Publications and Media Books

If you want to get favorable media coverage, read this book. These two professors describe how to get a wider audience for your ideas. They have the credentials. In the back of the book there's a summary sheet on each one telling the extensive media coverage they're received, locally, regionally, and nationally.

They argue that one's academic credibility is enhanced by media coverage. But, in working with the media, they point out, a news source has to be ready when media people need them. It may not necessarily be at the convience of the interviewee. The first step in getting in the arena is to prepare a one page, media friendly fact sheet, listing your content areas and an overview of your background. Next, learn the players, who the gatekeepers are and "work the system."

Keep in mind, you're talking to the masses. Don't lecture. This isn't a university class. Keep it simple and easy to understand. Write for the general public. Op-ed columns, magazine articles, and newspaper features are ways of gaining initial media attention.

There's some very practical advice in this book. I've worked in both arenas, the media and academe. I can see how the two sometimes miscommunicate. This book goes a long way in breaking down those communication barriers.

Gives a good factual history of the India Telecoms Market. Good for anyone who is new into India Telecoms market to understand the history that leads to the current scene.

Of course the India Telecoms Market is also full of colourful characters and events. I hope someone will capture those in a book one day.

A very interesting book, written by many authors that have lots of experience in different fields/countries. It all comes down to the questions "how global or local shall we advertise?", "what are the success factors for global advertising?" and "how global are our consumers?". There is no black and white, but the book gives tons of examples, hints and suggestions about the different levels of grey, how they can lead to success or failure. Overall I can recommend the book, although it will not give you the simple answer you are looking for, simply because there is no simple answer.

This book is over a decade old, ancient in the world of communications, globalization, and academia. Its chapters are not widely cited nowadays and some of its theorizing can feel weighted by age. However, some of its insights remain relevant in the examination of the everchanging landscape of communications, and communications studies. Some areas covered here have unfortunately not become larger areas of study, but are worth considering in the scope of the field.

In this book, Downing uses examples of nations in the world to explain the ways that media communication has dealt with issues of politics in these nations at troubling times in history. By exposing media action taken during such events, Downing has offered an explanation of why we react to the world as it currently is today. Downing studies society in these countries and examines the media's focus on certain aspects of culture and the lack of focus on other issues that would be seen as important to any functioning nation. An example that Downing himself raises in the conclusion of his book states that economic policy seems to brush to the wayside and is not properly explained when dealing with media theory issues. It is easy to offer up simple explanations, but because of these simple conclusions, we are left without an accurate portrayal of how this effects the issues at hand and essentially left with only half of the picture. Using conceptual ideas in the abstract in place of concrete examples could be very difficult to follow. The book is easy to follow and Downing makes his concepts easy to grasp by giving several examples that are imbedded in world history. However, because his examples pertained directly with world history, a significant amount of the book focused on just that. This leaves the student trudging through what feels like a world history book and searching for the meaning of all of the information. Downing assumes that all parts of the media and information derive from issues that happen in the world. All types of media and communication theory will be subject to change as cultures change and redefine themselves. These cultural changes have no boundaries. As one theory emerges due to issues in one country, so will the theory cross lines in other countries to handle issues emerging there.

Shaun Moores' book doesn't give much new data. He didn't conduct any of his own research. His is primarily a theory book, but it has a great overview of previous authors' presentations of media analysis.
He begins by describing "Screen Theory" -- the result of a British journal, Screen, whose contributors analysed media using semiotics, Marxism and a French brand of psychoanalysis. They used this approach to see what kind of "impact" a given text had on its audience. Partly in response to Screen Theory, the Media Group at Birmingham University's Center for Contemporary Cultural Studies developed a concept of 'uses and gratifications' or Gratificationists Theory asking what people DO with media. David Morley was a big part of this movement with his 'Nationwide' Audience.
The CCCS writers contributed another concept to media studies -- that is the encoding and decoding of media texts. Using an idea from Bordieu, cultural capital, in determining how capable viewers are in decoding a given text.
Morley's book, Nationwide, focuses on the text-to-reader relationship, but later writing, including Morley's own Family Television, examines at how people incorporate media into their daily lives. The context of media, people's preferences and family power structures in whose preference takes precidence became the focus for later studies. Later still, unexamined subgroups become the focal point -- such as differences in genre preferences between the genders and children's abilities to decode media.
Moores then discussed the role of changing technologies in media and family life. The early availability of radio is used as an example. Early radios were considered "man's world" of 'gagets.' When only a headset would allow a person to listen, who could use the headset provided an access point to analysis of family power flows. Later, as radio technology developed and broadcasting allowed the whole family to listen together, the social dynamics surrounding the radio changed. This provides an interesting historical case study that could be applied to other media forms, such as computers or the Internet. Understanding or analysing availablity and the economic and cultural capital that fascilitates access to the Internet could contribute to clarity in the value of the Internet in the global village.
Finally, Moores unpacks the concept of understanding audiences by their demographics. Overall, a very useful piece of scholarship in the field of media sociology.

