Search

Copyright of International & Comparative Education is the property of International & Comparative Education Editorial, Beijing Normal University and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Cultural Studies and Media Research are the two major academic currents in the media and communication researches in UK. "Westerminster School" coined by James Curran, played a very important role in the development of the field of media research, with the same function as the Birmingham School to Cultural Studies. Based on the English references and first-hand interviews, the article discusses the emergence and development of the Westerminsterschool as well as its standing point of research, theoretical orientations, major research fields and influential members. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is originated from a keynote speech of 2008 International Forum on Media Criticism. The speech examines the resources of critical theories and thoughts about media critiques, and analyzes phenomena about media fiasco. Furthermore, it points out that the crucial reasons are selfishness, drawback of communication systems, and commercialization of media. The speech also introduces the possible solutions of media innovation studied by a British scholar. Finally, the author figures out that Chinese media is fortunate because they are owned and run by government or governing party, which can cure the symptom of over-commercialization. Therefore, if the new concepts of media innovation can be adopted and the "Chinese characteristic" public press institutions can be set up, China might become a model for the rest of world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]