Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Denis McQuail is Emeritus Professor of Mass Communication at the University of Amsterdam. He is the author of a number of seminal works in the field, including Media Performance , (1992), and Audience Analysis , (1997). Some reviews of the previous editions

`This book is the most comprehensive to date in its description and evaluation of the proliferating philosophies of how the mass media do or should function in open and closed, developed and developing societies′ - Media Development

`An excellent, comprehensive survey of the whole range of thinking on mass media, including definitions, approaches, functions in society, production organizations and analyses of media content′ - Intermedia

`... Let′s stress that for people who want to read a single intelligent work on mass communication... this is the work. Of course there must be many criticisms but the answer ′ where would you find so much, so well done, so clearly done and still at an affordable price in any other single work′ will be the proper one in most cases. The first work to look at as text and general survey′ - Media Information Australia

The Fourth Edition of this best-selling textbook provides a comprehensive, non-technical introduction to the range of approaches to understanding mass communication. Now fully revised McQuail′s Mass Communication Theory :

Offers an integrated treatment of the major components of mass communication: the sender, the message, and the audience; encompasses the diverse forms of mass communication in contemporary societies: television, radio, newspapers, film, music, the internet and other forms of new media; demonstrates how theories of mass communication relate to the broader understanding of society and culture; provides a glossary of nearly a hundred key terms in media and communication.

Now thoroughly updated, this new edition of has been rewritten to take account of recent theory and research particularly as it relates to new media, globalisation, and topics in respect of cultural production, such as advertising, marketing, fashion, and merchandising. Retaining all the strengths of the previous editions, McQuail′s Mass Communication Theory remains the most integrated and comprehensive introduction to the field.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Part 1 Preliminaries
• Introduction to the Book
• The Rise of Mass Media
• Part 2 Theories
• Concepts and Models for Mass Communication
• Theory of Media and Theory of Society
• Mass Communication and Culture
• New Media New Theory?
• Normative Theory of Media and Society
• Part 3 Structures
• Media Structure and Performance
• Principles and Accountability
• Media Economics and Governance
• Global Mass Communication
• Part 4 Organizations
• The Media Organization
• Pressures and Demands
• The Production of Media Culture
• Part 5 Content
• Media Content
• Issues, Concepts and Methods of Analysis
• Media Genres and Texts
• Part 6 Audiences
• Audience Theory and Research Traditions
• Audience Formation and Experience
• Part 7 Effects
• Processes and Models of Media Effects
• Socio-Cultural Effects
• News, Public Opinion and Political Communication
• Epilogue
• The Future of Mass Communication

Author notes provided by Syndetics