The Media Studies Reader is a broad and accessible anthology that addresses the key topics, debates and theoretical perspectives associated with the interdisciplinary field of media studies. Emphasizing critical and cultural approaches, The Media Studies Reader presents foundational essays by leading scholars alongside the most influential new writing in the field today. The reader encompasses a wide range of conceptual vantage points, including political economy, semiotics, ideological and myth analysis, cultural studies, audience and fan studies, identity and representational politics, public sphere theory and newer work on interactivity, governmentality and self-fashioning. The Media Studies Reader provides an entry point into the critical media studies tradition ' as well as a timely account of new theoretical moves and technological developments. A map of a rapidly growing ' and changing ' field, it will be an invaluable resource to students as well as established scholars.