Understanding the Media: A Practical Guide

Focusing on the familiar media of television, the press, radio, comics and pop music, this guide to the media also examines a range of forms which cross boundaries between different media - news, chat-shows, drama, fiction, public relations and advertising. Andrew Hart stresses the relations between various forms of the media, and addresses issues of value, control, quality and ideology. These major areas are examined in the context of rapidly changing technologies, patterns of ownership, production processes and audience responses. The study tackles problems which teachers often encounter - how to begin teaching about the media, and how to organize practical work. It includes practical examples of classroom activities and evaluations of their effectiveness, as well as detailed lesson plans. The material in this book originated from a series of BBC Radio 4 documentaries on the media. Interviews from the radio programmes are included in the text to enliven and authenticate difficult ideas, and major issues are examined through extensive use of new documentary material, such as audience data.