Mediated Society

Preface
Acknowledgements
Part 1: Sociology, Communication, and Citizenship
1. Sources for a Critical Sociology of Mediated Society
Introduction
Critical Sociology: Exposing the Gap Between Real and Imaginary Audiences
Media Centred Approaches
Decentred Approaches
Undoing Gender Norms
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
2. The Public Sphere
Introduction
Public Spaces
Media and Public Spaces
The State and the Commercial Imperative
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Notes
3. Citizenship and Audiences
Introduction
Mediated Society as a Social System
Audiences: Real or Imagined?
Audiences through the Lens of Social Research
The Media System And Responsibility
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
Notes
4. Consumption and Advertising
Introduction
Consumption: The Paradoxical Phenomenon
The Marxist Perspective on Production and Consumption
Georg Simmel on Fashion and Urban Life
Leisure Class, Gender, and Conspicuous Consumption
Classical Sociology of Consumption: The Limitation
Cultural Capital and Social Class
Feminist Critiques: Gender, Political Economy, and Consumption
Advertising as Mass Communication
De Certeau on Agency, Interpretation, and Advertising
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
Notes
5. New Media, New World?
Introduction
New Media: A Contemporary Phenomenon
New Media: A Historical Phenomenon
The Sociological Imagination of New Media
TV: A Continued Debate
New Media and Political Violence
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
Notes
Part II: Media Events and the Sociological Imagination
6. Global Media Events
Introduction
What Is Globalization?
Global Media Domination and Resistance
Framing the News
Global Media Events as Spectacles
Mediating Citizenship Through Global Media Events
Missing Global Media Events
Dehumanization and Effacement
Missing News from the Global South
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
7. National Media Events
Introduction
Multinational Canada and Public Broadcasting
A Double-Faced Janus: National Media, Social Order, and Disorder
English Canada: A Mediated Absent Nation
Multicultural Framing: Common Memories and National Histories
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
8. Urban Media Events: Toronto and Montreal Case Studies
Introduction
Seriocomedy, Newspapers, and the Well-Ordered City
National Public Broadcasting the Cultures of Urban Laughter
Toronto and the Absent Nation
Amalgamation Debates: Normal Disorder of the City?
Montreal and the Absent Region
Crossover Voices
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
Notes
Part III: Social Problems through Journalism and Media
9. Reporting on Social Problems
Introduction
What Makes a Problem Social?
Reporting on Social Problems
Social Problems Imagined through Entertainment
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
Notes
10. Journalism and Seriocomedy: Framing Poverty in Montreal Media
Introduction
Les Bougons: Seriocomedy and Poverty
Studying Newspapers: Frame Analysis and Keyword Search
Direct Talk in the Press: 'The Poorest of the Poor'
'Our TV Poor' are at Peace
Journalistic Polemics on Politicians, Developers, and the State
Seriocomedy as Anarchy: Against the Common Good
Indirect Talk: Journalistic Accounts of Poor Reporting on Poor
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
Notes
11. Framing Immigration as a Social Problem in The New York Times
Introduction
On US Immigration and New York City
What Is Conditional Hospitality?
Just, Unjust, and Extreme
Multicultural Practices and Changing Faces
Governance: Official Discourse and Political Shocks
Social Movements: The Astonishment of Social Solidarity
How Can Public Journalism Reduce the Gap?
Summary
Enhanced Learning Activities
Annotated Further Reading
Useful Media
Notes
Glossary
References
Index

John D. Jackson is professor emeritus and former professor of sociology at Concordia University in Montreal. He is a senior research fellow with Concordia University's Centre for Broadcasting Studies and was a member of the Canadian Editorial Board of the former Journal of Radio Studies. He is presently involved in research addressing issues of audiences and public spaces.

Greg M. Nielsen is professor of sociology and director of the Centre for Broadcasting Studies at Concordia University in Montreal. He has published numerous essays and co-edited a dozen special issues of journals on the themes of cultural studies, the sociology of media, social theory, and Canadian society. He is co-editor of Acts of Citizenship (London: Zed Press, 2008).

Yon Hsu received her PhD in Communication studies from Concordia University in Montreal in 2003. While currently working as a communication officer in the private sector, she continues to pursue her research interests in the areas of intercultural communication and ethics as a research fellow with Concordia University's Centre for Broadcasting Studies. She is presently involved in research addressing issues of global media representation and development in Asia.

Special Features

• Unique sociological approach. Firmly rooted in a sociological perspective, the text examines the way in which the media and mass communication impacts individuals and society.
• Canadian and international examples. An extensive range of Canadian and international references, both historical and current, offers students a balanced, relevant treatment of media studies.
• Comprehensive. Explores the role of media in shaping social issues within urban, national, and global contexts, revealing how mass communication permeates contemporary society on multiple levels.
• Student-centred approach. Reveals how our environments are mediated through various channels of communication that dictate how we should feel, think, and act, encouraging students to discuss how media influences individual identity, values, and behaviour.
• Emphasis on social institutions. Rather than focusing on technology and the different forms of media that exist, the text emphasizes the nature of mass communication as a social construct and the interplay between people and the media.
• Extensive pedagogy. A range of visual and pedagogical aids - including learning objectives, key words highlighted at first use, chapter summaries, enhanced learning activities, annotated further readings, lists of useful media, and an end-of-text glossary - facilitate student understanding and encourage discussion.