"International Media Research offers a rigorous and critical review of key approaches and concerns that have recently defined the field of media research. In this clearly argued collection of essays, the contributors analyze and reflect upon dominant themes and debates that have made media research
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an increasingly important element of cultural theory. The volume begins with a critical evaluation of the work of the leading media scholar, Elihu Katz, and continues with an exploration of the relationship between media studies and adjacent disciplines: cultural studies and gender and sexuality. Contributors drawn from Britain, America, Canada and Belgium consider the relationships between media research and media policy in different national and international contexts. Focusing on the European Union, East-Central Europe, North America and Latin America, chapters assess the impact of social, economic and political circumstances on policy debates and the shaping of the research agenda. The final chapter adopts a transatlantic perspective in tracing and analysing the history of the media's role in reporting war." (Publisher description)
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"Fox has analysed the patterns of foreign and domestic conflict and accommodation that followed the creation and development of the broadcasting industries in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. The book is well organised and Fox's style is compelling. Her work o
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ffers a fresh perspective for understanding broadcasting in Latin America. She identifies two clear trends in the countries studied. In those under non-democratic regimes, the media developed in a highly monopolistic fashion, while in those under democratic regimes, commerical broadcasting was subject to regulation in the public interest and grew within a more competitive context. Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela are cases where the media developed in a highly monopolisitc fashion because there was domestic authoritarian rule. In the cases of Peru and Argentina, there was no accommodation between the media and the state, therefore the media, although commercially operated, failed to develop a monopolistic structure. Likewise, in Colombia the state parcelled out the media among different forces, while in Chile the television channels were placed under the administration of universities. In Uruguay, there was competition among different media groups, none of which was directly linked to the state. The book is able to present an alternative to theories of international relations - which usually minimise differences among countries and overplay economic interests - and focus on the domestic developments that took place within each individual nation." (Media Development, issue 1998-1)
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