European Media in the Digital Age:Analysis and Approaches

Description

Features

·  Provides a framework and range of analytical tools to help you apply theory and new forms of statistical analysis to information towards a better understanding of the European media world.

·  Chapters include The EU and the Media, Understanding the European Media through Data and Statistics/Economics, Politics, Regulation and Legislation, The Media landscape of Press and Publishing, Media Theory in EU Context

·  Highlights similarities and differences between countries in terms of production, distribution and consumption

·  6 themes govern the structure of the chapters to aid analysis – diversity of media, forces for change, complexity, multi-levels, European integrative environment, cultural values

·  In-text features  include case studies, stop and consider, sources, point of view encourage critical engagement, and key terms, summaries, websites and directions to wider reading to take you further.

Table of Contents

Contents

1 The EU and the media - EU media policy and globalisation

  Inroduction: the EU and the media in the 21st century

 The EU, globalisation and media

 The EU and localisation

 Glocalisation

 The EU and ‘Europanisation’

 Defining and understanding the EU

 Europe and the EU: contexts for media policy

 The EU institutions, policy-making and the media

 The structure of the EU

 Other direct and indirect pressures on the EU media

 Chapter summary 

 Key terms

 Discussion questions

 Assignments

 Further reading

 Online resources

 References

 Appendix

2: Understanding EU media through data - statistics

  Introduction: The media and data

  Sources

  Statistics

 Preliminary investigation: are newspapers and print products in decline in the EU?

 The context and the data questions: using qualitative methods

 Linear and non-linear ways of looking at data

 Chapter summary

 Key terms

 Discussion questions

 Assigments

 Further reading

 Online resources

 References

3  Understanding EU media through economics

Introduction: economics and the media

The macro and the micro

Supply of and demand of goods

Price and costs (fixed and variable) and equilibrium

Market definitions

Chapter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Assignments

Further reading and references

Online resources

4: EU politics, regulation and media legislation

Introduction: regulation and the regulators

The EU regulatory debate

The European regulatory context

Public vs private

International rules and the EU

EU regulatory development – key areas

Moving on into the 21st century

EU member state national regulation

Regulation, deregulation, self-regulation and co-regulation

Conclusions and more questions

Chapter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Assignments

Further reading

Online resources

References

5: Media theory in the European context

Introduction: using theory

Media theory and European integration

Context: the theories of European integration and media development – some contexts

Debates on the EU theories of integration

Media and communication theory

Using theory with research methods

Critical review

Media theory milestones and contemporary debates

Chapter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Assignments

Further reading

Online resources

References

6: Production in the EU press and publishing industry

Introduction: The European media landscape – analysing the market

History and precedents

The 20th century

The contemporary era: the 21st century

Publishing markets and production

The present scene: an indication

Comparative work: finding the variables (the comparators)

Chapter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Assignments

Further reading

Online resources

References

7: The distribution of print and published material

Introduction: the print industry

Distribution

Classic vs new distribution techniques

Distribution: European policy

Distribution: national policies – a comment

Chapter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Assignments

Further reading

Online resources

References

8: The consumption of print and published material

Introduction: assessing the material available to researchers for the publishing industry - the data

Interpretation and judgement

European consumption and trends

Reflections

Chapter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Further reading

Online resources

References

9: Audio-visual content in the EU: Production and scheduling (by Andrea Esser)

Introduction: analysing audiovisual programming in the EU

Sources

History and precedents

The 1980s

Changes in content production

Financing

Entertainment on our television screens: production, acquisition, scheduling

The rise of formats

Other programming trends in the new millennium: added-value, textual convergence and interactivity

Chapter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Assignments

Further reading

Online resources

References 

10: The distribution network of the audio-visual in the EU

Introduction: a period of change

Television and radio

Film

Classic vs new distribution techniques

Distribution: European policy

Distribution: national policies

The impact on public sector broadcasting

Chaoter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Assignments

Further reading

Online resources

References

11: The consumption of audio-visual material in the EU: trends.

Introduction: assessing the material available to researchers for the audio-visual: industry - the data.

Sources

Consumption: European trends

Consumption: national trends – an indication

EU National statistical agencies and the public-private divide

The future: a comment

Chapter summary

Key terms

Discussion questions

Assignments

Further reading

Online resources

References

Index

Back Cover

"Understanding European Media policies is made much easier by this timely and authoritative guide. …A must buy for all courses and students who wish to understand the direction of European media and the issues involved."

Robert Beveridge, Lecturer in Media Policy and Regulation, Edinburgh Napier University

"Well organised and highly user friendly, this much-needed book presents a valuable study on the European media in the digital age. It will be of interest to Politics, European Studies, Media Law and Communications Studies and policy-makers working in the field."

Dr Alison Harcourt, Jean Monnet Chair in the information society, University of Exeter

"Written in an accessible, friendly and easy to read style Rooke succeeds in achieving his aim: to enable students to begin to understand the multi-faceted field of European media. An invaluable and comprehensive introduction to an important but complex subject, this is an excellent combination of text book, study guide and self involving work book. "

Jackie Harrisonis Professor of Public Communication University of Sheffield and co-author of European Broadcasting Law and Policy, Cambridge University Press.

Understanding today’s media scene from print to audiovisual needs a wider view, with an international media landscape now populated by a multitude of actors, rapidly changing technologies, and growing convergence of delivery. How the EU – as a major economic and political power – creates an overarching media architecture for its states affects significantly competing media players and governments globally, at corporate, national and transnational levels. This book helps make comprehensible the European media within a broader global media landscape.  

The study of contemporary media often and rightly concentrates on content. But there are other approaches and analysis we can use to complement and enhance our knowledge of the new digital communication age. This book offers new ways of looking at the media by combining a variety of approaches, including how to start thinking about statistics, relating this to economics, analysing regulations, and combining media theories with theories of European Union integration. The use of such approaches is especially important in the EU and Europe as the media differs as much as it converges when we explore the media in its context.

The European Media in the Digital Agethereforeis a key, innovative and introductory text that helps you to observe, rethink, and evaluate the media in the context of this wider world.

Key features

·        Provides a framework and range of analytical tools to help you apply theory and new forms of statistical analysis to information towards a better understanding of the European media world.

·        Chapters include The EU and the Media, Understanding the European Media through Data and Statistics/Economics, Politics, Regulation and Legislation, The Media landscape of Press and Publishing, Media Theory in EU Context

·        Highlights similarities and differences between countries in terms of production, distribution and consumption

·        6 themes govern the structure of the chapters to aid analysis – diversity of media, forces for change, complexity, multi-levels, European integrative environment, cultural values

·        In-text features – case study, stop and consider, sources, point of view encourage critical engagement, and key terms, summaries, websites and further reading take you further.

The European Media in the Digital Age will be core reading for students of media and communication studies and of key interest to students of Politics and Policy, Business Studies, International Studies and European Studies

Richard Rooke is Senior Lecturer in social and policy studies at London South Bank University.

Andrea Esser is Senior Lecturer in media and cultural studies at Roehampton University, London.