Summary
Contents
The SAGE Key Concepts series provide students with accessible and authoritative knowledge of the essential topics in a variety of disciplines. Cross-referenced throughout, the format encourages critical evaluation through understanding. Written by experienced and respected academics, the books are indispensable study aids and guides to comprehension. Key Concepts in Journalism offers a systematic and accessible introduction to the terms, processes, and effects of journalism;a combination of practical considerations with theoretical issues; and further reading suggestions. The authors bring an enormous range of experience in newspaper and broadcast journalism, at national and regional level, as well as their teaching expertise. This book will be essential reading for students in journalism, and an invaluable reference tool for their professional careers.
Media Effects
Media Effects
The phrase media effects implies that media messages have a direct and significant effect on the knowledge, attitudes and even behaviour of members of the audience. In one sense, of course, the claim for media effects is a truism. Even watching the weather forecast will increase viewers' knowledge of the short-term forecast and may even influence their behaviour, encouraging them to take a brolly with them if rain is forecast. But the extent and character of any media effect has been hotly contested (Barker and Petley 1997: 1–12; Philo and Miller, 1999: 21). It remains the area in mass communications about which ‘there is least certainty and least agreement’ (McQuail, 1987: 251) with some authors expressing their scepticism about media effects in book ...