‘Thussu brings to this project the passion for news of a socially committed former journalist, the political economy of his international relations education and a formidable assembly of global detail, examining the recent explosion of ′infotainment′.’
– John Downing, Southern Illinois University
‘Thussu′s account of war as infotainment, the Bollywoodization of news and the emergence of a global infotainment sphere is as compelling as it is alarming. This is a significant and essential book for anyone interested in exploring the connections between news journalism, informed citizenship and democracy.’
– Bob Franklin, The Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies
Richly detailed and empirically grounded, this first book-length study of infotainment and its globalization by a leading scholar of global communication, offers a comprehensive and critical analysis of this emerging phenomenon. Going beyond – both geographically and theoretically – the ′dumbing down′ discourse, largely confined to the Anglo-American media, the book argues that infotainment may have an important ideological role, a diversion in which ′soft news′ masks the hard realities of neo-liberal imperialism.
Chapters include a historical appraisal of infotainment; the infrastructure for its globalization as well as coverage of recent wars on television news as high-tech infotainment and the growing synergies between Hollywood and Bollywood-originated infotainment. A ′global infotainment sphere′ is emerging, the book argues, within which competing versions of news – from 24/7 news networks to bloggers – coexist. Accessible, engagingly written and robustly argued, the book combines analyses of theoretical debates on infotainment with extensive and up-to-date comparative data.
Table of Content
Introduction
The evolution of Infotainment
The infrastructure for global infotainment
Global circulation of 24/7 infotainment
Indian infotainment
the Bollywoodization of TV news
War as infotainment
Infotainment and ′neo-liberal imperialism′
A global infotainment sphere?
About the author
Daya Kishan Thussu is Professor of International Communication and Co-Director of India Media Centre at the University of Westminster in London. A Ph D in International Relations from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, he is the founder and Managing Editor of Global Media and Communication, a journal published by SAGE. He has authored and edited as many as 17 books. Among his key publications are: Mapping BRICS Media (co-edited with Kaarle Nordenstreng, 2015); Media and Terrorism: Global Perspectives (co-edited with Des Freedman, 2012); Internationalizing Media Studies (2009); News as Entertainment: The Rise of Global Infotainment (2007); Media on the Move: Global Flow and Contra-Flow (2007); International Communication: Continuity and Change, third edition (forthcoming); and Electronic Empires: Global Media and Local Resistance (1998). In 2014, he was honored with a “Distinguished Scholar Award” by the International Studies Association, a first for a non-Western scholar in the field of International Communication.
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