Mass Communication in Canada

The 1990's have seen a monumental change in communication. Where once we had the telegraph and telephone, then the press, radio, movies and television, now we have computers, the Internet, and the nebulous concept of the information highway. Communication more than ever before seems to permeate all aspects of our lives. When it was originally published in 1987, Mass Communication in Canada was the first Canadian textbook on communication. The third edition - greatly expanded and thoroughly rewritten and reorganized - fully explores the new terrain of the mid-1990's, examining in detail both the rewards and the pitfalls of changing technologies and changing roles. This third edition contains not only new information and new illustrations but also, for the first time, inserts from the press and other media that bring issues to life and illustrate the nuts and bolts of media communication. This edition includes a new glossary of terms used in the study of communication. The text provides a clear and comprehensive introduction to a vast subject area including the interplay of media, culture and politics, law and policy making, the role of journalists, media content (from soap operas to the Bernardo/Homolka and O.J. Simpson trials), and the brave new world of advancing communications technology.

Jean McNulty, who formerly taught in the Mass Communications Programmes at York and the Communication Studies Department at Simon Fraser University, is senior advisor on communications policy in the Ontario Ministry of Economic Development, Trade and Tourism.