Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication

By Richard Campbell, Christopher R. Martin, and Bettina G. Fabos

• Reviews are somewhat superfluous in light of the fact that this is a textbook and thus you probably don't have any choice about buying it, as was the case with me. Nonetheless, as textbooks go, I'd have to say I enjoyed this one quite a bit more than most.
  
  It's remarkably up-to-date, which is vital in media studies (there will undoubtedly be a 6th edition very soon), and it's a very fast and engaging read. The author doesn't always keep his liberal agenda well hidden, but that is perhaps forgivable in an age of increasingly conservative media. On the whole, this stands a better chance than most of being a textbook that you actually keep rather than trying to cash in as soon as the course is over. I kept mine.