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"Key Themes in Media Theory is wonderfully wide-ranging and deservedly destined to become a key text for students of Media Studies." Professor John Storey, University of Sunderland, UK "The very best text books are not just summaries of complex ideas for a student audience or an introduction to a critical canon; the very best add something to the canon they reflect upon, and Dan Laughey’s Key Themes in Media Theory is one such book. [It] is not a means to an end, as many such books can be. Rather it is a motivational primer, and one that should send both students and teachers heading to the library toread the theorists presented here again, for the first time." Richard Berger, Art, Design, Media; The Higher Education Academy, UK What is media theory? How do media affect our actions, opinions and beliefs? In what ways do media serve powerful political and economic interests? Is media consumerism unhealthy or is it empowering? Key Themes in Media Theory provides a thorough and critical introduction to the key theories of media studies. It is unique in bringing together different schools of media theory into a single, comprehensive text, examining in depth the ideas of key media theorists such as Lasswell, McLuhan, Hall, Williams, Barthes, Adorno, Baudrillard and Bourdieu. Using up-to-date case studies the book embraces media in their everyday cultural forms – music, internet, film, television, radio, newspapers and magazines – to enable a clearer view of the ‘big picture’ of media theory. In ten succinct chapters Dan Laughey discusses a broad range of themes, issues and perspectives that inform our contemporary understanding of media production and consumption. These include: Behaviourism and media effects Feminist media theory Postmodernity and information society Political economy Media consumerism With images and diagrams to illustrate chapter themes, examples that apply media theory to media practice, recommended reading at the end of every chapter, and a useful glossary of key terms, this book is the definitive guide to understanding media theory.

With TV, internet, phone, radio, movies, music, magazines, and newspapers—just to name a few—how does one begin to understand today’s all-embracing media culture? In this book, all the key issues and debates in media studies are covered in a lively and accessible style, including the main features of global media corporations and approaches to the study of media effects, consumer power, celebrity, journalism, and new media. From surveillance to simulation, genre to gender, political economy to the postmodern, the reader will be guided through a matrix of intellectual endeavor on all media matters. Whether for a student, researcher, or practitioner, this handy reference guide offers a journey through a complex but fascinating subject.

Music and Youth Culture offers a groundbreaking account of how music interacts with young people's everyday lives. Drawing on interviews with and observations of youth groups together with archival research, it explores young people's enactment of music tastes and performances, and how these are articulated through narratives and literacies. An extensive review of the field reveals an unhealthy emphasis on committed, fanatical, spectacular youth music cultures such as rock or punk. On the contrary, this book argues that ideas about youth subcultures and club cultures no longer apply to today's young generation. Rather, archival findings show that the music and dance cultures of youth in 1930s and 1940s Britain share more in common with youth today than the countercultures and subcultures of the 1960s and 1970s. By focusing on the relationship between music and social interactions, the book addresses questions that are scarcely considered by studies stuck in the youth cultural worlds of subcultures, club cultures and post-subcultures: What are the main influences on young people's music tastes? How do young people use music to express identities and emotions? To what extent can today's youth and their music seem radical and progressive? And how is the 'special relationship' between music and youth culture played out in everyday leisure, education and work places?

A retired policeman takes a fall. A suspected sex attacker goes AWOL. His accuser is missing too. As violence and drug spiking rocket, the only legal brothel in England suffers the public's wrath and a motley crew of zealots campaign to shut it down. D.I. Carl Sant has his work cut out keeping the peace, and that's before a pair of corpses get dumped in a frosty field and the spring turns very chilly indeed. Sant and his fellow detectives go on the hunt for muggers, pimps, lost girls and ruthless killers. Business as usual for the police and their troubled lot. But is Inspector Sant still up to the job? A riveting crime thriller full of twists and turns, 'Chloe - Prime Victim' is the third book in Dan Laughey's Carl Sant Murder Mysteries series.

All three books in 'Carl Sant Murder Mysteries', a series of crime fiction by Dan Laughey, now in one volume! Chloe - Lost Girl: A missing student. A gunned-down detective. A woman in fear for her life. All three are connected by something. Detective Inspector Carl Sant gets on the case, but what links the disappearance of an university student, the death of an off-duty police sergeant and a school professor reluctant to help them solve the case? Racing against time, D.I. Carl Sant must find out what's behind the mysterious events - before bodies start piling up. Chloe - Never Forget: A series of cold-case enquiries leads D.I. Sant and his colleagues to investigate a botched assassination plan. The deeper they dig into the case, the more secrets are revealed, including shocking connections to the infamous National Front. Meanwhile, the memory of former P.C. Tanner, survivor of the 1984 shooting, is beginning to recover. D.I. Carl Sant must find out who is behind it all - before his superiors lose their rag and more lives are lost. Chloe - Prime Victim: D.I. Carl Sant has his work cut out keeping the peace, and that’s before a pair of corpses get dumped in a frosty field and the spring turns very chilly indeed. Sant and his fellow detectives go on the hunt for muggers, pimps, lost girls and ruthless killers - business as usual for the police and their troubled lot. But is Inspector Sant still up to the job?

A missing student. A gunned-down detective. A woman in fear for her life. All three are connected. Detective Inspector Carl Sant and his team get on the case. But what links the disappearance of a university student, the death of an off-duty police sergeant, and a professor reluctant to help them solve the case? Their only clue is a sequence of numbers, etched on a misty window. Soon, both the past and the present are on a collision course with the very heart of Sant's profession. Racing against time, D.I. Sant must find out what's behind the mysterious events - before the bodies start piling up.