Media and communications are changing rapidly and their transformation is having a momentous impact on the abilities of individuals to communicate and how society communicates within itself. Such changes are important because media convey ideas, opinions, information, social values, experiences, and entertainment and those are influenced by social, economic, and political forces in society. The changing nature of communication is especially important because media and communication platforms are increasingly the primary location in which contemporary identity, culture, and values and norms are manifest and contested.
The book was motivated by the STI experts meeting, “What Society Needs from Media in the Age of Digital Communication”, held at Balliol College, Oxford, in October, 2013, under the academic leadership of Robert Picard, who serves as editor. The meeting brought together interdisciplinary scholars and intellectuals to consider the issues based on the participants’ perspectives from research their fields and observations of contemporary developments. It is by nature normative, informed by the research and knowledge derived from the authors’ fields. They hope that it will spark deeper thinking and discussion of the roles of media in modern society and how society might work to ensure those needs are met.
You can buy the book at Media XXI.
