The Golden Age of Data: Media Analytics in Study & Practice

Audience and media analytics is more important now than ever, and this latest volume in the cutting-edge BEA Electronic Media Research Series collects some of the top scholars working with big data and analytics today. These chapters describe the development and help define media analytics as an academic discipline and professional practice. Understanding audiences is integral to creating and distributing media messages and the study of media analytics requires knowing a range of skills including research methods, the necessary tools available, familiarity with statistical procedures, and a mindset to provide insights and apply findings. This book summarizes the insights of analytics practitioners regarding the current state of legacy media analysis and social media analytics. Topics covered include the evolution of media technologies, the teaching of media measurement and analytics, the transition taking place in media research, and the use of media analytics to answer meaningful questions, drive content creation, and engage with audiences.

Don A. Grady, Ph.D., is an Associate Dean and Associate Professor in the School of Communications at Elon University. He served as chair of the BEA Research Symposium ("The Golden Age of Data: Big Data and Media Analytics") in April 2018, and panel chair for the BEA Media Analytics Roundtable ("Media Analytics: Tracking Audiences in an Evolving Media Landscape") in April 2016. He has numerous years of administrative leadership, teaching, and professional experience in broadcast journalism, radio, and television. He regularly teaches a senior capstone research course, oversees the publication of an online undergraduate research journal, and helped to guide the development of an undergraduate major in media analytics. He has given numerous workshops and presentations, and regularly published articles on the assessment of student learning. Grady is a former twice elected representative on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communications. He has a M.A. in Communication and the Ph.D. in Mass Communication Research from UNC-Chapel Hill.