After the Media ─ Culture and Identity in the 21st Century

This provocative text considers the state of media and cultural studies today after the demolition of the traditional media paradigm, and engages with the new, active consumer culture.

Media Studies, particularly within schools, has until recently been concerned with mass media and the effects of ‘the media’ in society and on people. As new media technology has blurred the boundaries between the audience and the media, the status of this area of education is threatened. Whilst some have called for a drastic re-think (Media Studies 2.0), others have called for caution, arguing that the power dynamics of ownership and gatekeeping are left intact.

This book uses cultural and technological change as a context for a more forensic exploration of the traditional dependence on the idea of ‘the media’ as one homogenous unit. It suggests that it would be liberating for students, teachers and academics to depart from such a model and shift the focus to people and how they create culture in this contemporary ‘mediascape’.

Peter Bennett is Senior Lecturer in Post-Compulsory Education at the University of Wolverhampton, UK. He is co-author and co-editor of a range of Communications, Media and Film textbooks as well as Framework Media: Channels (2003). He is co-author and Chief Examiner of the new Communication and Culture A Level and a regular provider of IN SET for teachers.

Alex Kendall is Associate Dean for Research in the School of Education, Law and Social Science at Birmingham City University, UK. She is well published in the areas of literacy and professional education and is co-editor of Insights from Research and Practice (2005).

Julian McDougall is Reader in Media and Education at Newman University College, Birmingham, UK. He is the editor of the Media Education Research Journal, The Media Teacher’s Book (2010), Studying Videogames (2008) and a range of Media Studies textbooks. He is a Principal Examiner for A-Level Media and runs undergraduate, postgraduate and teacher training courses.

Acknowledgements Introduction: After the Media Chapter 1 Power after the media Chapter 2 Genre after the media Chapter 3 Representation after the media Chapter 4 Ideology after the media Chapter 5 Identity after the media Chapter 6 History after the media Chapter 7 Audience after the media Chapter 8 Narrative after the media: from narrative to reading Chapter 9 Technology after the media Conclusion Pedagogy after the media: towards a pedagogy of the inexpert References Index