First Published in 1991. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.

Mass media has become an integral part of the human experience. News travels around the world in a split second affecting people in other countries in untold ways. Although being on top of the news may be good, at least for news junkies, mass media also transmits values or the lack thereof, condenses complex events and thoughts to simplified sound bites and often ignores the essence of an event or story. The selective bibliography gathers the books and magazine literature over the previous ten years while providing access through author, title and subject indexes.

Drawing on 15 months of ethnographic research in one of the most under-developed regions in the Caribbean island of Trinidad, this book describes the uses and consequences of social media for its residents. Jolynna Sinanan argues that this semi-urban town is a place in-between: somewhere city dwellers look down on and villagers look up to. The complex identity of the town is expressed through uses of social media, with significant results for understanding social media more generally. Not elevating oneself above others is one of the core values of the town, and social media becomes a tool for social visibility; that is, the process of how social norms come to be and how they are negotiated. Carnival logic and high-impact visuality is pervasive in uses of social media, even if Carnival is not embraced by all Trinidadians in the town and results in presenting oneself and association with different groups in varying ways. The study also has surprising results in how residents are explicitly non-activist and align themselves with everyday values of maintaining good relationships in a small town, rather than espousing more worldly or cosmopolitan values.

Emphasizes the contemporary mass media of the Commonwealth Caribbean and the societies in which they function, explaining their characteristics and practices in terms of the history of the region and the media themselves and relating these traits, wherever applicable, to theories of communication and national development. Illustrated.

Front Cover -- Half Title Page -- Series Page -- Full Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Acronyms -- Acknowledgments -- Preface -- PART I -- 1 - Journalism and Mediain the Caribbean -- 2 - Practicing Journalism in Small Places: National and Regional Implications -- 3 - Caribbean Journalism's Media Economy: Advancing Democracy and the Common Good? -- PART II -- 4 - Caribbean Journalism: Comprehensive and Proportionate -- 5 - Caribbean Journalism:Relevant and Engaging -- 6 - Caribbean Journalism:Maintaining Independence -- 7 - The Future of Caribbean Journalism -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index -- Back Cover

Du Bois explores mass media's unflattering images of "black" Caribbean immigrants. Drawing on the extended case study in the Chesapeake region, she highlights media ethics in relation to minorities. Analyses of journalism, advertisements, TV, and film reveal ways these immigrants were unfairly depicted during the 1980s and 1990s and how relationships among law enforcers, journalists, criminals, and Hollywood writers shaped media representations. Du Bois also details the West Indians' response. She places their concerns in the context of an America where dark-skinned immigrants can be subjected to racism and xenophobia, particularly when members of their community commit crimes. Her findings are relevant to the current struggle to balance journalism about terrorists with a desire to treat all Americans fairly.

The reference will discuss mass media around the world in their varied forms—newspapers, magazines, radio, television, film, books, music, websites, and social media—and will describe the role of each in both mirroring and shaping society.