The Media Student's Book
by Gill Branston, Roy Stafford · Gill Branston & Roy Stafford
A comprehensive undergraduate textbook covering media industries, audiences, genre, narrative, representation and regulation, with case studies and research guidance. After reading it students can analyse media texts and institutions using the field's core critical vocabulary.
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More resources on Media Studies
cmsimpact.org
CMS Impact is the Center for Media & Social Impact's resource hub, offering research and materials on media's societal effects. It features reports, case studies, and practical toolkits exploring media literacy, representation, and civic engagement.
MediaSmarts
Canadian nonprofit publishing free digital and media literacy lesson plans, classroom games, parent guides, and the Young Canadians in a Wireless World research series. Teachers can pull ready-made activities mapped to provincial curriculum outcomes.
Media Literacy Now
A US advocacy nonprofit tracking state media literacy legislation and publishing an annual policy and impact report, plus lesson plans and an advocacy toolkit. Useful for understanding how media literacy enters school policy.
Creating Video Games (MIT CMS.611J)
Developing original digital games in small multidisciplinary teams: game design, audio, visual aesthetics, fiction and programming, with iterative prototyping and focus testing backed by data analysis. 45 lecture videos, slides and example projects show how to run a game production cycle.
Game Design (MIT CMS.608)
Design and analysis of non-digital games across genres, including sports, card, board, chance and role-playing games. Teams design, build and playtest original games to see how rules interact and evolve. Provides 24 lecture audio recordings (about 18 hours) and design assignments with examples.
On the Media
Weekly public-radio podcast from WNYC Studios, hosted by Brooke Gladstone and Micah Loewinger, that analyses how news is produced and framed. Episodes cover press freedom, propaganda, government transparency and coverage of current events, helping listeners judge sources and recognise the narratives shaping reporting.