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Understanding Media series
The Open University Published in association with The Open University

This new series provides an attractive, engaging and up-to-date introduction to key issues and debates in contemporary media studies. Each book approaches the topic of study through three core themes: power; change and continuity; knowledge, values and beliefs.

Find out about other titles in the Understanding Media series

Media Production
Media Production
Edited by David Hesmondhalgh
Pub date: October 2005
Extent: 160pp
0335218849 Paperback £18.99 Buy online
0335218857 Hardback £55.00 Buy online
Lecturer copies are available
| About the book | Lecturer copies | Reviews | About the authors | Table of contents |
About the book

Do the media primarily serve the interests of the wealthiest and most powerful sections of society? How intertwined are change and continuity in contemporary media production? In what ways do media producers draw on, and construct, knowledge, values and beliefs? In order to address these questions, we need to know about the people who make the media, their working practices and conditions, and how they make the media products that dominate so much of our communicative landscape.

This book goes behind the scenes to offer an essential introduction to media production. It guides students through the key issues, debates and controversies within the field. These include the increasing internationalisation of the media industries, power and control in media organisations, audience and market research and the experience of working in the media. The authors take students carefully through these and other topics, using readings from key research, carefully designed student activities and many contemporary case studies, including The Simpsons, Silvio Berlusconi, CNN, the BBC and Al-Jazeera, audience measurement devices, war and crime reporting, and rap music.

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Lecturer copies

If you are considering using Media Production on your course, you can request a complimentary lecturer copy.

w: Request a copy online
e: enquiries@openup.co.uk giving your name, university address, course name, start date, student numbers and current textbook.
t: +44 (0)1628 502179

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Reviews
"David Hesmondhalgh's Media Production is a valuable contribution to the literature in Media Studies, one that is remarkably comprehensive and concise at the same time. The authors expertly map the contours of the field, and provide sophisticated interpretations of key debates about media ownership, media texts, and media audiences. Each of the chapters grapples with a central question in Media Studies, and Hesmondhalgh's introductory and concluding chapters articulate with great clarity how these questions are connected to broader debates about media, power, knowledge, and change. An impressive set of excerpts from classic Media Studies texts and a series of thoughtful learning activities make Media Production a uniquely outstanding resource for teachers and students."
William Hoynes, Professor of Sociology and Director of Media Studies, Vassar College

"This is a lucid, highly readable and scholarly work. It is comprehensive, up to date and presents a wide range of theoretical perspectives on media production in a lively and engaging way. It will be highly valued by students and academics alike."
Angela McRobbie, Professor of Communications, Goldsmiths College London

 

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About the authors

John Downey is Lecturer in Communications and Media Studies at Loughborough University. He is co-editor (with Jim McGuigan) of Technocities (1998).

David Hesmondhalgh is Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at The Open University. He is author of The Cultural Industries (2002), co-editor (with Keith Negus), Popular Music Studies (2002) and (with Georgina Born), Western Music and its Others (2000).

Jason Toynbee is Lecturer in Media Studies at The Open University. He is author of Making Popular Music (2000), and co-editor (with Andy Bennett and Barry Shank) of The Popular Music Reader (2005).

Gillian Ursell recently retired as Director of the Centre for Journalism at Trinity and All Saints College, an affiliate of the University of Leeds. She is council member of the UK Broadcast Journalism Training Council.

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Table of contents

Introduction - David Hesmondhalgh

The Media Industries: Do Ownership, Size and Internationalisation Matter? - John Downey

Inside Media Organisations: Production, Autonomy and Power - David Hesmondhalgh

The Media's View of the Audience - Jason Toynbee

Working in the Media - Gillian Ursell

Conclusions - David Hesmondhalgh

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