Handbook

This subject analyses the significance of the media in the modern and contemporary world, examining developments from c.1870 to the present. Topics include the rise of the mass press and film, radio and television industries, the use of communication media for economic and political persuasion through advertising and propaganda, interrelationships of the media, the military and society during war, the rise of the internet, and the impact of globalisation on the media. Against current widely held perceptions of the power of the media in the twenty-first century, this subject provides an opportunity for students to develop an historical perspective on the media as key institutions of contemporary societies.