Journalism, Media Studies & Communications Textbooks

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Technology, Media Literacy, and the Human Subject: A Posthuman Approach

Contributor: Lewis

Publisher: Open Book Publishers

License: CC BY

What does it mean to be media literate in today’s world? How are we transformed by the many media infrastructures around us? We are immersed in a world mediated by information and communication technologies (ICTs). From hardware like smartphones, smartwatches, and home assistants to software like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat, our lives have become a complex, interconnected network of relations. Scholarship on media literacy has tended to focus on developing the skills to access, analyze, evaluate, and create media messages without considering or weighing the impact of the technological medium—how it enables and constrains both messages and media users. Additionally, there is often little attention paid to the broader context of interrelations which affect our engagement with media technologies. This book addresses these issues by providing a transdisciplinary method that allows for both practical and theoretical analyses of media investigations. Informed by postphenomenology, media ecology, philosophical posthumanism, and complexity theory the author proposes both a framework and a pragmatic instrument for understanding the multiplicity of relations that all contribute to how we affect—and are affected by—our relations with media technology. The author argues persuasively that the increased awareness provided by this posthuman approach affords us a greater chance for reclaiming some of our agency and provides a sound foundation upon which we can then judge our media relations. This book will be an indispensable tool for educators in media literacy and media studies, as well as academics in philosophy of technology, media and communication studies, and the post-humanities.

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Introduction to Narrative Journalism

Contributor: Wielechowski

Publisher: UM-Dearborn Open Education

License: CC BY-NC

This textbook was created for beginning narrative journalists exploring the craft. It is inspired by the Narrative Journalism course (JASS/COMP/ENGL 310) at the University of Michigan-Dearborn, and it is intended to be used as a guide and handbook. It is structured around the five elements of fiction, and provides both instruction and student examples of various narrative journalism projects.

(1 review)

Technical and Professional Writing Genres: A Study in Theory and Practice

Contributors: Howerton, Beilfuss, Peterson, Bettes, and Rieger

Publisher: Oklahoma State University

License: CC BY-NC-SA

This modern, open-source guide to technical and professional writing explores workplace composition through theoretical and practical applications. Discussions of multiple writing genres will assist you in understanding how to apply for jobs, how to compose clear and precise business communications once the job has been acquired, and how to create documents -- such as proposals and reports -- that will be instrumental in helping to advance your career.

(1 review)

Advanced Public Speaking

Contributor: Meade

Publisher: University of Arkansas

License: CC BY

This advanced public speaking textbook is designed to encourage you as a speaker and to help you sharpen your skills. It is written to feel like you are sitting with a trusted mentor over coffee as you receive practical advice on speaking. Grow in confidence, unleash your personal power and find your unique style as you learn to take your speaking to the next level--polished and professional.

(5 reviews)

Small Group Communication: Forming & Sustaining Teams

Contributors: Linabary and Castro

Publisher: Jasmine R. Linabary

License: CC BY-NC-SA

Small Group Communication: Forming & Sustaining Teams is an interdisciplinary textbook focused on communication in groups and teams. This textbook aims to provide students with theories, concepts, and skills they can put into practice to form and sustain successful groups across a variety of contexts.

(3 reviews)

Humans R Social Media Open Textbook - Edition Winter 2022

Contributor: Daly

Publisher: The University of Arizona

License: CC BY

Social media and humans exist in a world of mutual influence, and humans play central roles in how this influence is mediated and transferred. Originally created by University of Arizona Information scholar Diana Daly, this Winter 2022 Edition of the book Humans R Social Media uses plain language, audio and video, embedded questions and active learning activities, and contributions by students to help readers actively understand how we as humans shape social media, and how social media shapes our world in turn. The authors and contributors examine digitally mediated identity, microcelebrity, and relationships through sociological and feminist perspectives, and visualize networked publics and online spaces using historic forms of communication. Dynamic coverage by Daly and contributors also examines the #metoo movement, Black Lives Matter, and conversations around race and radicalism. Most notably, the world of information is examined through simple explanations of algorithms, types of misinformation, and spreadable media including memes. Designed for beginning college students, Humans are Social Media offers a unique, multimedia overview of social media in relationships with users and human cultures. (Cover design by Jacquie Kuru featuring work by iVoices Media Lab students. Top row, from left: Aditya Kumar, Anonymous, Alora, Preston Pierce Kerstin. Row 2: Jenna N Wing, Anna, Brenda Dolores Perea, Kennedy. Row 3: Jillian Bandler, Emilee Gustafson, Anonymous, Bianca. Row 4: Abby Arnold, Ashlyn Geaslen, Malia, Nellie Youssef. Row 5: Blaze Mutware, Luis A. Ruiz, Rachel Rojas, Sydney)

(2 reviews)

Writing Fabulous Features

Contributor: Kraft

Publisher: The Ohio State University Pressbooks

License: CC BY-NC

"Writing Fabulous Features" teaches the art and craft of feature writing to help readers learning to write non-fiction with flair.

(4 reviews)

Language and Culture in Context - A Primer on Intercultural Communication

Contributor: Godwin-Jones

Publisher: Virginia Commonwealth University

License: CC BY-NC

The text introduces some of the key concepts in intercultural communication as traditionally presented in (North American) courses and textbooks, namely the study of differences between cultures, as represented in the works and theories of Edward Hall and Geert Hofstede. Common to these approaches is the prominence of context, leading to a view of human interactions as dynamic and changeable, given the complexity of language and culture, as human agents interact with their environments.

(3 reviews)

Intercultural Communication

Contributor: Ahrndt

Publisher: University of Missouri - St. Louis

License: CC BY-NC-SA

Intercultural Communication examines culture as a variable in interpersonal and collective communication. It explores the opportunities and problems arising from similarities and differences in communication patterns, processes, and codes among various cultural groups. It explores cultural universals, social categorization, stereotyping and discrimination, with a focus on topics including race, ethnicity, social class, religion, gender and sexuality as they relate to communication.

(12 reviews)

Arguing Using Critical Thinking

Contributor: Marteney

Publisher: Academic Senate for California Community Colleges

License: CC BY-NC-SA

There is a quote that has been passed down many years and is most recently accounted to P.T. Barnum, “There is a sucker born every minute.” Are you that sucker? If you were, would you like to be “reborn?” The goal of this book is to help you through that “birthing” process. Critical thinking and standing up for your ideas and making decisions are important in both your personal and professional life. How good are we at making the decision to marry? According to the Centers for Disease Control, there is one divorce in America every 36 seconds. That is nearly 2,400 every day. And professionally, the Wall Street Journal predicts the average person will have 7 careers in their lifetime. Critical thinking skills are crucial.

(2 reviews)