Brian L. Ott - Critical Media Studies: An Introduction

1. The Fourth Persona

1. Chapter 1
2. Chapter 2
3. Chapter 3
4. Chapter 4
5. Chapter 5
6. Chapter 7
7. Chapter 11
8. Chapter 13

1. Chapter 2
2. Chapter 3
3. Chapter 5
4. Chapter 6
5. Chapter 7
6. Chapter 8
7. Chapter 9
8. Chapter 10
9. Chapter 12
10. Chapter 13

ELINOR CHRISTOPHER LIGHT

Brian L. Ott (left) is a scholar and public intellectual who has been studying rhetoric, media, and their intersection for more than 20 years. He has authored numerous books and essays on the changing nature of communication in the digital era, and he has been interviewed by The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, and Politico. His opeds have appeared in outlets such as USA Today, Newsweek, The Hill, and Salon. He currently serves as Professor of Media and Communication and Director of the TTU Press at Texas Tech University.

Robert L. Mack (right) is an Honors Faculty Fellow at Barrett, the Honors College at Arizona State Universitynamed the gold standard of honors institutions by The New York Times. His research fuses approaches in rhetoric, psychoanalysis, and media studies in order to understand the management of appeal in popular culture. His work has appeared in The Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts, The Journal of Communication and Religion, and Quarterly Review of Film and Video.

Third Edition

Brian L. Ott and
Robert L. Mack

This third edition first published 2020
2020 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

Edition History
John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1e, 2010 and 2e, 2013)

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Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data

Names: Ott, Brian L., author. | Mack, Robert L., 1985 author.
Title: Critical media studies : an introduction / Brian L. Ott, Robert L. Mack.
Description: Third edition. | Hoboken, NJ : John Wiley & Sons, Inc., [2019] | Previous edition: Oxford: Wiley Blackwell, 2014. | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2019031010 (print) | LCCN 2019031011 (ebook) | ISBN 9781119406129 (paperback) | ISBN 9781119406273 (adobe pdf) | ISBN 9781119406280 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Mass media.
Classification: LCC P90 .O88 2019 (print) | LCC P90 (ebook) | DDC 302.23dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019031010
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2019031011

Cover Design: Wiley
Cover Image: dowell/Getty Images

To our millions of readers, welcome to the third edition of Critical Media Studies: An Introduction! We want to begin by thanking all of you for the seemingly endless submission of fan letters. We apologize that we are not able to respond to every letter, but given their sheer number, it is simply not feasible. That is what we would be saying if this was a New York Times bestselling book. But, alas, it is a college textbook. So, perhaps it would be more appropriate for us to simply say, Hey, Ian, Cara, and crazy Uncle Jeb, thanks for reading our book. Now, please stop emailing us fake negative reviews from Amazon. Truth be told, its hard to know how many people have actually read the book. By hard, we mean wed have to email our publisher and ask for sales data, and that just seems like a lot of work. So, instead, were just going to assume that the book is a big hit, especially in Wakanda (hello, fellow fans of Black Panther!).

When we began work on the first edition of the book nearly 10 years ago, it was tentatively titled Critical Media Studies: An Interstellar Guide to Fabulous Dinner Conversation. In the ensuing time, the book has undergone numerous changes, not least of which was a rethinking of its title. Apparently, some (who shall remain nameless, Elizabeth Swayze!) thought that the reference to dinner conversation might be confusing and misleading. We remain convinced, however, that it would have been an effective way to target the fans of foodthemed reality TV shows a crucial demographic that has, in our opinion, been ignored by academic publishers for far too long (hello, fellow fans of Hells Kitchen!). Although we harbor no hard feelings about this change, we nevertheless hope that readers will discuss the book over dinner (or any meallike activity, including tea time: hello, British readers!) and that the ensuing conversation will be fabulous.

Another significant development has been the books cover art. Initially, we wanted an image of two squirrels doing it a metaphor, of course, for the frenzied but emotionally hollow exchange that occurs between media producers and consumers. But, as with the title, more sensible heads prevailed, resulting in the equally enticing image of Tokyo at night. We, nevertheless, would like to thank our friend, Greg, for bravely approaching said squirrels, snapping a picture, and almost losing a finger in the process (hello and apologies, Greg!). Despite our disappointment that the squirrelonsquirrel image was not selected, we believe that the existing cover is equally appropriate to the themes raised in the book. The rain symbolizes the steady stream of media messages that relentlessly pour down upon us each day. The unfamiliar signs of the cityscape invite readers to wonder about their meanings, just as