Peter Golding

With growing numbers of billionaires at one end and startling numbers of food banks at the other, ‘advanced’ industrial societies are becoming ever more unequal. Yet the evolution and widespread use of new digital media, and of a news-rich environment, bear the promise of unprecedentedly informed citizens and enriched democracy. Are both these trends possible? This book examines the evidence comprehensively, and argues that the link between communications and inequality has a profound and direct impact on the relationship between citizens and society. Drawing on key concepts in the sociological understanding of modern society, extensive explanation of the ‘digital divide’, the role and character of the new ‘tech giants’, and the powerful effects on society of the ‘voice’ of vested interests, it offers a unique analysis of the dynamics and wider implications of communications inequality.

With growing numbers of billionaires at one end and startling numbers of food banks at the other, ‘advanced’ industrial societies are becoming ever more unequal. Yet the evolution and widespread use of new digital media, and of a news-rich environment, bear the promise of unprecedentedly informed citizens and enriched democracy. Are both these trends possible? This book examines the evidence comprehensively, and argues that the link between communications and inequality has a profound and direct impact on the relationship between citizens and society. Drawing on key concepts in the sociological understanding of modern society, extensive explanation of the ‘digital divide’, the role and character of the new ‘tech giants’, and the powerful effects on society of the ‘voice’ of vested interests, it offers a unique analysis of the dynamics and wider implications of communications inequality.

The new edition of the highly respected Researching Communications is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to researching media and communication. Researching Communications, Third Edition is an invaluable guide to performing and analysing research tasks, introducing the major research methods, giving detailed examples of research analysis and practical step-by-step guidance in clear language.Written by highly regarded experts in the field, the third edition includes new sections on social media analysis, digital research methods and comparative research, as well as updated case studies, international examples and details of recent developments in media and communication studies.Undergraduate and postgraduate media and communication students will find Researching Communications an invaluable resource at all stages of their course.

The new edition of the highly respected Researching Communications is a comprehensive and authoritative guide to researching media and communication. Researching Communications, Third Edition is an invaluable guide to performing and analysing research tasks, introducing the major research methods, giving detailed examples of research analysis and practical step-by-step guidance in clear language.Written by highly regarded experts in the field, the third edition includes new sections on social media analysis, digital research methods and comparative research, as well as updated case studies, international examples and details of recent developments in media and communication studies.Undergraduate and postgraduate media and communication students will find Researching Communications an invaluable resource at all stages of their course.

Researching Communications, Second Edition provides a practical, authoritative, step-by-step guide to media and communications studies students taking courses in communications research. The authors also examine the complementary nature of qualitative and quantitative research methods, and aim to show how these techniques hold up in practice. The new edition also incorporates new information on using archives and computers as well as the use of the internet as a resource for research. 'This is an enormously useful text for anyone interested in an up-to-date guide to cultural analysis; it will be indispensible for teaching research methods in communication studies.' - Hanno Hardt, University of Iowa

We are witnessing a dynamic reshaping of the European 'mediascape'. This has been underway for more than a decade since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the growing impact of globalisation, and the birth of new technologies and new media, or the convergence between old and new media. A new and more intense 'mediatisation' of society and everyday life is emerging. This is happening alongside the rapid reconstruction of the cultural and economic landscape of Europe itself. In this transformation the communicative and ideological dimensions, the digitalisation of technology, and changes in culture - 'the imaginary', the discursive universe of politics and communication, are all crucial areas for research. The cultural industries, (film, television, books, magazines, entertainment and music), but also the world of news, actuality, 'infotainment' and the internet, are key areas for the study of what we may begin to understand as a changing European culture in all its complexity and with all its differences and conflicts. The media and the cultural industries are among the fastest growing sectors in the global economy.

We are witnessing a dynamic reshaping of the European 'mediascape'. This has been underway for more than a decade since the fall of the Berlin wall in 1989, the growing impact of globalisation, and the birth of new technologies and new media, or the convergence between old and new media. A new and more intense 'mediatisation' of society and everyday life is emerging. This is happening alongside the rapid reconstruction of the cultural and economic landscape of Europe itself. In this transformation the communicative and ideological dimensions, the digitalisation of technology, and changes in culture - 'the imaginary', the discursive universe of politics and communication, are all crucial areas for research. The cultural industries, (film, television, books, magazines, entertainment and music), but also the world of news, actuality, 'infotainment' and the internet, are key areas for the study of what we may begin to understand as a changing European culture in all its complexity and with all its differences and conflicts. The media and the cultural industries are among the fastest growing sectors in the global economy.