Beyond Media: New Approaches to Mass Communication

This revised and enlarged edition provides a fresh look at mass communication theory and the institutions of mass communication. Beyond Media broadens and redefines the concept of mass communication to include all institutions which contribute to the mass production and distribution of information within society, including television, film, newspapers, books and magazines, as well as museums, libraries, popular art, politics, theater, religion and architecture.

The book begins with a new preface examining the role of mass communication and related institutions in the Information Age. It is followed by an extensive chapter tracing the development of the traditional concept of mass communication, with a dialogue between Lee Thayer and Leslie Moeller, two prominent scholars in the field. A summary of important theories and research findings in the field completes this section.

Eight chapters follow which examine other major mass media institutions. Key figures from each field, Victor Danilov on museums, David Davidson on libraries, Paola Soleri on architecture, Roberta Mueller on art, Richard Rudman on politics, James Hitchcock on the church, Vincent Sardi on restaurants, and Ken Weissman and Maxine Fox on theater, discuss the roles of their respective institutions in the mass production and distribution of information.