Eric Louw, School of Communication & Arts, University of Queensland, previously worked for a number of South African universities (University of South Africa, University of Natal and Rand Afrikaans University), and ran a NGO engaged in development work. His books include: Media and Society: production, content and participation (SAGE, 2015), The Media and Political Process (SAGE, 2010), The Media and Cultural Production (SAGE, 2001), The Roots of the Pax Americana (MUP, 2010), New Voices Over the Air: The Transformation of the South African Broadcasting Corporation (Hampton Press, 2010), South African Media Policy (1995), and The Rise, Fall and Legacy of Apartheid (Praeger, 2005). Louw has published widely in the fields of political communication, South African media and South African political discourse. His current research is focusing on the transformation of South Africa.
Just how powerful are the media? This book offers a fresh and accessible introduction to the relationship between media power and cultural production. By marshalling a range of theoretical perspectives from political economy and cultural studies, The Media and Cultural Production invites the reader to analyze the relationship between the making of meaning, political, economic and social power and the machinery of cultural production – the media. The Media and Cultural Production: critically examines the notion of the "cultural industries"; examines the regulatory framework in which the cultural industries operate; looks at the impact of globalization on cultural production; and explores the way in which meaning is both produced and contested. The book demonstrates how concepts in communication and cultural studies can be mobilized to analyze cultural production in a range of contexts.
