The Handbook of Media and Mass Communication Theory presents a comprehensive series of original essays that focus on all aspects of current and classic theories and practices relating to media and mass communication. While tracing the development of hundreds of media theories or their variants over the past century, this two-volume collection delves deeply into the most prominent and influential theories while providing enlightening case studies of their application in various regional and national contexts.

Table of Contents

• Volume I
• Notes on Contributors
• Introduction
• Part I Classical Theories of Media and the Press
• 1 Classical Liberal Theory in a Digital World - Stephen J. A. Ward
• 2 The Origins of Media Theory: An Alternative View - Robert S. Fortner
• 3 Political Economic Theory and Research: Conceptual Foundationsand Current Trends - Vincent Mosco
• 4 Semiotics and the Media - Bronwen Martin
• 5 Symbolic Interactionism and the Media - Norman K. Denzin
• 6 Patterns in the Use of Theory in Media Effects Research - W. James Potter
• 7 Cultivation Theory: Its History, Current Status, and Future Directions - Daniel Romer, Patrick Jamieson, Amy Bleakley, and Kathleen Hall Jamieson
• 8 Media Ecology: Contexts, Concepts, and Currents - Casey Man Kong Lum
• 9 Dramatistic Theory: A Burkeian Approach to the 2004 Madrid Terrorist Attacks - Cristina Zurutuza-Muñoz
• 10 Ritual Theory and the Media - John J. Pauly
• 11 Jacques Ellul and the Nature of Propaganda in the Media - Randal Marlin
• 12 Lewis Mumford: Technics, Civilization, and Media Theory - Robert S. Fortner
• 13 The Impact of Ethics on Media and Press Theory - Clifford G. Christians
• Part II Audiences, Social Construction, and Social Control
• 14 Agenda-Setting Influence of the Media in the Public Sphere - Maxwell E. McCombs and Lei Guo
• 15 The Uses and Gratifications (U&G) Approach as a Lens for Studying Social Media Practice - Anabel Quan-Haase and Alyson L. Young
• 16 The Media's Impact on Perceptions of Political Polarization - Jeffrey Crouch and Mark J. Rozell
• 17 The Social-Cultural Construction of News: From Doing Work to Making Meanings - Daniel A. Berkowitz and Zhengjia Liu
• 18 Media, Civil Society, and the Public Sphere: History and Current Thinking - Robert S. Fortner, Ann Snesareva, and Ksenia Tsitovich
• 19 The Genesis of Social Responsibility Theory: William Ernest Hocking and Positive Freedom - Clifford G. Christians and P. Mark Fackler
• Part III New Approaches and Reconsiderations
• 20 Feminist Media Theory - Linda Steiner
• 21 Media, Communication, and Postcolonial Theory - Shanti Kumar
• 22 Reconceptualizing “Cultural Imperialism” in the Current Era of Globalization - Mel van Elteren
• 23 Al Jazeera Remaps Global News Flows - Catherine Cassara
• 24 Nonviolence as a Communication Strategy: An Introduction to the Rhetoric of Peacebuilding - Ellen W. Gorsevski
• 25 Globalization and Cultural Identities: A Contradiction in Terms? - Ana Cristina Correia Gil
• 26 Cultivation Theory in the Twenty-First Century - Michael Morgan, James Shanahan, and Nancy Signorielli
• 27 Media Theory and Media Policy: Worlds Apart - Cees J. Hamelink
• Volume II
• Part IV Media Theory and New Technologies
• 28 The Philosophy of Technology and Communication Systems - Clifford G. Christians
• 29 Theoretical Perspectives on the Social Construction of Technology - Robert S. Fortner and Darya V. Yanitskaya
• 30 Dangerous Liaisons: Media Gaming and Violence - Ran Wei and Brett A. Borton
• 31 Empowerment and Online Social Networking - Jarice Hanson
• 32 Global Communication Divides and Equal Rights to Communicate - Carolyn A. Lin
• 33 Citizenship and Consumption: Media Theory in the Age of Twitter - Kevin Cummings and Cynthia Gottshall
• 34 Round Pegs in Square Holes: Is Mass Communication Theory a Useful Tool in Conducting Internet Research? - Christine Ogan
• 35 How Global Is the Internet? Reflections on Economic, Cultural, and Political Dimensions of the Networked “Global Village” - Kai Hafez
• Part V Theory Case Studies
• 36 Nationalism and Imperialism - Mingsheng Li
• 37 Media Control in China - Zheng Li
• 38 The Construction of National Image in the Media and the Management of Intercultural Conflicts - Xiaodong Dai and Guo-Ming Chen
• 39 Play Theory and Public Media: A Case Study in Kenya Editorial Cartoons - P. Mark Fackler and Levi Obonyo
• 40 Contemporary Chinese Communication Scholarship: An Emerging Alternative Paradigm - Wenshan Jia, Hailong Liu, Runze Wang, and Xinchuan Liu
• 41 Al Jazeera and Dr. Laura: Is a Global Islamic Reformist Media Ethics Theory Possible? - Haydar Badawi Sadig
• 42 Media Ethics Theories in Africa - Herman Wasserman
• 43 The Efficacy of Censorship as a Response to Terrorism - Kasun Ubayasiri
• 44 Blending East—West Philosophies to Meta—Theorize Mediatization and Revise the News Paradigm - Shelton A. Gunaratne
• 45 Understanding Mass Media: A Buddhist Viewpoint - Wimal Dissanayake
• 46 Jewish Communication Theory: Biblical Law and Contemporary Media Practice - Yoel Cohen
• 47 God Still Speaks: A Christian Theory of Communication - P. Mark Fackler
• 48 Theorizing about the Press in Post—Soviet Societies - Igor E. Klyukanov and Galina V. Sinekopova
• 49 Internet and Political Activism in Post—Revolutionary Iran - Babak Rahimi
• Part VI Conclusion
• 50 Looking Ahead to a New Generation of Media and Mass Communication Theory - P. Mark Fackler and Robert S. Fortner