Media and Power addresses three key questions about the relationship between media and society.
*How much power do the media have?
*Who really controls the media?
*What is the relationship between media and power in society?
In this major new book, James Curran reviews the different answers which have been given, before advancing original interpretations in a series of ground-breaking essays.
This book also provides a guided tour of the major debates in media studies. What part did the media play in the making of modern society? How did 'new media' change society in the past? Will radical media research recover from its mid-life crisis? Is public service television the dying product of the nation in an age of globalization? Media and Power provides both a clear introduction to media research and an innovative analysis of media power.

Part 1 Media history; Chapter 1 Rival narratives of media history; Chapter 2 New media and power; Chapter 3 Capitalism and control of the press; Part 2 Media sociology; Chapter 4 New revisionism in media and cultural studies; Chapter 5 Renewing the radical tradition; Chapter 6 Globalization theory: the absent debate; Part 3 Media politics; Chapter 7 Globalization, social change and television reform; Chapter 8 Media and democracy: the third way;

James Curran is Professor of Communications at Goldsmiths College, University of London. He is the author or editor of over thirteen books about the media, including Power Without Responsibility: The Press and Broadcasting in Britain (with Jean Seaton, 6th edition, 2002), and Mass Media and Society (edited with Michael Gurevitch, 3rd edition, 2000)