The fully revised edition of this successful textbook has been comprehensively rewritten to take account of recent theory and research and to improve the accessibility of the text. The book provides a nontechnical introduction to the range of approaches to understanding mass communication. It offers an integrated treatment of the major components of mass communication - the sender, the message and the audience - and encompasses the various forms of mass communication in contemporary societies including television, radio, newspapers, film, music and new communication technologies. Throughout, Denis McQuail shows how theories of mass communication relate to the understanding of society as a whole.