Digital Futures for Cultural and Media Studies

“As so often in the past, John Hartley provides a shrewd and honest guide to the cultural and societal implications of the technological and social turbulence we are facing.”
– Larry Gross, University of Southern California

“If, as the proverb suggests, we fish only contemplate water when removed from it, then in this important book Hartley proves himself to be a flying fish – a wonderful analyst of his cultural environment in its entirety, yet always still aware of the coral and culture that lies beneath. The book overflows with smart observations about the state of the media and of media and cultural studies as an academic field, and should be read by all who swim in these waters.”
– Jonathan Gray, University of Wisconsin

“Reading John Hartley’s ‘Understanding News’ (1982) as a student inspired me to do research. ‘Digital Futures’ rekindles that original excitement.”
– Mark Deuze, Indiana University

“Hartley roars across disciplines to connect the digital dots between cultural studies, creative industries, journalism, television and much else. This is truly ambitious scholarship which deserves the widest audience.”
– Ian Hargreaves, Cardiff University

This thought-provoking analysis sets out to reorient and rethink media and cultural studies, to grapple with the mutual productivity that the digital future will continue to facilitate, while investigating some examples to see which way they are pointing, including popular journalism, the public domain, media citizenship, messaging, and the role of ‘creative destruction’ in the renewal of complex systems.

The tools may change, Hartley argues, but media and popular culture will always engage with questions of meaning, identity, power, humankind in the context of technology, and global interaction among our dispersed and diverse species.