[ecrea] Merrin's Media Studies 2.0 now published

William Merrin’s Media Studies 2.0 offers an exploration of the digital 
revolution and its consequences for media and communication studies, 
arguing that the new era requires an upgraded discipline: a media 
studies 2.0.

The book traces the history of mass-media and computing, exploring their 
merger at the end of the twenty-century and the material, ecological, 
cultural and personal elements of this digital transformation. It 
considers the history of media and communication studies, arguing that 
the academic discipline was a product of the analogue, broadcast-era, 
emerging in the early twentieth century as a response to the success of 
newspapers, radio and cinema and reflecting that era back in its 
organisation, themes and concepts.

Digitalisation, however, takes us beyond this analogue era (media 
studies 1.0) into a new, post-broadcast era. Merrin argues that the 
digital-era demands an upgraded academic discipline: one reflecting the 
real media life of its students and teaching the key skills needed by 
the twenty-first century user. Media 2.0 demand a media studies 2.0.

This original and critical overview of contemporary developments within 
media studies is ideal for general students of media and communication, 
as well as those specifically studying new and digital media.


Contents:

Introduction: ‘Media Studies Gone Wrong’

1. Two Trajectories: The Rise of Mass Media and Computing

2. The Material Revolution: Becoming Digital

3. The Ecological Revolution: Convergence and Hybridity

4. The Cultural Revolution: The Post-Broadcast Era

5. The Me-Dia Revolution: The Second Reformation

6. Mass Media Studies: The Rise of Duck Science

7. The Emperor’s Old Clothes: Why Media Studies Didn’t Work

8. Upgrading the Discipline: Media Studies 2.0

9. The 21st Century Discipline: User Studies and the Productive Turn

10. Open-Sourcing Knowledge: Towards a University 2.0

11. Conclusion: ‘Shit Just Got Real’


Reviews:

"For thoughtful, clearly articulated reasons, and with a deep 
understanding of the history of media theories and practices, William 
Merrin makes a powerful argument that ‘media studies’ is in need of 
dramatic disruption. Media Studies 2.0 offers students and their tutors 
a fruitful vision of how to engage with today’s complex digital media 
systems." – David Gauntlett, Professor of Media and Communications, 
University of Westminster

"Merrin's Media Studies 2.0 brings media to life and is the provocation 
that will force a real rethink in the field by students and scholars 
alike, and rightly so. – Andrew Hoskins, Interdisciplinary Research 
Professor, University of Glasgow

"William Merrin’s Media Studies 2.0 provides a rethinking of the 
discipline of media studies by arguing that the digital transformation 
of older media forms and emergence of new media requires developing 
innovative forms of media studies that engage contemporary changes in 
media, social practices, and the shift to a digitized culture. Clear, 
provocative, and engaging, Merrin provides many keen insights into the 
new media matrix and makes clear the need to reconstruct media studies 
to respond our ever-evolving proliferation of new media and 
communications practices."- Douglas Kellner, George F. Kneller 
Philosophy of Education Chair, University of California, Los Angeles

"Merrin’s Media Studies 2.0 works hard to offer a new account of the 
history (and prehistory) of media studies and it raises some interesting 
historical, theoretical and technological issues along the way. It is a 
controversial book, but one which should prove to be a valuable read for 
undergraduate students. – Ben Taylor, Principal Lecturer in Media & 
Cultural Studies, Nottingham Trent University

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Media-Studies-2-0-William-Merrin/dp/0415638631/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

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