Political Communication, A New Introduction for Crisis Times, Aeron Davis

In this text, Aeron Davis bridges old and new to map the shifts and analyse what they mean for our aging democracies. Why are volatile, polarized electorates no longer prepared to support established political parties? Why are large parts of the legacy media either dying or dismissed as 'fake news'? How is social media rapidly rewriting the rules? And why do some democratic leaders look more like dictators, and pollsters and economists more like fortune tellers? These questions and more are addressed in the book.

Political Communication: A New Introduction for Crisis Times both introduces and challenges the established literature. It will appeal to advanced students, scholars and anyone else trying to understand the precarious state of today's media and political landscape.

This book introduces readers to the vast and rich world of digital media. It provides a strong starting point for understanding digital media's social and political significance to our culture and the culture of others--drawing on an emergent and increasingly rich set of empirical and theoretical studies on the role and development of digital media in contemporary societies. Touching on the core points behind the discipline, the book addresses a wide range of topics, including media economics, online cooperation, open source, social media, software production, globalization, brands, marketing, the cultural industry, labor, and consumption.

Presented in six sections--Media and Digital Technologies; The Information Society; Cultures and Identities; Digital Collaboration; Public Sphere and Power; Digital Economies--the book offers in-depth chapter coverage of new and old media; network infrastructure; networked economy and globalization; the history of information technologies; the evolution of networks; sociality and digital media; media and identity; collaborative media; open source and innovation; politics and democracy; social movements; surveillance and control; digital capitalism; global inequalities and development; and more.

• Delivers a reliable, compact and quick introduction to the core issues analyzed by digital culture studies and sociology of information societies
• Interweaves main topics and theories with several examples and up-to-date case studies, often linked to our everyday lives on the internet, as well as suggestions for further readings
• Anchors examples to discussions of the main sociological, political, and anthropological theoretical approaches at stake to help students make sense of the changes brought about by digital media
• Uses critical sociological and political theory alongside every day examples to discuss concepts such as online sociality, digital labor, digital value creation, and the reputation economy

Clear and concise throughout, Introduction to Digital Media is an excellent primer for those teaching and studying digital culture and media.

This book introduces readers to the vast and rich world of digital media. It provides a strong starting point for understanding digital media's social and political significance to our culture and the culture of others--drawing on an emergent and increasingly rich set of empirical and theoretical studies on the role and development of digital media in contemporary societies. Touching on the core points behind the discipline, the book addresses a wide range of topics, including media economics, online cooperation, open source, social media, software production, globalization, brands, marketing, the cultural industry, labor, and consumption.

Presented in six sections--Media and Digital Technologies; The Information Society; Cultures and Identities; Digital Collaboration; Public Sphere and Power; Digital Economies--the book offers in-depth chapter coverage of new and old media; network infrastructure; networked economy and globalization; the history of information technologies; the evolution of networks; sociality and digital media; media and identity; collaborative media; open source and innovation; politics and democracy; social movements; surveillance and control; digital capitalism; global inequalities and development; and more.

• Delivers a reliable, compact and quick introduction to the core issues analyzed by digital culture studies and sociology of information societies
• Interweaves main topics and theories with several examples and up-to-date case studies, often linked to our everyday lives on the internet, as well as suggestions for further readings
• Anchors examples to discussions of the main sociological, political, and anthropological theoretical approaches at stake to help students make sense of the changes brought about by digital media
• Uses critical sociological and political theory alongside every day examples to discuss concepts such as online sociality, digital labor, digital value creation, and the reputation economy

Clear and concise throughout, Introduction to Digital Media is an excellent primer for those teaching and studying digital culture and media.