TY  - BOOK
AU  - McQuail,Denis
TI  - Mass communication theory: an introduction 
SN  - 9780803977853
U1  - 302.2 22
PY  - 1994///.
CY  - London
PB  - SAGE publications
KW  - Mass media
KW  - Philosophy
KW  - Mass communication
N1  - Contents;

1. Introduction: The rise of media of mass communication 
The significance of mass media 
Media and society relationships 
Basic differences of approach 
Different kinds of theory 
etc.

Part I: Theories 
2. Concepts and models 
Early perspectives on media and society 
The 'mass' concept
The mass communication process
The mass audience 
etc.

3. Theory of media and theory of society 
Media, society and culture: Connections and conflicts 
Mass communication as a society-wide process: The mediation of social relations 
A frame of reference for connecting media with society 
Main issues for theory: Power and inequality 
etc.

4. Mass communication and culture 
Setting the scene: the culturalist approach  
Communication and culture 
The beginnings: the Frankfurt school and critical theory hegemony 
Later developments of critical cultural theory: the Birmingham school
etc.

Part II: Structures 
5. Normative theories of media performance 
Media-society linkages 
The status of normative theory 
Varieties of theory for the press and other media: Social responsibility 
Libertarian theory and press freedom 
etc.

6. Media structures and institutions 
Media 'not just any other business' 
The basics of media structure and levels of analysis 
Some economic principles of media structure 
Ownership and control
etc.

Part III: Organizations 
7. The media organization and its context 
Issues and perspectives 
Levels of analysis 
The media organization in a field of social forces 
Relations with society 
etc.

8. The production of media culture 
Media-organizational activities: gatekeeping and selecting
Alternative approaches to the study of new selection 
Access to the media society 
Relations with sources 
etc.

Part IV: Content 
9. Issues, concepts and varieties of discourse 
Why study media content?
Critical questions and alternative discourses 
The cultural text and its meaning 
Structuralism and semiology 
etc.

10. Genres and methods of analysis 
Media genres and formats 
The new genre 
News values and the structure of news 
etc.

Part V: Audiences 
11. Theory and research traditions 
The origin and diversity of audiences 
Past, present and future of the media audience 
Early conceptualization of the audience as a mass 
etc.

12. The social character of audience experience 
The audience as an active social group 
Sociability in media use 
Social uses of media 
etc.

Part VI: Effects 
13. Processes of short-term change 
The premise of media effect 
The natural history of media effect research and theory: Four phases 
Levels and kinds of effect 
etc.

14. Longer-term and indirect change 
Diffusion in a development context 
The distribution of knowledge 
News diffusion and learning from news 
etc.

15. Endpiece: Lines of development 
Mass communication endures 
The future theory 
The multiple logics of mass communication 
etc

; References : p. 385-407 . _ Index : p. 408-416
ER  -