Student Resources

Guide to reading journal articles

Throughout the book we cite work by scholars in the field, and we encourage you to go and read their work to extend your thinking, consider our point of view, and come to a view of your own. This book, like all academic publication, is not a stand-alone work. It is situated in a broader academic debate. Understanding how academic publication works and how to read journal articles will help you make better sense of the ideas and arguments in this book.

 

The Industrial Production of Meaning

Chapter Introduction

During the twentieth century the production of meaning became industrialised.

How did the organisation and production of meaning change during the twentieth century?

How have interactive technologies changed the production of culture?

What are the differences between different media and cultural institutions?

 

In this chapter we:

Power and Media Production

Chapter Introduction

Powerful groups use professional communicators and media institutions to make and manage meaning.

How do groups become hegemonic?

What institutions are used to maintain hegemony?

What role od professional communicators play in making and maintain hegemony?

 

In this chapter we examine:

The Global Information Economy

Chapter Introduction

A new form of economic organisation began emerging in the last part of the twentieth century.

What role do information and communication play in the management of global capitalism?

What are the distinctive characteristics of information and communicative capitalism?

What is networked and flexible production?

 

In this chapter we:

Making News

Chapter Introduction

News-making is a key site for making and maintaining power.

What are the sites and routines used to manage the production of news?

What are some of the power relationships that characterise news-making?

How has access to large troves of data changed journalism?

How have mobile devices like smartphones changed journalism?

In this chapter we:

Politics and Communication Strategists

Chapter Introduction

Professional communicators are critical actors in the management of the political process.

What is strategic political communication?

How has professional communication changed the political process?

How do contemporary political campaigns engage with popular culture, use data and manage the participation of ordinary people?

In this chapter we:

Popular Culture

Chapter Introduction

Popular culture is integral to the creation of meaning and exercise of power.

How are power relationships represented in popular culture?

How does popular culture provide instructions for everyday life?

How do powerful groups use popular culture?

 

In this chapter we consider the uses of popular culture:

Managing Participation

Chapter Introduction

Exercising power involves making and managing meaning.

What are the various roles that meaning now plays in the exercise of power?

How does global network capitalism use meaning to exercise power?

How is participation in the creation and circulation of meaning embedded in the exercise of power?

What role do our identities play in the circulation of meaning and exercise of power?

 

In this chapter we examine the: