Essays --

IntroductionI never knew John B. Thompson is a writer in the field of kind science and sociology until I read one of his books. He is the author of the book The Media and Modernity A Social Theory of the Media. As a professor of sociology and a fellow of Jesus College in Cambridge, he brings stunned the aspect of social science in the media through in his book. The book is among the most interesting books I have ever read because Thompson explains the relationship between media and modernity using the social theory of the media. As I went through the contents of the book, I could easily see how he uses his study of confabulation in social contexts.Summary and AnalysisIn the book, Thompson makes it easy for the reader to understand mass communication in depth. He focuses on the application of mass communication in the contemporary times. He begins by defining the word mass in which he argues that the media today does not target the mass but niche markets. I agree with him on the f act that the term mass is misleading. It appeals to a vast audience composed of millions of individuals. He uses the most popular day newspaper as an example to illustrate this argument. I see it in films and television programs too. The society that I live in has several categories of audiences. In all social gatherings such as church meetings and cases where the target group of distinct information consists of specific character traits, I normally observe what Thomson refers to as undifferentiated individuals (Thomson13).As I read the book, I got some insight on the use of the word communication. At first, I could not understand what Thomson meant by overwhelmingly one way (Thomson 14), until he contrasted it with face-to-face communicatio... ...n to me. Through the book, one can easily see himself of herself in the description of the society today. ConclusionThis is a capable book that I would highly recommend to individuals who desire to understand the original theory of the media and how it has affected the modern world. Security agencies and managers in the information departments can observe a lot from the book. It also shows the developments in the media industry from the emergence of printing to the recent media characterized by cutting edge technology. Thompsons book is a absolute remedy for media-related challenges in the modern world because it explains with real-life examples how mass communication has developed over time. Even though the book offers a few suggestions about the time to come development of mass communication, a reader can certainly tell that it can only get better and more personal.