Small-scale electronic media (local radio and television stations) have experienced much turbulence and change in the 1990s. In western Europe, local and regional stations have achieved legitimation in national media policies; in central and eastern Europe, stations have been emerging at an explosive rate; and elsewhere in the world, developments have been no less substantial. These changes, taken as a whole, signal substantial albeit diverse forms of engagement and utilization of small-scale electronic media. These developments have been recorded in only a handful of academic studies. No scholarly consideration of these media developments has appeared, despite the range of development and widespread acknowledgement of their place in the media landscape. This volume is intended to fill this void through an integrated series of contributions emphasizing theoretical perspectives, empirical research findings and developments regarding policy and practice. It reflects the state of scholarly work in this niche of the media landscape and charts areas for further investigations.

This book investigates the relationship between information communication and community development in China in the new media age, drawing on theoretical resources from journalism, communication, urban sociology, community management, and the activities of social movements. Contrasting existing scholarship that centers on new technologies and virtual aspects of today’s communication, the study highlights community residents’ daily praxis in real social spaces and the interaction between online and offline communications. Through content analysis, case studies, questionnaire surveys, and in-depth interviews, the author explores the social engagement of communication in public expressions and negotiations among Chinese urban communities. From micro, meso, and macro levels respectively, three interactive mechanisms are discussed: (1) media use and social consciousness and mobilization; (2) new media and changes in community governance; and (3) state-community interplay. Based on these mechanisms, the author proposes the idea of “the construction of grassroots social communication”, exploring approaches to the modernization of social governance and attainment of social interests by optimizing information communication. Communication and Community in the New Media Age will appeal to academics and students studying communication and social transition in China, new media and society, urban sociology, and public governance.

Ethnic media are media produced for, and frequently by, immigrants, ethnic and linguistic minority groups, and indigenous populations. These media represent a sector of the broader media industry that has seen considerable growth globally, even while many mainstream, legacy media have struggled to survive or have ceased to exist, largely due to the emergence of new communication technologies. What is missing in the literature is a careful examination of ethnic media in the digital era. The original research, including case studies, in this book 1) provides insight into how ethnic media are adapting to changing technologies in the media landscape of our times, 2) highlights the emergence of new trends in media production and consumption, and 3) underscores the enduring roles that ethnic media perform in local communities and in an increasingly globalized world. The ethnic media that authors discuss in this book are produced for broadcasting (television, radio), or distributed in print (newspapers, magazines), film, and the Web. Additionally, they serve numerous immigrant, ethnic, and indigenous communities, living in different regions of the world, including North America, Europe, and Oceania.

In 2009, a bipartisan Knight Commission found that while the broadband age is enabling an info. and commun. renaissance, local communities in particular are being unevenly served with critical info. about local issues. Soon after the Knight Commission delivered its findings, the FCC initiated a working group to identify crosscurrent and trend, and make recommendations on how the info. needs of communities can be met in a broadband world. This report by the FCC Working Group on the Info. Needs of Communities addresses the rapidly changing media landscape in a broadband age. Contents: Media Landscape; The Policy and Regulatory Landscape; Recommendations. Charts and tables. This is a print on demand report.

Understand the impact of new technologies on the media landscape with LIVING IN THE INFORMATION AGE with InfoTrac®! Examining the conceptual and practical aspects of life in an information society, this communication text encourages you to consider how the media industries are being transformed through digital convergence and corporate concentration. Each reading is prefaced by a short introduction and three questions for critical thinking and discussion to help you master the material. Each article is followed by suggestions for taking research online using InfoTrac College Edition so that you can enhance your understanding of the material.

While transnational conglomerates consolidate their control of the global mediascape, local communities struggle to create democratic media systems. This groundbreaking study of community media, first published in 2005, combines original research with comparative and theoretical analysis in an engaging and accessible style. Kevin Howley explores the different ways in which local communities come to make use of various technologies such as radio, television, print and computer networks for purposes of community communication and considers the ways these technologies shape, and are shaped by, the everyday lived experience of local populations. He also addresses broader theoretical and philosophical issues surrounding the relationship between communication and community, media systems and the public sphere. Case studies illustrate the pivotal role community media play in promoting cultural production and communicative democracy within and between local communities. This book will make a significant contribution to existing scholarship in media and cultural studies on alternative, participatory and community-based media.