McQuail's Mass Communication Theory

Author: (English) Denis McQuail, translated by Cui Baoguo, Li Kun
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-07-01
Features: Based on recent theoretical research and the rapid transformation of media itself, this revised and expanded edition updates the content of the previous version. Since the last edition was published, especially as we entered the new century, I have been puzzled by the idea that certain concepts and thinking about mass communication might be gradually becoming outdated. Since media were created, both the times and the media themselves have undergone tremendous changes. On the other hand, during the period we were writing the fourth edition, mass media were once again used by the government to support military actions based on uncertain judgments, justice, and public support. These effective propaganda wars have not differed greatly in nature from many 20th-century propaganda wars. As "new media" begin to show their economic potential, "old" media based on media groups are increasingly actively acquiring "new media" and striving to integrate them into the existing global media system. The term "mass communication" may have gradually faded and carry a "modernist" connotation, but in fact, the significance it represents has not changed much—it has only become broader and more complex.
About the Author: Denis McQuail is a world-renowned communication scholar and a lifetime professor of communication at the University of Amsterdam, a member of the "European Communication Research Group," and one of the three founders of the Journal of European Communication Research. His major works include: Towards a Sociology of Mass Communications (1971), Communications (1975), Communications Models for the Study of Mass Communications (1982), Mass Communications Theory (1983), Media Performance (1992), Audience Analysis (1997), Media Policy (1998), and McQuail's Mass Communication Theory (4th edition, 2000), among others.