Reviewed by Brian Smith for Reader Views (9/06)

Have you ever tried something for the very first time and instantly fallen in love with it? I did, recently: I discovered the joy of books in CD-form. I'm not sure why the idea of listening to a book while driving had never appealed to me before. After all, for an obsessive multi-tasker like me, it's the ultimate two-four. (I'm not talking about a 24 of beer here; I'm talking about doing something that gets you two things for the price of one.) I talk for a living so listening to others do the talking while I'm driving is fun, and it gives me the opportunity to compare my style to theirs.


Lou Russell's CD, "Managing Stress on the Project Team," is a must-hear for project managers, team leaders and members on a project team. We all know that stress is a fact of life. We all know that people deal with stress differently. We all know that we can minimize the negative effect stress can have on our lives by exercising and dieting properly. Russell puts a nifty spin on stress. She talks about ways that companies, and project managers in particular, create stress. (There is some reverse psychology at work here.) What are the stressors that are contributing to stress in your company? What are you doing as a project manager or team member to create stress for other people on your team?

Russell understands that some stress in our lives can be beneficial. Without stress, we wouldn't be motivated to try something different. Russell contends that most companies are "vision-free" and are stuck in survivor mode, which tends to create stress. After all, how motivated are you going to be to go to work every morning saying to yourself, "what do I need to do today to survive?" Stress forces us to innovate and create - which helps energize us, and which translates into feeling less stressed because we're feeling good about ourselves (and feeling good about ourselves and having a sense of accomplishment is a great de-stressor).

Listening to Lou Russell on CD made me feel like I was part of the audience. I found it both entertaining and informative. The bonus for me was getting her take on how the different behavioural styles deal with stress. I am a behaviouralist by training and use DISC ®- based educational materials in all of my behavioural-focused learning programs and customized workshops. So I could relate to what Russell was saying when she talked about Dominant, Influence, Steadiness and Conscientious behavioural styles, and how these styles act and interact with people and react to stress differently.

The only downside to the CD was that it didn't include a booklet outlining the key points that Russell talks about during her presentation. I had to listen to the CD three or four times and take notes. That's not necessarily a bad thing, although you can't very well take notes while driving so it's helpful to have a written record of the points being made, for easy reference later.

If you haven't yet tried listening to a book, this is a great CD to start with. I promise it's the perfect 2-4 for today's fast-paced, ever-changing, helter-skelter world we work in.

Reviewed by Regan Windsor for Reader Views (3/07)

Managing a software development project can be extremely complex. Therefore, the planning stage of the project is critical. This involves taking a look at the project requirements and determining and clearly defining what the end deliverables look like. If the project is large, this may also involve breaking it into smaller subprojects or phases. John Rakos, in "Managing Successful Software Development Projects," covers some of the main components of project management and tips for being successful in these areas.

The audio lecture touches on tips around staffing, estimating, project plans, and determining resource commitments. It also covers project structure, documentation, and the importance of work breakdown structures for accurate planning and estimation.

John Rakos teaches MBA level courses in project management and has published two books on the subject. Rakos came to the presentation armed with a mass of information and, realizing it impossible to cover everything in 45 minutes, he allowed the lecture to flow according to questions and audience feedback. He also provided participants with a number of detailed handouts to which he referenced throughout the presentation. Therefore, the audio version did not provide as effective a presentation as the live version most likely would have. However, for the commitment required, the audio lecture still provides some helpful tips and reminders - and when it comes to managing a project every little bit helps!

This was assigned reading for my graduate level course in health communications. Admittedly it was a little hard to get into (not sure if it was because I had to read it or if it was a bit thick). I'm glad a got past the beginning introductory and descriptive stuff because the rest of the book was great! It offers a different perspective on health communications and really stimulated my thinking about how to use the media and how the media is used. I found the examples Wallack, et al., used were the most educational in understanding media advocacy and public health.

Professor Picard is well known in the media management arena. He has published extensively and presented at numerous conferences. This book does a good job of providing the basics of how media systems operate economically. It is well documented, easy to read, and full of charts and graphs that illustrate what is being described.

Terms are defined clearly throughout the book also. Contextually, this is a prerequisite to understanding media's influence on its audience as he explains in the first chapter. In terms of media literacy, many consumers would benefit by learning more about media production and distribution. This book helps them do so. Media are part of the economic system in which they're based.