As a recent AMMC panel featuring First Lady Michelle Obama highlighted, media and technology more than ever are key to the success of today’s most important social initiatives, enabling content to reach people where they are, in the form they want it, around the globe.
Put simply, our world of content has the power to change the world.
This month we bring you book picks focused on the impact of media on society and its role as a platform for education and change. Our selections offer a range of perspectives on today’s media landscape, including the effects of digitization, social media, and mobile, as well as how technology will reshape our future.
If you and/or your organization are committed to using media to promote social transformation, pick up one or more of our recommended reads below—together they offer a great mix of ideas, tools, and inspiration!
Book Picks: Using Media to Drive Change
Media/Society: Industries, Images, and Audiences 5th Edition by
This book provides a framework for understanding the relationship between media and society and helps readers develop skills for critically evaluating both conventional wisdom and their own assumptions about the social role of the media. Retaining its acclaimed sociological framework, the Fifth Edition covers new studies, includes up-to-date material about today’s changing media landscape, and expands discussions of the “new media” world, including digitization, the Internet, the spread of mobile devices, the role of user-generated content, and the impact of new media on society and traditional media outlets.
Globalization and Media: Global Village of Babel 2nd Edition by
The New Digital Age: Transforming Nations, Businesses, and Our Lives by
Google’s Eric Schmidt and Jared Cohen traveled to 35 countries to meet with political leaders, entrepreneurs, and activists to learn firsthand about the challenges they face in today’s digital world. Packed with fascinating ideas, informed predictions, and prescient warnings, their book tackles some of the toughest questions about our future: How will technology change the way we approach issues like privacy and security, war and intervention, diplomacy, revolution, and terrorism. And how can we best use new technologies to improve our lives? More than a book about gadgets and data, this is a prescriptive glimpse of how technology is reshaping our world.
Possible: A Blueprint for Changing How We Change the World by Stephan Bauman
Across the world, people are rising up to fight poverty, oppression, and injustice—not just professionals, but bloggers, musicians, entrepreneurs, artists, and advocates. But without a better blueprint for doing good well, our moment in history will slip away, argues author Stephan Bauman, president of World Relief. In Possible, he presents clear and biblical thinking, powerful stories, and practical tools for sustainably impacting our workplaces, neighborhoods, villages, and cities. Possible is an eloquent and personal call to reconsider what it means to change ourselves so that we can change the world.
Find Your Voice Using Social Media: Follow Your Passion and Change the World Using Social Media by
Highlighting ideas and lessons learned, this book explains how you can use social media as a tool to reach your personal or professional goals. It also looks at the importance of building and nurturing your brand, and how to create a social media strategy. In addition, it reviews ways to track your success using metrics and social media measurement tools. This book provides step-by-step guidance geared toward all ages, but it’s especially helpful for baby boomers who want to understand, explore, and engage on social media.
If you’d like to share something you’ve read, drop us a note. Also check out the Technology for Publishing blog, and keep up with the latest industry news coverage by signing up for our This Week in Publishing emails and monthly Publishing Innovations newsletter.
Posted by: Margot Knorr Mancini
