Understanding Media Studies is a lively and thought-provoking text with application for a wide range of courses. It uses an up to date framework and contemporary examples to guide students from square one to a complex understanding of the key concepts of media analyses. Focussing on the relations between the media and its audiences and users, Understanding Media Studies examines the forms of address, strategies, literacies and practices that characterise those relations. The authors have used recurrent case studies across the chapters to illustrate different concepts, helping students to view forms of media in a number of contexts.

• A clear structure and good sign-posting of key concepts allows students to easily navigate the text.
• Case studies are integrated into the text to create a strong narrative flow
• Contemporary examples are used to demonstrate the relationship between bodies of theory and socio-cultural practices.
• Glossary terms are included in margin notes throughout the text (with full glossary at the end), making the material more accessible to students.
• An integrated online resource centre accompanies the book - providing further information, case studies and annotated weblinks.

1. History of Media and Technology
2. Analysing the Media: Theories, Concepts and Techniques
3. Subjectivity and the Media
4. The Field of the Media
5. Media Audiences
6. Media and the Public Sphere
7. The Media as Spectacle
8. Networks and Data
9. Media Literacy and Everyday Life

Tony Schirato – Associate Professor in Media Studies, Victoria University of Wellington

Angi Buettner – Lecturer in Media Studies, Victoria University of Wellington

Thierry Jutel – Senior Lecturer and Programme Director in Media Studies, Victoria University of Wellington

Geoff Stahl – Lecturer in Media Studies, Victoria University of Wellington

These online resources are developed to sit alongside the text Understanding Media Studies. In each chapter you will find links to material that further explains concepts, illustrates with examples, and challenges you to think about the real-world applications of what you are learning.

This material has been developed by Tony Schirato, Angi Buettner, Thierry Jutel and Geoff Stahl.

1. History of Media and Technology
2. Analysing the Media: Theories, Concepts and Techniques
3. Subjectivity and the Media
4. The Field of the Media
5. Media Audiences
6. Media and the Public Sphere
7. The Media as Spectacle
8. Networks and Data
9. Media Literacy and Everyday Life