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oapen-20.500.12657-587882022-10-15T03:21:22Z Why Current Affairs Needs Social Theory Stones, Rob Sociology Politics and government Media studies Social and political philosophy bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JH Sociology & anthropology::JHB Sociology::JHBA Social theory bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JF Society & culture: general::JFD Media studies bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JH Sociology & anthropology::JHB Sociology bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JP Politics & government This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Television news is frequently disparaged by thoughtful commentators for its preoccupation with drama and spectacle at the expense of serious, in-depth, engagement with the critical issues it covers. Whilst insisting these charges possess more than a small dose of truth, Rob Stones argues for more emphasis to be placed on strengthening the capacities of audiences. Drawing from major traditions in social thought, and on academic media analysis, Stones provides the conceptual tools for audiences to bring greater sophistication to their interpretations, developing their capacity to think across items and genres. A detailed account of an episode of the Danish political drama, Borgen, reveals the extent to which its viewers already deploy similar concepts and skills in order to follow its storylines. Stones shows how audiences can refine these skills further and demonstrates their value with respect to a wide range of current affairs texts, including: Israeli settlers on the West Bank; the Rwandan genocide; the Egyptian ‘revolution’; the Obama administration’s immigration reform bill; the bases of Germany’s economic success; the conflict between ‘red shirts’ and ‘yellow shirts’ in Thailand; China’s diplomatic relations with Burma; and scandals of mistreatment within the UK and Swedish healthcare systems. The book shows that everyone’s understanding of current affairs can be significantly enhanced by social theory. It will be relevant to students of sociology, politics, media studies and journalism at all levels. 2022-10-14T14:53:49Z 2022-10-14T14:53:49Z 2015 book ONIX_20221014_9781780931807_119 9781780931807 9781780931791 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/58788 eng application/pdf n/a 9781780931807.pdf Bloomsbury Academic Bloomsbury Academic 10.5040/9781472545282 10.5040/9781472545282 066d8288-86e4-4745-ad2c-4fa54a6b9b7b 9781780931807 9781780931791 Bloomsbury Academic 224 London open access
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This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com. Television news is frequently disparaged by thoughtful commentators for its preoccupation with drama and spectacle at the expense of serious, in-depth, engagement with the critical issues it covers. Whilst insisting these charges possess more than a small dose of truth, Rob Stones argues for more emphasis to be placed on strengthening the capacities of audiences. Drawing from major traditions in social thought, and on academic media analysis, Stones provides the conceptual tools for audiences to bring greater sophistication to their interpretations, developing their capacity to think across items and genres. A detailed account of an episode of the Danish political drama, Borgen, reveals the extent to which its viewers already deploy similar concepts and skills in order to follow its storylines. Stones shows how audiences can refine these skills further and demonstrates their value with respect to a wide range of current affairs texts, including: Israeli settlers on the West Bank; the Rwandan genocide; the Egyptian ‘revolution’; the Obama administration’s immigration reform bill; the bases of Germany’s economic success; the conflict between ‘red shirts’ and ‘yellow shirts’ in Thailand; China’s diplomatic relations with Burma; and scandals of mistreatment within the UK and Swedish healthcare systems. The book shows that everyone’s understanding of current affairs can be significantly enhanced by social theory. It will be relevant to students of sociology, politics, media studies and journalism at all levels.
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