Media Now: Understanding Media, Culture, and Technology

MEDIA NOW, Sixth Edition, empowers you to think critically about the media and its effects on culture by providing a thorough understanding of how media technologies develop, operate, converge, and affect society. MEDIA NOW prepares you for encounters in the expanding fields of the Internet, interactive media, and traditional media industries through engaging, up-to-date material that covers the essential history, theories, concepts, and technical knowledge you need to thrive. Extensively updated in a new sixth edition, MEDIA NOW provides a comprehensive introduction to today's global media environment and ongoing developments in technology, culture, and critical theory that continue to transform this rapidly evolving industry and affect our daily lives.

DR. JOSEPH D. STRAUBHAAR is the Amon G. Carter Centennial Professor of Communications in the Radio-TV-Film Department and Latino Media Studies Director in the Moody College of Communication of the University of Texas at Austin. He was the Director of the Center for Brazilian Studies within the Lozano Long Institute for Latin American Studies. His most recent book is Latin American Television Industries (2013), with John Sinclair. He has published books, articles, and essays on international communications, global media, digital inclusion, international telecommunications, Brazilian television, Latin American media, comparative analyses of new television technologies, media flow and culture, and other topics appearing in a number of journals, edited books, and elsewhere. His primary teaching, research, and writing interests are in global media, international communication and cultural theory, the digital divide in the U.S. and other countries, and global television studies. He does research in Latin America, Asia, and Africa, and has taken student groups to Latin America and Asia. He has presented seminars abroad on media research, television programming strategies, and telecommunications privatization. He is on the editorial board for the Communications Theory, Media Industries, Chinese Journal of Communication, Journal of Latin American Communication Research, Studies in Latin American Popular Culture, Comunicacion e Cultura, and Revista Intercom. Visit Joe Straubhaar on the Web at http://rtf.utexas.edu/faculty/joe-straubhaar.

Robert Larose is a Full Professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies, and Media at Michigan State University and serves as director of the Media and Information Studies Ph.D. program. He won Outstanding Article Award for the year in the field of communication from the International Communication Association as well as the McQuail Award for the Best Article Advancing Communication Theory from Amsterdam School of Communication Research for his 2010 paper, "The Problem of Media Habits." Dr. Larose conducts research on the uses and effects of the Internet. He has published and presented numerous articles, essays, and book chapters on computer-mediated communication, social cognitive explanations of the Internet and its effects on behavior, understanding Internet usage, privacy, and more. In addition to his teaching and research, he is an avid watercolor painter and traveler. He holds a Ph.D. in Communication Theory and Research from the Annenberg School at the University of Southern California. Visit Robert LaRose on the Web at http://www.msu.edu/~larose.

Lucinda D. Davenport is the Director of the School of Journalism at Michigan State University. She recently served as the Associate Dean for Graduate Education in the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, among other administrative positions. She received MSU's Excellence in Teaching award and has earned national awards for her research, which focuses mainly on news media and innovative technology, media history, and journalistic ethics. She has professional experience in newspaper, television, public relations, advertising, and online news. Her credentials include a Ph.D. in Mass Communication from Ohio University, an M.A. in Journalism from the University of Iowa, and a B.A. double major in Journalism and Radio/TV/Film from Baylor University. Her master's thesis and doctoral dissertation were firsts in the country on computerized information services and online news. Visit Lucinda D. Davenport on the Web at http://jrn.msu.edu.