Media: Why It Matters

by Nick Couldry

From TV bulletins to social media newsfeeds, the media plays a massive role in shaping the world as we see it. In fact, different media have helped make possible our world of independent nations, binding together disparate communities through shared cultural touchstones, such as the press and national broadcasters. With the transfer of people's lives to the online world, the media has become crucial to almost every aspect of how human beings live. A new social order is being built through our relations with media, but what power over us does this give to corporations and governments?

Nick Couldry explains the significance of five core dimensions of media: representing, connecting, imagining, sharing and governing. He shows that understanding these dynamics is a vital skill that every person needs in the digital age, when the fate of our political worlds and social environment may rest on how we communicate with each other.

Genres: Nonfiction

164 pages, Paperback

Published November 19, 2019

About the author

Nick Couldry is Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory in the Department of Media and communications at LSE. As a sociologist of media and culture, he approaches media and communications from the perspective of the symbolic power that has been historically concentrated in media institutions.

Reviews

[Sorcha:)]

Read for media studies in uni

[Amanda Hodgins]

Read this for soc 302: Media and Society this book and this course in general has just opened my eyes to things I would have never thought of before!

[Phil]

Solid.

[Lu Barcenilla Román]

Un poco boomer en algunos aspectos, pero válido para citar en cositas breves y directas.