The Mediated World: A New Approach to Mass Communication and Culture

by David T. Z. Mindich professor of journalism and mass communication, Temple University, and auth

Overview

A full-color interdisciplinary exploration of how media and mass communication shape society and how students can take control of their media futures.

Today’s students have a world of knowledge at their fingertips and no longer need books to list names and dates. What they need is the story of how everything fits together and the critical tools to take charge of their place within that story.

David T. Z. Mindich’s The Mediated World charts the story of media as it has shaped human life and as it infuses every aspect of our modern existence. Mindich’s engaging narrative style focuses on concepts and real-world contexts to promote the media literacy students need to understand their personal relationships with media. Empowered as media consumers, creators, and curators, students realize their responsibility to work within the vast world of media to create more positive and productive futures.

The second edition of this text brings historical media and overarching themes to life for students. Each chapter opens with a contemporary vignette that meets students in the current moment before encouraging them to consider the past. “Application” sidebars suggest practical activities that allow students to delve deeper into topics while “Reflection” boxes encourage students to think critically about their own media use.

With a strong emphasis on media literacy that treats students as media stakeholders who have a vested interest in understanding its workings and effects, Mindich’s text is the perfect book for a generation of students looking to take charge of their futures in this mediated world.

New to the Second Edition:

• New chapter-opening vignettes connect with students in the current moment before welcoming them to consider the past.
• New Chapter 8, “Representation and the Lives that Matter in the Media,” encourages students to think critically about which people get to be heard and which are overlooked.
• New Chapter 13, “Hot and Cold Video Games,” critically explores a powerful media force in students’ recreational lives.
• Expanded discussions on current cultural, political, and technological references, engaging with controversies.

Features

• Full color layout with photos and graphics to enrich students’ reading experience.
• Integrated focus on representation in media reminds students of the pervasive impact of bias across society.
• Margin keyword definitions help students develop critical vocabularies.
• Three different feature boxes (Reflection, Application, and Now and Then) reinforce concepts and engage students’ critical thinking skills.
• Chapter learning objectives, chapter summaries, and discussion questions reinforce historical frameworks and key concepts.

Access ancillary materials at https://textbooks.rowman.com/mindich2e.

• For instructors: a test bank, lecture notes and slides, and a sample syllabus.
• For the students: chapter flashcards, a digital glossary, and videos and links.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538180273
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	12/11/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	426
Sales rank:	202,177
File size:	28 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

David T. Z. Mindich is professor of journalism at the Klein College of Media and Communication at Temple University, where he served six years as chair. He is the author of three books and numerous articles, including ones in the New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and other publications. Before becoming a professor, Mindich worked as an assignment editor for CNN and earned a doctorate in American Studies from New York University.

Table of Contents

Teaching Preface

1. A New Approach to Media in Your Life

2. Growing Up in a Mediated World

3. Speaking and Writing

4. Printing, the Mass Public, and the Mass Private

5. Newspapers in a Digital Media World

6. Going Global with the Telegraph

7. Magazines

(NEW) 8. Representation and the Lives that Matter in the Media

9. Radio, Music, and the Soundtrack of Our Lives

10. Photography

11. Movies and the dream factory

12 . Television and Video

(NEW) 13. Hot and Cold Video Games

14. Advertising

15. Public Relations

16. Law and Ethics, Media and Journalism

17. Media and Agenda Setting in the Public Sphere

18. The Digital Revolution and What Comes Next

Editorial Reviews

The Mediated World is the textbook of media studies we did not even know we needed, with its timeless, deep, conceptual exploration combined with fun content about everything from movies to journalism to public relations to advertising. Media historian David T. Z. Mindich has managed a masterful, critical accounting of how media have changed the very ways in which we think, communicate, and make meaning in our lives.

Sue Robinson

David Mindich brilliantly connects past and present, theoretical and practical, to help readers navigate a vast and ever-changing media environment and better understand how it impacts their lives. The Mediated World is a lively and powerful introduction to media literacy.

Janice Hume

In The Mediated World, David Mindich’s approach brims with historical insight, cross-cultural awareness, theoretical sophistication, and contemporary relevance. This is a great undergraduate text for both media history and mass communications survey courses.

Kim Pearson

David Mindich’s The Mediated World covers issues and topics—from personal to social, from practical to theoretical, from trivial to profound, from scary to comforting—that provide a comprehensive overview of the media and how they influence both our personal lives and the condition of the world. This overview avoids traditional categories to integrate historical, theoretical, and ethical analyses into each topical discussion while encouraging readers to consider their personal reactions. Like Mindich’s earlier work, this creative book should be fun and useful, not only to communication students but also to experienced scholars.

William E. Huntzicker

The writing is clear and engaging. The author does a good job of weaving facts into well-told stories.

Barry Smith