Abstract
Selecting an introductory text is always a daunting task: it should be interesting but not tedious, immersive but not overwhelming. Finding the right text for a course in media studies is all the more difficult because of the sprawling nature of the field and the constant evolution of the technologies that make it possible. In Media, Culture, and Society: An Introduction, author Paul Hodkinson offers a comprehensive overview of media studies as a field, successfully presenting a cohesive picture of its particularities without (as introductory texts are wont to do) venturing into the patronizing or simplistic, all the while staying up-to-date and culturally relevant.
This thorough text dissects the field of media studies into its component parts, which roughly correlate to various approaches to the study of media. Part 1, ‘Elements of Media’, deals with media technologies, industry, content, and users. This section first orients readers to the theoretical debates around media effects by introducing arguments for and against McLuhan’s technological determinism. Then, the author addresses questions of political economy and media institutions, including the effects of advertising on media content. Various methods for analyzing media content are then presented, including a pointed introduction to semiology, a brief look at discourse and textual analyses, and an explanation of the process and uses of content analysis. The last chapter in this section deals with media users and considers various approaches to measuring media effects on audiences, including behavioral effects, uses and gratifications, and cultural studies paradigms.
In Part 2, ‘Media, Power, and Control’, the author approaches questions of ideology in media construction. This section begins with an introduction to Marxism and neo-Marxist media critique, followed by a chapter on the social construction of news, which considers issues of gatekeeping, agenda setting, and bias in news reporting. A chapter is then devoted to the question of public service broadcasting, government involvement in media, and issues of censorship, focusing in particular on the UK, and the BBC. The following chapter considers fragmentation and globalization as emerging issues in the field of media studies.
Part 3, ‘Media, Identity, and Culture’, offers an overview of issues related to identity and culture, beginning with a consideration of historical representations of race and ethnicity particularly in television and film, and then discussing the effects of diaspora on audience segregation. The author then addresses questions of gender representation and feminist critiques of media, ranging from issues of subordination via ‘the male gaze’ to perspectives of empowerment through subversive media use. This leads to a discussion, in the next chapter, of media communities, including fan subcultures and niche marketing through media. The final chapter highlights postmodernist critiques, from Baudrillard’s simulacra to Jameson’s pastiche, dealing with media saturation and loss of meaning, and complicating these critiques as often overly simplistic.
In each section, Hodkinson describes major competing schools of thought and effectively illustrates the cumulative, discursive nature of social science research. He offers useful popular cultural examples along the way (a handful of which may be unfamiliar to non-British readers), and ends each section with a list of discussion questions. In addition to the thoroughness of the text, the book includes lists for suggested reading, a glossary, and a topical index.
Because the book is arranged thematically, the chronology of the field’s development can be a bit confusing. Moreover, readers may be surprised by the text’s emphasis on political economy and industry, particularly if they have come to associate texts on ‘culture’ with cultural studies approaches. This text does address, although rather rudimentarily, the history and methodologies of cultural studies approaches, but it should be seen more as an introduction to the multiplicity of theoretical and methodological approaches to the study of media. This text seems most appropriate for advanced undergraduates or introductory graduate students, but may be out of place in courses with a strong methodological or theoretical bent. Overall, Hodkinson’s broad and well-written text would likely be a valuable contribution to any introductory media studies course.