Communications

by Denis McQuail

First published in 1985. At a time when much attention is directed to the immense technical power and capacity of new means of communication it is worth reaffirming that the consequences for relationships of social power deserve rather more attention. The nature of communication as a field of study and its relationship to sociology is the subject of this study.

280 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[David Gallagher · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was one of the books I consulted and read for my Communication & Communication Problems presentation at school for my Theories of Learning class. If you're wondering, I got 50% in that presentation, despite the fact that I did rather good. But my professor is too self-important and thinks too much of himself and overestimates his knowledge and doesn't like to be made look like a fool in front of his class - thus, that's a 50% for me. Despite the fact that Communication is a field I know pretty much everything about. Oh, well.

On the book now before I get even more frustrated.

Denis McQuail is a writer and a philosopher/researcher/scientist I much appreciate and consider his contribution to Communication Theory important. However, this particular book was not written for rookies. If you grab this book intending to learn about Communication, you won't learn much. Far too complex a writing style and far too traditional a pattern of information presentation. I personally found it hard to follow what McQuail was saying, and the book is densely written to a point where it becomes ridiculous. Notwithstanding, it's a good addition to the many textbooks and books explaining the principals of the field of Communication.