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Exploring Mass Communication
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Exploring Mass Communication
Connecting with the World of Media

First Edition


November 2023 | 384 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Vincent F. Filak named next editor for Journalism and Mass Communication Educator

Exploring Mass Communication
examines the many paths that led to our digital media world and how digital media both connects and disconnects us. While providing the need-to-know concepts, history, and theories, Vincent F. Filak urges students to critically think about how media affects them, and how they can best engage with media to improve their everyday lives. Through Filak's conversational and personable style, the text interweaves inclusivity and diversity throughout, presenting a modern and fresh approach that today’s students will connect with.
 
Part I: Understanding Today's Media World
 
Chapter 1: Media Basics: Models and Theories
 
Chapter 2: Media Audiences and Uses
 
Chapter 3: Media Systems and Corporate Ownership
 
Part II: Traditional Media
 
Chapter 4: Books: The Original Mass Medium
 
Chapter 5: Print Journalism: Newspapers and Magazines
 
Chapter 6: Radio and Other Audio Formats
 
Chapter 7: Movies
 
Chapter 8: Television
 
Part III: Digital Media
 
Chapter 9: The All-Consuming Internet
 
Chapter 10: Social Media
 
Chapter 11: Videogames and Gaming as Media
 
Part IV: Strategic Media
 
Chapter 12: Public Relations and Persuasion
 
Chapter 13: Advertising and Marketing
 
Part V: Rules and Values
 
Chapter 14: Media and the Law
 
Chapter 15: Ethics: What We Value
 
Glossary
 
Notes
 
Index

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site

For additional information, custom options, or to request a personalized walkthrough of these resources, please contact your sales representative.

Get additional teaching aids for use in your course:

  • Infographic: 5 Reasons You Should Study Mass Communication
  • Podcast: Current Trends Shaping the Field of Mass Communication
  • Author Blog: Dynamics of Writing
LMS cartridge included with this title for use in Blackboard, Canvas, Brightspace by Desire2Learn (D2L), and Moodle

The LMS cartridge makes it easy to import this title’s instructor resources into your learning management system (LMS). These resources include:
  • Test banks
  • Editable chapter-specific PowerPoint® slides
  • Sample course syllabi
  • Lecture notes
  • All tables and figures from the textbook
Don’t use an LMS platform?

You can still access the online resources for this title via the password-protected Instructor Resource Site.

Filak's Exploring Mass Communication is current and relevant, as well as pedagogically significant. The style is helpful to educators and students alike. Not as verbose as other textbooks on the topic, he puts the "less is more" strategy in place without sacrificing quality.

Melanie Wilderman
University of Oklahoma

It's very diverse and inclusive in each chapter with the achievements and contributions by individuals and groups usually overlooked by other media textbooks. It has a mix of examples, questions, and tables that help the students grasp the content.

Judith G. Curtis
University of North Carolina at Pembroke

Exploring Mass Communication is a modern read based upon the history and evolution of human communication across multiple genres. It adeptly blends the origination of communication methods with current and breaking technologies and trends. The text is an easy read for students, making it both understandable and relatable to students of various levels.

Amber Chiang
California State University, Bakersfield

This feels like the book on mass media and communication that I've been waiting for. It incorporates a little bit of everything, ranging from theory to practice; it covers all of the media industries, from old to new; and it even delves into the related industries of advertising and PR, while also exploring both law and ethics as separate concepts. I'm very excited about this text and would not hesitate to adopt it--or recommend it.

Ryan S. Eanes
Temple University

Filak accessibly presents mass communication using current examples that easily relate to students. The book's more casual language will help novice students connect to academic concepts and disciplinary knowledge.

Wendy Maxian
Xavier University

Filak's not afraid to weave the day's current events into the ever-evolving study and practice of mass communication. His timelines provide a wonderful historical perspective beyond listing names and dates, and he raises and discusses fundamental points that all media literate consumers need to hear to understand the power and scope of mass communication has on everyone who calls Earth home.

Geoff Carr
North Idaho College

Filak's use of up-to-date examples and a conversational tone make the text relevant and relatable to students.

Timothy Molina
Northwest Vista College

The book is well written, and approaches the material in an accessible, relatable fashion. The tone is appropriate and engaging for students, and it does an excellent job creating a relationship between "real world" examples and experiences to theoretical concepts and historical events.

Karyn Beyer
City College of San Francisco

Exploring Mass Communication presents a strong introduction to mass communication through an emphasis on understanding the history, study, and literacy around media as a part of our society and everyday lives.

Stephen Swanson
McLennan Community College

I really appreciate the clear and well-written text as well as the baked-in media literacy approach. This book really is almost everything I've been looking for.

One element that I feel could be expanded upon is more fleshing out of the various models/theories of mass media effects.

Professor Gabe Otteson
Communications, University of North Texas Dallas
November 5, 2024