John Hartley 
Digital Futures for Cultural and Media Studies 

An ambitious rendering of the digital future from a pioneer of
media and cultural studies, a wise and witty take on a changing
field, and our orientation to it



* Investigates the uses of multimedia by creative and productive
citizen-consumers to provide new theories of communication that
accommodate social media, participatory action, and
user-creativity

* Leads the way for new interdisciplinary engagement with systems
thinking, complexity and evolutionary sciences, and the convergence
of cultural and economic values

* Analyzes the historical uses of multimedia from print, through
broadcasting to the internet

* Combines conceptual innovation with historical erudition to
present a high-level synthesis of ideas and detailed analysis of
emergent forms and practices

* Features an international focus and global reach to provide a
basis for students and researchers seeking broader
perspectives

Table of Content

1. The History and Future of Ideas 1

2. Cultural Studies, Creative Industries, and Cultural Science
27

3. Journalism and Popular Culture 59

4. The Distribution of Public Thought 94

5. Television Goes Online 117

6. Silly Citizenship 133

7. The Probability Archive 155

8. Messaging as Identity 176

9. Paradigm Shifters: Tricksters and Cultural Science 199

References 215

Acknowledgments 236

Index 238

About the author

John Hartley is Research Director of the Centre for Creative Industries & Innovation at Queensland University of Technology, Australia, where he was founding dean of the Creative Industries Faculty. Previously he was head of the School of Journalism, Media & Cultural Studies at Cardiff University in Wales. Hartley is author of many books on popular culture, media, journalism and creative industries. His previous books with Wiley-Blackwell include Television Truths (2008), Story Circle: Digital Storytelling Around the World (co-edited with Kelly Mc William, 2009), and Creative Industries (2005).