Media Today ― Mass Communication in a Converging World

Media Today uses convergence as a lens that puts students at the center of the profound changes in the 21st century media world. Through the convergence lens they learn to think critically about the role of media today and what these changes mean for their lives presently and in the future. The book’s media systems approach helps students to look carefully at how media is created, distributed, and exhibited in the new world that the digital revolution has created. In this way, Media Today goes beyond the traditional mass communication textbook’s focus on consuming media, to give students an insider’s perspective on how media businesses operate. How exactly does Google profit from web searches? What will a magazine look like five years from now?

Informative and engaging, Media Today, Fifth Edition, is characterized by its focus on:

• Convergence: In addition to separate chapters on the Internet and the Video Games industry, coverage of convergence and its impact is incorporated into every chapter.
• Consumer Education: Media Literacy questions ask students to consider their roles as a media consumer and potential media creator.
• Comprehensive Media Industry Coverage: Historical timelines in the print book and on the companion website track the development of each media industry, giving students an overview of a particular industry at a glance.
• Contemporary, Student-friendly Examples: New culture and media boxes help students think about the impact of media industries on their own lives and globally.

Joseph Turow—who has been teaching Intro to Mass Communication for well over a decade—demonstrates the many ways that media convergence and the pervasiveness of the Internet have blurred distinctions between and among various media. From newspapers to video games or social networking to mobile platforms, Media Today prepares students to live in the digital world of media.

Joseph Turow is Robert Lewis Shayon Professor of Communication at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School for Communication. A former Chair of the mass Communication Division of the International Communication Association, he is the author of more than 100 articles and 9 books on media industries.