What are the ways audiences use the mass media, and what are the gratifications they receive from that usage? What functions do soap operas provide for the audience? Theories and research dealing with these questions are presented in the first chapter of the text. The second chapter concerns how knowledge of news is diffused throughout society, followed by how adoption of new innovations is spread. Research on the Knowledge Gap, as well as the diffusion of public opinion and the Spiral of Silence, is presented. The final two chapters concern Cultivation Theory and how fear is cultivated in children and adults by both entertainment shows and the news. Strategies for reducing such fear are presented. Media also cultivate beliefs about society, such as perceptions of the amount of crime and risk in society, environmental concerns, marital expectations, and attitudes toward racism and homosexuality. A section on International Cultivation is included.

Exploring social media's integration with modern society, this text empowers students as social media consumers and creators. The thoroughly updated second edition includes a new chapter on AI technologies. Features include full color visuals; glossary; chapter questions and activities; and theory, ethics, and diversity and inclusion boxes.

The modern business landscape demands that organizations maintain an online presence to network with their customers and investors. Therefore, understanding the link between social media and e-business is an important first step in cultivating these internet-based relationships. Organizations and Social Networking: Utilizing Social Media to Engage Consumers provides a broad investigation into the use of social technologies in business practices through theoretical research and practical applications. This book explores the opportunities and challenges brought about by the advent of various 21st century online business web tools and platforms, presenting professionals and researchers in e-business, social marketing, online collaborative communities, and social analytics with cutting-edge information and technological developments to implement in their own enterprises. This book is part of the Advances in Marketing, Customer Relationship Management, and E-Services series collection.

A Handbook of Media and Communication Research presents qualitative as well as quantitative approaches to the study of media and communication, integrating perspectives from both the social sciences and the humanities. Taking methodology as a strategic level of analysis that joins practical concerns with theoretical issues, the Handbook offers a comprehensive and in-depth review of the field and a set of guidelines for how to think about, plan, and carry out media and communication studies in different social and cultural contexts. The second edition has been thoroughly updated with reference to the development of the internet, mobile, and other digital media. Each chapter addresses shifting configurations of established media organizations, media discourses, and media users in networked practices of communication. The introduction and one further chapter probe changing conceptions on mass and interpersonal, online and offline communication – in research as in everyday life. Three new chapters have been added to exemplify different forms of research employing multiple methods to study multiple media in multiple contexts. List of contributors: Klaus Bruhn Jensen, Barrie Gunter, Rasmus Helles, Annette Hill, Stig Hjarvard, Peter Larsen, Amanda Lotz, Graham Murdock, Horace Newcomb, Paddy Scannell, Lynn Schofield Clark, Kim Christian Schrøder

The Dictionary of Media and Communication Studies has provided students and the general public alike with a gateway into the study of intercultural communication, public relations and marketing communications since 1984. In this 9th edition, James Watson and Anne Hill provide a detailed compendium of the different facets of personal, group, mass-media and internet communication that continues to be a vital source of information for all those interested in how communication affects our lives. They cover new applications and developments, such as the incorporation of Neuroscience techniques in advertising and marketing. Other updates include Cyber-bullying, Twitter scandals, conduct in media organizations, on-line lobbying, global protesting/petitioning, and gender issues relating to social media in general. While new entries explore the profound shifts that have taken place in the world of communication in recent years, the purpose of this new edition is not necessarily to keep abreast of every new media event but to reflect the trends that influence and prompt such events, such as the Leveson Inquiry and Report and phone hacking via mobile phones. Politics seems to be playing out more on Twitter than in The Times. This volume seeks to make its twenty-first century readers more media literate, as well as more critical consumers of modern news.

How Journalists Use Twitter: The Changing Landscape of U.S. Newsrooms shows how leading reporters and editors at four major metropolitan newspapers are embracing Twitter as a key tool in their daily routines and how the social media platform influences coverage. This book builds on social media research by analyzing newsroom work through the lens of four different communications theories—diffusion of innovation, boundary, social capital and agenda-setting theories. This book will be of interest to scholars of communication, journalism, and new media.

Winner of the 2019 Robert Picard Book Award The Handbook of Media Management and Economics has become a required reference for students, professors, policy makers and industry practitioners. The volume was developed around two primary objectives: assessing the state of knowledge for the key topics in the media management and economics fields; and establishing the research agenda in these areas, ultimately pushing the field in new directions. The Handbook's chapters are organized into parts addressing the theoretical components, key issues, analytical tools, and future directions for research. With its unparalleled breadth of content from expert authors, the Handbook provides background knowledge of the various theoretical dimensions and historical paradigms, and establishes the direction for the next phases of research in this evolving arena of study. Updates include the rise of mobile and social media, globalization, audience fragmentation and big data.

In today's global digital world, journalists are required to be cognizant of ethical and cultural issues beyond usual national boundaries. This text provides a theoretical and practical introduction to cross-cultural journalism, equipping students with the skills and understanding they need today.

This handbook covers perspectives from both the social sciences and the humanities. It provides guidelines for how to think about, plan, and carry out studies of media in different social and cultural contexts.