Previous edition: 2014.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 373-413) and index.

PART I : INTRODUCTION : Chapter 1. Media/society in a digital world : The importance of media -- Models of communication media -- A sociology of media -- A model of media and the social world -- Applying the model: Civil rights in two media eras -- PART II : TECHNOLOGY : Chapter 2. The evolution of media technology : The history of media technology -- Technological determinism and social constructionism -- From print to the internet -- PART III : INDUSTRY : Chapter 3. The economics of the media industry : Media companies in the internet era -- Changing patterns of ownership -- Consequences of conglomeration and integration -- The effects of concentration -- Mass media for profit -- The impact of advertising -- Chapter 4. Political influence on media : Media and democracy -- Free speech to free markets: The evolution of U.S. regulatory policy -- Regulation in international perspective -- Competing interests and the regulation debate -- Regulating ownership -- Regulating content -- Regulating access and distribution -- Informal political, social, and economic pressure -- Chapter 5. Media organizations and professionals : The limits of economic and political constraints -- Decision making for profit: Imitation, hits, and stars -- The organization of media work -- Occupational roles and professional socialization -- Norms on the internet, new media, and new organizations -- PART IV : CONTENT : Chapter 6. Media and ideology -- What is ideology? -- Theoretical roots of ideological analysis -- News media and the limits of debate -- Movies, the military, and masculinity -- Television, popularity, and ideology -- Rap music as ideological critique? -- Advertising and consumer culture -- Advertising and the globalization of culture -- Internet ideology -- Chapter 7. Social inequality and media representation : Comparing media content and the "Real" world -- The significance of content -- Race, ethnicity, and media content: Inclusion, roles, and control -- Gender and media content -- Class and the media -- Sexual orientation: Out of the closet and into the media -- PART V : USERS : Chapter 8. Audiences and creators : The active audience: Balancing agency and structure -- Decoding meanings and social position -- The pleasures of media: Celebrity games -- The social context of media Use -- The limits of interpretation -- From active audience to resistant actors -- Content creation and distribution -- Chapter 9. Media influence : Learning from media effects research -- Early works: Establishing the agenda -- Mitigating media effects -- Highlighting media influence -- Mediatization -- The mediatization of politics -- Digital dilemmas: Online media influence -- PART VI : Afterword : Chapter 10. Globalization and the future of media -- What is globalization? -- The global media industry -- Interpreting global media content -- Regulating global media -- Global media users: Limits of the "Global Village" -- The ubiquity of change and the future of media.