Media Discourses : Analysing Media Texts

Some of the biggest questions about the relationship between media and culture are about communication.

How are the meanings which make up a culture shared in society?

How is power performed in the media? What identities and relationships take shape there? "Media Discourses" introduces readers to insights from discourse analysis into how media communication works.

Written in a lively style and drawing on examples from contemporary media, it discusses what precisely is being shared in media texts: what gets represented, who gets to do the talking, what people need to share in order to understand the media and how power relations are reinforced or challenged.

Each chapter discusses a particular media genre, from the news to advertising to reality television to weblogs.

At the same time, each chapter also introduces a range of approaches to media discourse, from analysis of linguistic details to the rules of conversation to the discursive construction of selfhood.

The book is designed to meet the needs of students and researchers at a range of levels.

A glossary explains key terms and each chapter suggests further reading.