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Introduct on | i
allow issues to go unnoticed, thereby avoiding needed public debate. The Video
News Release, for example, may not be a household phrase, but we argue that it
should be; similarly, other entries examine noncorporate media. Since the media
industry enjoys such a considerable monopoly on many citizens’ attention, ev-
eryday discussions are often informed and framed by the news and entertain-
ment content brought to their attention by media companies. In this collection,
we hope not only to examine the agendas set by mainstream media, but also
to unearth hot-button issues that corporate media do not discuss with enough
frequency. In addition, considering the aesthetic influences, motivations, and
struggles of alternative media and independent cultural productions, allows us
to see the dominant media in new and revealing ways. As Marshall McLuhan
noted, just as fishes do not notice the existence of water till out of it, the media
flows all around each one of us, our habitat and our lived environment, and thus
this collection will at times focus on media issues that have become as invisible
to us as water is to fish.
While it is common to talk of “the media” as if it were a monolithic entity,
and while corporate collusion sometimes makes it appear uniform and singular,
of course there is no such entity called “the media.” Instead, the media is a col-
lection of programs, films, songs, stars, and games from varying sources, which
are consumed by varying citizens and consumers, often in varying ways. Media
are regulated differently and are produced differently. Thus, “the media” is a
huge amalgam of variation and difference, rendering it hard if not impossible to
generalize about “the media” as a whole. We intend the entries in these two vol-
umes to tackle different zones of the media universe, thereby not only present-
ing disagreements and controversies within any given entry, but also producing
disagreement between different entries. With audiences, programs, producers,
regulators, citizens, artists, and institutions all active agents in the production
of “the media,” one will find a different picture of the media universe depending
upon which agent(s) one focuses on, as will be evident across the many entries
in these two volumes.
Each entry includes an opening that explains a key controversy or battle-
ground topic, the entry proper, and a list of further readings. The latter, in
conjunction with the general bibliography at the end of Volume 2, should help
readers find more discussion of the issue at hand. We also encourage readers
to follow the cross-references throughout, as inevitably many issues build on
the shoulders of others, and some entries are illuminated further by yet other
entries. The cross-references should offer readers an Ariadne’s thread through
the collection.
Finally, as editors, we must offer thanks to the many individuals who have
helped us put this collection together, namely our fantastic contributors and
Daniel Harmon at Greenwood Press. We would also like to thank Guy Robinson
and Monica Grant for assistance and support: juggling so many entries taxes the
brain, and we thank them for helping us to keep our gray matter in order.
Robin Andersen and Jonathan Gray, August 2007