This reader is designed to supplement any core textbook in Introduction to Mass Communication. The goal of the reader is to help students think more critically about the media. By drawing from a wide variety of sources and political and cultural viewpoints, this collection is predicated on the fact that students learn about the media mainly through the media--by reading or hearing about media in media publications or broadcasts. These articles are drawn mostly from popular and alternative media and take a hard and critical look at the political and social forces that drive media decision making.