Media theory
Parent categories: mass media - media - theory
Theorists: Walter Benjamin - Marshall McLuhan - Neil Postman - Roland Barthes - Robert Stam
Reflexivity in film and literature: From Don Quixote to Jean-Luc Godard (1985, 1992) - Robert Stam [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Related: fame - communication - content - culture theory - film theory - music theory - new media - news - print culture - recording medium - visual culture
Definition
Media studies is a social science that studies the nature and effects of mass media upon individuals and society, as well as analysing actual media content and representations. A cross-disciplinary field, media studies uses techniques and theorists from sociology, cultural studies, psychology, art theory, information theory, and economics. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_studies [Aug 2005]
See also: advertising - communication - Marshall McLuhan - Neil Postman - Noam Chomsky - Jean Baudrillard
Marxist media theory
In Britain and Europe, neo-Marxist approaches were common amongst media theorists from the late '60s until around the early '80s, and Marxist influences, though less dominant, remain widespread. So it is important to be aware of key Marxist concepts in analysing the mass media. However, there is no single Marxist school of thought, and the jargon often seems impenetrable to the uninitiated. These notes are intended to provide a guide to some key concepts.
Marxist theorists tend to emphasize the role of the mass media in the reproduction of the status quo, in contrast to liberal pluralists who emphasize the role of the media in promoting freedom of speech. --Daniel Chandler, http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism01.html [Dec 2004]