News as Entertainment: The Rise of Global Infotainment

This book-length study of "infotainment", meaning, as stated by its title: News as Entertainment, and its globalisation, intends to offer a comprehensive and critical analysis of this emerging phenomenon. As stated by the publisher: "Going beyond - both geographically and theoretically - the ‘dumbing down’ discourse, largely confined to the Anglo-American media, the book argues that infotainment may have an important ideological role, a diversion in which ‘soft news’ masks the hard realities of neoliberal imperialism. Chapters include a historical appraisal of infotainment; the infrastructure for its globalization as well as coverage of recent wars on television news as high-tech infotainment and the growing synergies between Hollywood and Bollywood-originated infotainment. A ‘global infotainment sphere’ is emerging, the book argues, within which competing versions of news - from 24/7 news networks to bloggers - coexist."

According to the author, a paperback inspection copy of the book is available upon request by visiting the Sage website.