Misunderstanding The Internet (Communication and Society)

The growth of the internet has been spectacular. There are now more 1.5 billion internet users across the globe, about one quarter of the world’s population. This is certainly a new phenomenon that is of enormous significance for the economic, political and social life of contemporary societies. However, much popular and academic writing about the internet takes a technologically deterministic view, assuming that the internet’s potential will be realised in essentially transformative ways. This was especially true in the euphoric moment of the mid-1990s, when many commentators wrote about the internet with awe and wonderment. While this moment may be over, its underlying technocentrism – the belief that technology determines outcomes – lingers on, and with it, a failure to understand the internet in its social, economic and political context. Misunderstanding the Internet is a short introduction, encompassing the history, sociology, politics and economics of the internet and its impact on society. The book has a simple three part structure: <ul>
<li>Part 1 looks at the history of the internet, and offers an overview of the internet’s place in society</li> <li>Part 2 focuses on the control and economics of the internet </li> <li>Part 3 examines the internet’s political and cultural influence</li> </ul> Misunderstanding the Internet is a polemical, sociologically and historically informed textbook that aims to challenge both popular myths and existing academic orthodoxies around the internet.

Misunderstanding the Internet (Communication and Society)

Computers & Technology

Curran, James

Freedman, Des

Fenton, Natalie

Networking & Cloud Computing

Routledge

The Politics of Media Policy

The Politics of Media Policy provides a critical perspective on the dynamics of media policy in the US and UK and offers a comprehensive guide to some of the major points of debate in the media today. While many policymakers boast of the openness and pluralism of their media systems, this book exposes the commitment to market principles that saturates the media policy environment and distorts the development and application of democratic media policies.  Based on interviews with dozens of politicians, regulators, special advisers, lobbyists and campaigners, The Politics of Media Policy considers how governments, civil servants and media corporations have shaped the drawing up of rules concerning a range of issues including:  * Media ownership  * Media content  * Public broadcasting  * Digital television  * Copyright  * Trade agreements affecting the media industries. The book identifies both the institutions and the arguments that dominate the development of these crucial media policies. It will be of interest to public policy and media professionals, researchers, activists and students indeed all those determined to understand and respond to the impact of neo-liberalism on the contemporary world.

Politics & Social Sciences

Social Sciences

Polity

Media industries are undergoing widespread and unsettling changes. This book evaluates some of the political ideas and arguments that underpin the policies that shape the British and American media environments. It is a fresh introduction to media policy debates and a political perspective on the dynamics of the contemporary media.

Television Policies of the Labour Party, 1951-2001

The growth of the internet has been spectacular. There are now more than 3 billion internet users across the globe, some 40 per cent of the world’s population. The internet’s meteoric rise is a phenomenon of enormous significance for the economic, political and social life of contemporary societies.   However, much popular and academic writing about the internet continues to take a celebratory view, assuming that the internet’s potential will be realised in essentially positive and transformative ways. This was especially true in the euphoric moment of the mid-1990s, when many commentators wrote about the internet with awe and wonderment. While this moment may be over, its underlying technocentrism – the belief that technology determines outcomes – lingers on and, with it, a failure to understand the internet in its social, economic and political contexts.  Misunderstanding the Internet is a short introduction, encompassing the history, sociology, politics and economics of the internet and its impact on society. This expanded and updated second edition is a polemical, sociologically and historically informed guide to the key claims that have been made about the online world. It aims to challenge both popular myths and existing academic orthodoxies that surround the internet.

The Media Manifesto (The Manifesto Series)

Our media systems are in crisis. Run by unaccountable corporations and dominated by agendas and algorithms that are shrouded in mystery, these formerly trusted sources of information and entertainment have lost their way. As consumers, we have plenty of choice, but as citizens we have an abundance of misinformation and misrepresentation. In this incisive manifesto, four prominent media scholars and activists put forth a roadmap for radical reform of concentrated media power. They argue that we should put media justice, economic democracy and social equality at the heart of our scholarship and our campaigning. The Media Manifesto&nbsp;delivers a sharp analysis of our communications crisis and a passionate call for urgent change. It provides resources of hope for media reform movements across the globe.

Dencik, Lina

Schlosberg, Justin

Media, Democracy and Social Change: Re-imagining Political Communications

Davis, Aeron

Khiabany, Gholam

Sage Publications Ltd.

When we are told so regularly that we live in a 'post truth' age and are surrounded by 'fake news', it can be tempting to think of politics as primarily mediated. Discussion and analysis of public affairs is preoccupied with the power and reach of platforms or the passion and rage of social media exchanges. As important as these issues may be, a focus on the communicative risks downgrading the political.Media, Democracy and Social Change&nbsp;puts politics back into political communications. It shows how within a digital media ecology, the wider context of neoliberal capitalism remains essential for understanding what political communications is, and can hope to be.Tackling broad themes of structural inequality, technological change, political realignment and social transformation, the book explores political communications as it relates to debates around the state, infrastructures, elites, populism, political parties, activism, the legacies of colonialism, and more.It is both an expert introduction to the field of political communications, and a critical intervention to help re-imagine what a democratic politics might mean in a digital age.&nbsp;It will be essential reading for students, researchers and activists.&nbsp;Aeron Davis, Natalie Fenton, Des Freedman and Gholam Khiabany all work at the Department of Media and Communication at Goldsmiths, University of London, where they teach together on the MA in Political Communications.&nbsp;

The Contradictions of Media Power

Media power is a crucial, although often taken for granted, concept. We assume, for example, that the media are 'powerful'; if they were not, why would there be so many controversies over the regulation, control and impact of communicative institutions and processes? Further, we assume that this 'power' is somehow problematic; audiences are often treated as highly susceptible to media influence and too much 'power' in the hands of one organization or individual is seen as risky and potentially dangerous. These concerns have been at the heart of recent controversies involving the relationships between media moguls and political elites, the consequences of phone hacking in the UK, and the emerging influence of social media as vital gatekeepers.
 Yet it is still not clear what we mean by media power or how effective it is. This book evaluates contrasting definitions of media power and looks at the key sites in which power is negotiated, concentrated and resisted - politically, technologically and economically.
 Combining an evaluation of both previous literature and new research, the book seeks to establish an understanding of media power which does justice to the complexities and contradictions of the contemporary social world. It will be important reading for undergraduates, postgraduates, researchers and activists alike.

Bloomsbury Academic

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Books by Freedman, Des

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Freedman, Des. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Misunderstanding the Internet (Communication and Society)

The Politics of Media Policy

The Politics of Media Policy

Television Policies of the Labour Party, 1951-2001

Misunderstanding the Internet (Communication and Society)

The Media Manifesto (The Manifesto Series)

The Media Manifesto (The Manifesto Series)

Media, Democracy and Social Change: Re-imagining Political Communications

Media, Democracy and Social Change: Re-imagining Political Communications

The Contradictions of Media Power