and public service broadcasting, paid political advertising, and war coverage - function in different countries.
This text is essential reading for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students of media and politics.
'...a lively introduction to media and politics, with timely chapters on the media, war and terrorism and the internet. If you want to know why media matters in politics this is a great place to start.'
Dr Margaret Scammell, London School of Economics and Political Science
'This book has the truly international perspective that helps to put politics and media in the context of current world events...a unique and valuable text.'
Professor Lynda Lee Kaid, University of Florida
'...a new and promising perspective to the study of media and politics in a comparative dimension.'
Professor Paolo Mancini, Università di Perugia
The book is a quite complete introduction to the study of media and politics; it is well-conceived, well organized, and well written.
Perhaps it is a little bit too demanding for undergraduate students, despite author's efforts to keep things simple and clear. But this cannot be considered in itself as a flaw, since it is due to the quality of the analysis conducted. Moreover, the author uses keypoints at the beginning and the end of each chapter, in order to make easier the reading and favours the understanding.
The book comparatively focuses on British, American, and Russian cases, limiting somehow the internationality of the approach to the usual well known cases. But these countries' role of superpower makes the choice perfectly understandable.
Finally, the part on new media can be considered a little bit outdated, because ten years have elapsed from the time of the book publication (2007). But, again, this has nothing to do with the quality of the chapters 8 and 9.
In conclusion, the book represents a valuable contribution to the study of media and politics, in particular for its chapter 10 (Research Methods for Media and Politics), which will result extremely useful for graduate students and researchers.
