From TV bulletins to social media newsfeeds, the media plays a massive role in shaping the world as we see it. In fact, different media have helped make possible our world of independent nations, binding together disparate communities through shared cultural touchstones, such as the press and national broadcasters. With the transfer of people’s lives to the online world, the media has become crucial to almost every aspect of how human beings live. A new social order is being built through our relations with media, but what power over us does this give to corporations and governments?

Nick Couldry explains the significance of five core dimensions of media: representing, connecting, imagining, sharing and governing. He shows that understanding these dynamics is a vital skill that every person needs in the digital age, when the fate of our political worlds and social environment may rest on how we communicate with each other.

'With this book, Nick Couldry emerges as the centre-left Raymond Williams of our time. Media: Why It Matters will be read widely across the world.'
James Curran, Goldsmiths, University of London

‘No one quite sees the media like the sagacious Nick Couldry.’
John Durham Peters, Yale University

‘Few have written so lucidly and poignantly about why media matter. Couldry provides a road map for understanding media and society in the twenty-first century.’
Lisa Parks, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Nick Couldry is Professor of Media, Communications and Social Theory at the London School of Economics and Political Science.