Part I: Key concepts -- 1. Approaching media texts -- Case study: Visual and aural signs -- 2. Narratives -- Case study: CSI: Miami and crime fiction -- 3. Genres and other classifications -- Case study: Horror as popular art -- 4. Representations -- Case study: Images of migration -- 5. Globalisation -- Case study: Slumdog Millionaire: Global film? -- 6. Ideologies and discourses -- Case study: The Age of Stupid and climate change politics -- 7. Media as business -- Case study: Music and movies - digital and available -- Part II: Debates -- 8. 'New media' in a 'new world'? -- 9. The future of television? -- 10. Regulation now -- 11. Debating advertising, branding and celebrity -- 12. News and its futures -- 13. Documentary and 'reality' debates -- 14. From 'audience' to 'users' -- Part III: Research methods and references -- 15. Research: skills and methods.