Kategoria BISAC: Performing Arts >> Television - General

Ray Barfield has done something quite new in media studies. Rather than trace the history of radio through the usual route, he has sought out a body of oral history from those who grew up with and listened to radio. He has not only collated the responses of his informants but placed their comments in a larger cultural and historical context and thus provided a kind of history from the ground up. He demonstrates thereby just how important and influential radio was in the lives of ordinary Americans. General readers and scholars alike will learn something from Barfield's engaging narrative...

Public broadcasting has changed dramatically since its founding in 1967. The growing equation of marketplace efficiency with the public interest has, in Tom McCourt's analysis, undermined the value of public goods and services. In addition, political and cultural discourse is increasingly beset by fragmentation. Public radio provides an exemplary site to examine the prospects and problems of contemporary public life.

Beginning with a description of the events that led to the creation of National Public Radio, McCourt discusses the relationship between NPR and its affiliate stations and...

Micromanaging the advertising budget for the least amount of total waste will be mandatory in the overly competitive environment of the 1990s. Such an approach can only be successful if the advertiser turns to the electronic media as the major source for advertising and promotion. Here, White examines the historical factors leading to print (newspaper) dominance in our advertising-oriented culture and explains why these assumptions are no longer valid in the electronic media world of the 1990s. Using behavioral psychology as it applies to learning and consumer behavior, White shows how...

Since the mid-1970s a shift in perspective has occurred on the relationship between TV and young viewers. Researchers, parents, teachers, policymakers, and consumer advocate groups have shown increased criticism of televisions's role as social educator, babysitter, agent for mass consumer socialization, and perpetrator of questionable social values, morals, and mythical human behaviors. Educators intersted in understanding the complex and wide-ranging contrversies about the influence of television on children will find much in this edited collection to clarify their understanding of the...

This volume chronicles the 60-year history of presidential and opposition access to network television. The system has brought unprecedented exposure to twentieth century presidents but has discriminated consistently against the opposition in Congress. Networks instead have placed themselves in the role of loyal opposition, operating as the President's counterpoint. In decline, hurt by defecting audiences and advertisers, the network system is now struggling to survive into the next century. The author envisions a new order which will have a profound effect on both political communication...

Based on firsthand interviews with directly involved sources, as well as on original research, this volume is a commentary on the personalities and the politics of a federal regulatory agency during a period of philosophical upheaval. This book carefully and authoritatively analyzes issues concerning the FCC's decision, filling a gap in the literature on deregulation's effect on federal regulatory policymaking. It will be of interest to policy analysts and government leaders inside and outside of communications.

Today hundreds of millions of people throughout the world depend on international radio broadcasting for their understanding of national and international political affairs. Broadcasting Propaganda represents the first application of theory and research in sociology and communication to analyze the contents of this medium of international political communication. Wasburn illustrates how two theoretical perspectives, social construction of reality theory and media-system-dependency theory, can be applied to understand the ways in which nations use symbolic means to position themselves in...

What was the role of The Jeffersons in changing views regarding race and equality in America in the 1970s? How did The Golden Girls affect how society views older people? Was The Office an accurate (if exaggerated) depiction of the idiosyncrasies of being employees in a modern workplace? How did the writers of The Simpsons make it acceptable to air political satire through the vehicle of an animated cartoon ostensibly for kids?

Readers of this book will see how television situation comedies have consistently held up a mirror for American audiences...

Television is often cited as a cause of violent crime or behaviour. Usually, this connection is made in the context of the behaviour of young people - as another way of blaming them for the broader ills of society. It is rare, however, for even a single reference to television to be included in the index of reports on juvenile crime. Television, it seems, is presented as an increasingly influential force in society, even though there has been scant discussion on how it really influences the behaviour of young people. Brian Simpson seeks to redress the balance and investigates why...