Annotated Bibliography on Mass Communication

¶ … Mass Communication Bryant, J. (2008). Media Effects. New York: Routledge Press. This book is able to aptly examine some of the more pervasive impacts of mass media, while discussing the bulk of the effects arena, offering up more focused commentary on mobile media and other technologies. This means that it is able to present both theory and research in a compelling and meaningful manner, while presenting even the most complex concepts of media theory in an accessible way.

One of the strengths of the book is that it offers up a social cognitive theory of mass communication along with a description of the mass media consumption and perceptions of social reality. The author is able to take into account the intensive influence that social media has had on traditional media and is able to offer up lucid predictions as to how this is likely to continue. Campbell, R. (2011). Media and Culture. New York: MacMillan.

This book very succinctly discusses mass media in terms of the cultural landscape along with the conjunction of sounds and images that make up mass media. One of the strongest pillars of the book is that it understands the importance of how mass media is essentially a big business along with a form of democratic expression.

This author is able to take a long look at the big business of media, and how newspapers, news programs and comparable sources are still selling a product to the public, just like traditional forms of merchant to consumer models. Presenting this construct to the reader is actually incredibly beneficial in shedding light on the overall form of how the media is not always a paragon of accuracy and why it's not always beneficial for the media to be this way.

It demonstrates to many how the media machine really works and the objectives that it has. Ultimately, this book offers solid foundational material. Chang, T.K. (2005). Mass Communication Research and the invisible College Revisited. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly. 672-694. Chang takes a more specific approach to the task of communication and examines it within a specific, collegiate vacuum.

This is invaluable as the way in which communication can thrive and subsist within such an environment is ultimately very important and needs to be examined further, as Chang attempts to do. The purpose of this research is to determine the overall course of the changing arena of mass communication and to assess the contemporary form and content of the invisible college over the past two decades. This research is largely theoretical and does not draw many adequate conclusions: there is a tremendous amount of speculation which occurs.

Ultimately, Chang expresses the necessity for more research with a larger sample size. The conclusions about the implications of media within the invisible college in this context are suggestive, but ultimately lack a certain concreteness to them. Creedon, P.J. (2007). Women in Mass Communication. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications. The focus of this particular book is on the impact of feminism on the field of mass communication, particularly the opportunities and obstacles that are very real for women, along with the impacts of race, culture and ethnicity.

This book focuses on women and minorities in commercial and public television, the few jobs available for women in the field of mass communication, the social construction of leadership among mass media, and the power to improve lives of women in communication. There are numerous promising conclusions and suggestions for change regarding women within the media and observations about the ground-breaking changes that have already occurred.

One focus that this textbook is able to provide that others can't is how mass communication relies on women in advertising and how that powerful role can be adapted. Harris, R.J., & Sanborn, S.W. (2013). A cognitive psychology of mass communication. New York: Routledge. This book very aptly examines the way in which basic psychology figures into mass communication and how these fundamental pillars of psychology can be used to sway opinion.

The authors look at the distortion present in social mirrors and how emotion can effectively be harnessed to influence public opinion. This book offers a strong foundation of the psychology and psychological strategies that ultimately underscore the bulk of all media tactics. For instance, the book discusses the use of fear in the media and how the media has long-harnessed the technique of fear-mongering as a means of gaining public attention.

Finally, the book devotes a chapter to the influence of sexuality and sensuality in the media and how that can be a powerful tool. The book touches upon some of the major arenas of influence in mass communication. Hardt, H. (2008). Critical Communication Studies. New York: Routledge. This book is able to offer more theory and background on the entire field and backdrop of critical communication, while examining the history and theory which have guided it as it continues to evolve.

It discusses the pragmatism and the pursuit of social criticism which is an aspect of mass communication as a whole. There's a very thorough discussion of communication studies and the aspects of communication research which influence critical theory of communication and communication itself. Shortcomings, along with common media miscommunications, are discussed, along with a look at how they occur in the first place. Moreover, there's an element of communication research which needs to occur.

Finally, this book was ultimately overly based in theory and did not provide enough examples from real life to support its point. Hardt, H. (2008). Myths for the Masses. San Francisco: John.