Over the last decade, political economy has grown rapidly as a specialist area of research and teaching within communications and media studies and is now established as a core element in university programmes around the world. The Handbook of Political Economy of Communications offers students and scholars a comprehensive, authoritative, up-to-date and accessible overview of key areas and debates. * Combines overviews of core ideas with new case study materials and the best of contemporary theorization and research * Written many of the best known authors in the field * Includes an international line-up of contributors, drawn from the key markets of North and Latin America, Europe, Australasia, and the Far East