Media Sociology

Where is sociology in contemporary media studies? How do sociological questions and arguments shape media analysis? These are the questions addressed in this timely collection on media sociology. Sociology was fundamental in defining the analytical boundaries of early media studies, from the study of news and communities to media effects and public opinion, in the first half of the last century. Since then, media sociology has experienced significant changes that have led to new theoretical questions and thematic priorities. This book aims to reassess the past and present relationship between media studies and sociology. With original contributions from leading scholars, Media Sociology: A Reappraisal examines the significance of sociology for the study of media economics, industries, news, audiences, journalism, and digital technologies, and the links between media and race, gender, and class. As a whole, this much-needed volume takes a retrospective view to trace the evolution of media sociology and assess current research directions.

Auteur
Silvio Waisbord is Professor of Media and Public Affairs at the George Washington University.

Contenu

Contents

Introduction: Reappraising Media
Sociology

Silvio Waisbord

Part I Media, Institutions, and Politics

1 Strategy Follows Structure: A Media Sociology Manifesto

Rodney Benson

2 Linking Media Sociology to Political Development in
Trans-Legislative Democracies

Michael Schudson

3 Back to the Future? The Sociology of News and Journalism from
Black and White to the Digital Age

Howard Tumber

Part II Media Industries and Audiences

4 Agency, Social Interaction, and Audience Studies

Richard Butsch

5 Media Industry Sociology: Mainstream, Critical, and Cultural
Perspectives

Timothy Havens

6 The Political Economy of Media Work and Watching

Toby Miller

Part III Media representations

7 When Media Representation Met Sociology

Shani Orgad

8 Too Little But Not Too Late: Sociological Contributions to
Feminist Media Studies

Laura Grindstaff and Andrea Press

9 Media Sociology and the Study of Race

Ronald N. Jacobs

Part IV Digital Technologies, Self, and Society

10 Digital Media Technology and the Spirit of the New Capitalism:
What Future for "Aesthetic Critique"?

Graeme Kirkpatrick

11 Mobile Communication and Mediated Interpersonal
Communication

Rich Ling

12 Sociology and the Socially Mediated Self

Jeff Pooley