W. James Potter, professor at the University of California at Santa Barbara, holds one PhD in Communication Studies and another in Instructional Technology. He has been teaching media courses for more than two decades in the areas of effects on individuals and society, content narratives, structure and economics of media industries, advertising, and journalism. He has served as editor of the Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media and is the author of many journal articles and several dozen books, including: Media Effects; Media Literacy, 10th edition; The 11 Myths of Media Violence; Major Theories of Media Effects; Becoming a Strategic Thinker: Developing Skills for Success; and 7 Skills of Media Literacy.
Media literacy is a topic of increasing interest, especially to educators. Despite that interest, there has been no single book that brings together the scattered work on media literacy, one that looks at, in Potter's words, "what we know as well as what can be done with what we know." Potter is a high-profile name in this field. His text Media Literacy has further established his reputation as an expert on this topic.
