Media Today: An Introduction to Mass Communication

712 Pages·2008·29.94 MB·English

by  Joseph Turow

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3rd Edition
MEDIA TODAY
An INTRODUCTION to MASS COMMUNICATION
Praise for Media Today, 3rd Edition
“Media Todayis the best textbook to understand the organization, eco-
nomics, and emerging trends within the U.S. media sector. Its institution-
al focus and the level of detail and updated knowledge it provides in this
regard makes it the best textbook for an introductory media course.”
Gisela Gil-Egui, Fairfield University
“What makes Media Todayespecially stand out is the extra attention to
the dynamics of the ever-changing media industries. Joe Turow’s book
offers a nuanced, comprehensive and accessible treatment of how eco-
nomic incentives and current trends in media matter for us and our
democracy.”
Matt McAllister, Pennsylvania State University
“Media Todayengages students and serves as a helpful guide to our new
media-saturated world. The writing is lively and concise, and the color-
ful illustrations are full of zest. Turow’s dry wit engages students in a
conversational narrative that prompts them to connect what they read
to their own experience of contemporary media trends.”
Edward M. Clift, Woodbury University
“Media Today skillfully weaves together all the core components need-
ed for an introductory media course: basics of media literacy and criti-
cism, details about a wide range of the most current media, and an
uncommonly thorough integration of the functioning of media indus-
tries. Accessible and smart in its writing style and full of useful illustra-
tions and tables, Media Todayis not only up-to-date in its information,
but its perspective prepares the future of media studies.”
Amanda Lotz, University of Michigan
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3rd Edition
MEDIA TODAY
An INTRODUCTION to MASS COMMUNICATION
JOSEPH TUROW
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Published 2009
by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Simultaneously published in the UK
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
First published in 1999 by Houghton Mifflin Company
Revised and reprinted in a Second Edition in 2003 by Houghton Mifflin Company
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008.
“To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Turow, Joseph.
Media today : an introduction to mass communication / Joseph Turow.—3rd ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Mass media. I. Title.
P90.T874 2008
302.23—dc22
2008021757
ISBN 0-203-89534-7 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN10: 0-415-96058-4 (hbk)
ISBN10: 0-415-96059-2 (pbk)
ISBN10: 0-203-89534-7 (ebk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-96058-8 (hbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-415-96059-5 (pbk)
ISBN13: 978-0-203-89534-4 (ebk)
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For Judy
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About the Author
Joseph Turow is the Robert Lewis
Shayon Professor of Communication
and Associate Dean for Graduate
Studies at the University of
Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for
Communication. He has been
described by the New York Times as
“probably the reigning academic
expert on media fragmentation.” He
holds a Ph.D. in communication from
the University of Pennsylvania, where he has taught since 1986. He has also
served on the faculty at Purdue University and has lectured at many other univer-
sities in the United States and around the world.
Turow has published more than seventy articles in scholarly journals and ten
books on mass media industries in addition to Media Today. Among those books
are Niche Envy: Marketing Discrimination in the Digital Age (MIT Press),
Breaking Up America: Advertisers and the New Media World (University of
Chicago Press), The Hyperlinked Society (University of Michigan Press), and
Playing Doctor(Oxford University Press). He has also written about media and
advertising for the popular press, including The Washington Post, the Los
Angeles Times, The Boston Globe, and the San Francisco Chronicle.
Turow has received two departmental Best Teaching Awards, along with
numerous conference-paper awards. He served as elected Chair of the Mass
Communication Division of the International Communication Association for
four years. Turow edits “The New Media World” book series for the University
of Michigan Press and currently serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of
Broadcasting and Electronic Media, Poetics, and New Media & Society.
vi
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Brief Contents
Preface xx
Acknowledgments xxvii
A Visual Tour of Media Today xxviii
To the Student xxxii
Part One
Understanding the Nature of Mass Media 2
1 Understanding Mass Media and the Importance of Media Literacy 4
2 Making Sense of the Media Business 38
3 Formal and Informal Controls on Media Content: Government
Regulation, Self-Regulation, and Ethics 80
4 Making Sense of Research on Media Effects and Media Culture 142
Part Two
Media Giants and Cross-Media Activities 186
5 A World of Blurred Media Boundaries 188
6 Understanding the Strategies of Media Giants 230
Part Three
The Print Media 260
7 The Book Industry 262
8 The Newspaper Industry 298
9 The Magazine Industry 342
Part Four
The Electronic Media 378
10 The Recording Industry 380
11 The Radio Industry 418
12 The Motion Picture Industry 462
13 The Television Industry 504
14 The Internet and Video Game Industries 546
Part Five
Advertising and Public Relations 590
15 The Advertising Industry 592
16 The Public Relations Industry 624
Epilogue 660
Notes 662
Photo Credits 667
Index 669
vii
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Detailed Contents
Part One
Understanding the Nature of Mass Media
1 UNDERSTANDING MASS MEDIA 2 MAKING SENSE OF THE MEDIA
AND THE IMPORTANCE OF MEDIA BUSINESS 38
LITERACY 4 The Economy of Mass Media 40
Varieties of Communication 6 The Role of the Audience 41
Communication Defined 7 Critical Consumer: How Much am
Culture Today: Mediated Interpersonal I Worth? 47
Communication Breakdown 8 The Primary Genres 47
From Communication to Mass Entertainment 48
Communication 12 News 52
Mass Communication Defined 17 Culture Today: A Dramady Says
Media Innovation 18 Goodbye 53
Culture Today: Where Does the Term Information 57
Media Come From? 20 Education 58
Mass Media in our Personal Lives 20 Advertisements 59
How People Use the Mass Media 21 Mixing Genres 61
Culture Today: Catch Phrases as Social The Business of Mass Media 61
Currency 22 Production of Mass Media Content 62
Mass Media, Culture, and Society 23 Culture Today: Silicon Freelancers 63
What is Culture? 25 Media Production Firms 63
Criticisms of Mass Media’s Relation to Tech & Infrastructure: Increasing Pressures
Culture 28 on Special Effects Shops 65
Media Literacy 28 Distribution of Mass Media Content 66
Foundations of Media Literacy 29 Culture Today: The Disappearance of the
Media Literacy Skills 32 Record Store 68
Becoming a Media Literate Person 33 Exhibition of Mass Media Content 69
Questioning Media Trends 33 Financing Mass Media Content 71
Funding New Production 71
Funding When Production is Already
Complete 72
Media Literacy and the Business of Media 74
ix