Its Not the Media (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9780813341385)

Are school shootings the result of violent video games? Do sex-laden movies lead to promiscuity? Can Goth music create alienation? Repeatedly we are told the answer to these and similar questions is a resounding yes. But is this the right answer? It's Not the Media considers why media culture is a perennial target of both fascination and concern, and why we are so often encouraged to believe it is the root of many social problems. A look beyond the attention-grabbing headlines and political stumping reveals that fearing media feels right because media represents what we fear. And changes in media culture are easier to see than the complex economic, social, and political changes we have experienced over the past few decades. Digging deeper into the historical and societal trends of the past century and drawing from the most current social science research on the effects of media on children, Sternheimer presents a compelling argument that fear of social change, and what it means to be a kid in a today's media-saturated climate, lies at the heart of our media-bashing culture.

Author: Karen Sternheimer
ISBN-10: 0813341388
ISBN-13: 9780813341385
Publisher: Basic Books
Language: English
Published: 09/18/2003
Pages: 288
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 1.13lbs
Size: 9.22h x 6.20w x 1.03d

Review Citation(s):
Commonweal 02/27/2004 pg. 25
Choice 05/01/2004 pg. 1703
Christian Century 01/11/2005 pg. 22