Media Realities

A West-Eastern Divan

Markus Heidingsfelder, Yan Bo, Holger Briel

$398.95 $319.42

Hardback

Not in-store but you can order this
How long will it take?

Availability Information

We source books from suppliers in Australia and overseas. For books we don't currently have in stock, the time it takes to get them from our suppliers can vary widely - from a few days to a few months - so we check each book with each supplier to determine the expected time it will take to be supplied to us.

We then advise you accordingly. If the time taken to get any book is too long for you, you can let us know and we will cancel or adjust your order, and refund as required.

To find out the anticipated arrival time for specific items prior to ordering, please contact us by phone or email:

Phone +61 2 9264 3111, or 1800 4 BOOKS (1800 4 26657) if outside Sydney:
option 1 Abbey's Bookshop (Crime, History, Science, Kids & more) • info@abbeys.com.au
option 2 Language Book Centre (ESL & Foreign Languages) • language@abbeys.com.au
option 3 Galaxy Bookshop (Sci-fi, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels) • sf@galaxybooks.com.au

QTY:

English

Routledge
01 December 2025

Media studies; Globalization; Sociology; Political campaigning & advertising; Political economy

Series: Media, Culture and Critique: Future Imperfect

Media Realities is an intellectual intervention into today’s most urgent debates about truth, perception, and power.

Including essays by journalists, artists, philosophers, and theorists, this interdisciplinary volume exposes how mass media—old and new—shape not just what we know, but what we believe to be real. From Ukraine to China to Africa, from journalism to art to propaganda, this book asks: Who gets to define reality—and who gets left out?

Edited by scholars based in China, it challenges dominant Western portrayals of global politics and gives voice to perspectives too often dismissed or discredited. Contributions from the Global South, China, Germany, and beyond confront a simple truth: we don't all see the same world, and the media don't just reflect society—they perform it. Media Realities is not just a book about media. It is a book about reality itself—and how it is made, sold, and believed.

With contributors from across the fields of media, sociology, journalism, philosophy, political theory, and art, this volume will appeal to scholars and upper-level students with interests in the sociology of media and global political dynamics.

Edited by: Markus Heidingsfelder, Yan Bo, Holger Briel
Imprint: Routledge
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 234mm, Width: 156mm,
Weight: 820g
ISBN: 9781032866727
ISBN 10: 1032866721
Series: Media, Culture and Critique: Future Imperfect
Pages: 344
Publication Date: 01 December 2025
Audience: College/higher education , Professional and scholarly , Primary , Undergraduate
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active

1. The West is the East of the East 2. This Side of Good and Evil: Towards a Sociology of War 3. The Cat of Borodjanka: An Attempt at Media’s Real Symbol in War 4. Media and Reality. Luhmannian Perspectives on Identity, Objectivity and Truth 5. Ecological Communication Revisited: Unveiling the Role of Media in Luhmann’s Systems Theory 6. The End Game of Media Realities? Some loosely connected considerations 7. From Tabloid Sensations to Political Battleground The Rise and Fall of Lai's Media Empire 8. China Different 9. “This is China!” – The Story That Sells The Politics of Rebranding National Images in the News Media 10. Western Media Unmasked - Biases, Perversions, Hypocrisies and Harm 11. East vs. West Soft Power Tussles Understanding the Co-Construction of Media Realities in Sino-African Relations 12. Shifting Realities in Development and Social Change Theories The Role and Place of Media and Communication 13. From the Soil ""Return to Dust"" 14. ""Solo Sunny"" A Story of Solitude 15. The 2nd Interrogation 16. A New “Structural Transformation of the Public Sphere”? Seven Theses against the Widespread Assumption of an All-Powerful Internet 17. Concealment and Freedom A Study of Youth Self-Empowerment through Pseudo-Anonymity in the Douban Momo Group 18. The Evolution and Logic of China's Propaganda Model in a Global Context 19. Domestic Propaganda in the People’s Republic of China 20. The Hegemony of Linguistic Landscape Mediated Communities and Ideological Influence 21. Cute Authoritarianism

Markus Heidingsfelder is an Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University. Yan Bo is an Assistant Professor of Applied Translation Studies at Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University. Holger Briel is a Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Beijing Normal-Hong Kong Baptist University.

Reviews for Media Realities: A West-Eastern Divan

“Carefully curated and culturally sensitive, this interdisciplinary collection of essays offers new perspectives on the contemporary realities of our globalized media world.” Daya Thussu, Professor of International Communication, Hong Kong Baptist University “Media Realities is a surprisingly fresh and thoroughly intriguing mosaic of insights into the peculiar differences and samenesses of Eastern and Western media realities—probably the realities most of us today spend most of our time with in one way or another. Quite unlikely for an academic book, it’s almost a page turner, due to its kaleidoscopic and sometimes experimental approach.” Hans-Georg Moeller, Professor of Philosophy, University of Macau ""Media Realities rethinks the mass media in sweeping theoretical terms—opening a space for a reevaluation of the relationship between universities, social scientists, and the media."" Emily Erikson, Professor of Sociology, Yale University “Media do not merely report on reality; they create the frameworks within which it can be perceived, debated, and remembered. Media Realities reminds us—all of us—that the realities we inhabit are mediated realities: shaped, sustained, and shared by everyone. In an age when wars, crises, and politics unfold as much in their staging as in their substance, this volume calls us to reflect on the new realities of and by all."" Zhao Tingyang, Professor of Philosophy, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences