Communicating unreality: modern media and the reconstruction of reality

Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

Abstract

From interactive, real-time Internet broadcasts to video game-like images of smart bombs on television, our perception of reality is shaped by the mass media. Willing or not, we are a mass mediated society, and the electronic media, especially television and computer-mediated-communication, plays a vital role in our daily lives. Communicating Unreality reviews the images and meanings of our mass-mediated world. With careful attention to the integration of news and entertainment, fact and fiction, and event and story, author Gabriel Weimann examines our symbolic environment, where reality and fiction are almost inseparable. Through discussion of mass-mediated images of people, cultures, war, love, sex, death, community, and identity, we learn that there often exists a large gap between reality and reconstruction of'realities'as communicated by the mass media. This comprehensive and entertaining textbook can breathe life into the standard mass communication course. Students, professors, and everyone interested in the influence of the media will enjoy this book.
Original languageEnglish
Place of PublicationLos Angeles
PublisherSage Publications
Number of pages440
ISBN (Electronic)9781452233321
ISBN (Print)0761919856, 9780761919865
StatePublished - 2000

Bibliographical note

Also published in Korean by Communication Books, Seoul, Korea, 2003

Keywords

  • Reality

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