Libros

Social media is having a profound, but not yet fully understood impact on public relations. In the 24/7 world of perpetually connected publics, will public relations function as a dark art that spins (or tweets) self-interested variations of the truth for credulous audiences? Or does the full glare of the internet and the increasing expectations of powerful publics motivate it to more honestly engage to serve the public interest?

The purpose of this book is to examine the role of PR by exploring the myriad ways that social media is reshaping its conceptualization, strategies, and tactics. In particular, it explores the dichotomies of fake and authentic, powerless and powerful, meaningless and meaningful. It exposes transgressions committed by practitioners—the paucity of digital literacy, the lack of understanding of the norms of social media, naivety about corporate identity risks, and the overarching emphasis on spin over authentic engagement. But it also shows the power that closely networked social media users have to insert information and opinion into discussions and force "false PR friends" to be less so.

This timely, challenging, and fascinating book will be of interest to all students, researchers, and practitioners in Public Relations, Media, and Communication Studies.

Originally published in 1992. This book captures the dynamic confluence of feminist and communication scholarship by setting out some of the provocative questions that mark this intersection. Several of the essays in the book are theoretical in nature, and consider the changing complexion of the field in view of this cross-fertilization; other contributors tackle those individual forms of communication that pose certain challenges for women such as verbal harassment and pornography. The final section of the book, more ethnographic in nature, presents a number of case studies, written primarily by women of colour, which recount the various ways that communication forms such as television, journalism and spoken discourse construct and perpetuate racist and sexist stereotypes.

Over the past twenty years, presidential candidates have developed an entertainment talk show strategy in which they routinely chat with the likes of Oprah Winfrey, David Letterman, and Jon Stewart. In fact, between 1992 and 2112, there have been more than 200 candidate interviews on daytime and late night talk shows with nearly every presidential candidate—from long shot primary contender to major party nominee—hitting the talk show circuit at some point during the campaign.

This book explores the development of the entertainment talk show strategy and assesses its impact on presidential campaigns. The chapters mix detailed narrative with extensive empirical data on audiences, content, viewer reaction, and press coverage to explain why candidates have embraced this strategy and the conditions under which these interviews are most likely to meet their expectations. The book also explores how these interviews can enhance campaigns by connecting a critical segment of the voting population with candidates who provide useful political information in a casual setting. Talk Show Campaigns shows that this is more than a gimmick—it’s a key part of how candidates communicate with voters, which reveals a lot about how campaigns have changed over the past two decades.

The roles that media play in the lives of children and adolescents, as well as their potential implications for their cognitive, emotional, social and behavioral development, have attracted growing research attention in a variety of disciplines.

The Routledge International Handbook of Children, Adolescents and Media analyses a broad range of complementary areas of study, including children as media consumers, children as active participants in media making, and representations of children in the media. The handbook presents a collection that spans a variety of disciplines including developmental psychology, media studies, public health, education, feminist studies and the sociology of childhood. Essays provide a unique intellectual mapping of current knowledge, exploring the relationship of children and media in local, national, and global contexts.

Divided into five parts, each with an introduction explaining the themes and topics covered, the handbook features 57 new contributions from 71 leading academics from 38 countries. Chapters consider vital questions by analyzing texts, audience, and institutions, including:

the role of policy and parenting in regulating media for children

the relationships between children’s’ on-line and off-line social networks

children’s strategies of resistance to persuasive messages in advertising

media and the construction of gender and ethnic identities

The Handbook’s interdisciplinary approach and comprehensive, international scope make it an authoritative, state of the art guide to the nascent field of Children’s Media Studies. It will be indispensable for media scholars and professionals, policy makers, educators, and parents.