We live in a world that is becoming increasingly complex, complicated, and contradictory. At the same time, the media occupies a dominant position in this world and usually prevails over other sectors of society, as well as the economy. Often, most social institutions, if not all, are forced to adapt to the demands of the modern "mediated" society. The aim of the book is to highlight contemporary issues that concern the modern and multifaceted field of communication. The authors of the book address issues that concern researchers regarding the relationship between the media and society in the 21st century, and analyze the changes that have occurred in the field of communication, at the level of theory, structure, and more specifically, in the areas of information, politics, journalism, and citizens' relationships with the new media.

The texts included are:

Introduction: Stelios Papathanasopoulos

Part One: Aspects of Communication
Chapter 1: James Curran: "The views of the media and culture in the era of neoliberalism"
Chapter 2: Kevin Robins: "Intercultural policy and European cosmopolitanism"
Chapter 3: Stelios Papathanasopoulos: "Aspects of media globalization"

Part Two: Changes in the field of mass communication
Chapter 4: Stelios Papathanasopoulos: "New media in Europe"
Chapter 5: Jeremy Tunstall: "The media were American"

Part Three: Information Society
Chapter 6: Frank Webster: "Understanding the information age"
Chapter 7: Corinna Patelis: "Social media and power"
Chapter 8: Zizi Papacharisi: "The 'behaviors' of social networks"
Chapter 9: Lisa Tsalki: "Children and the internet in Greece: The parameter of privacy in social networking.

Part Four: The journalistic field
Chapter 10: Jean Seaton: "Public, private, and the media"
Chapter 11: Elias Athanasiadis: "Private space and the media: The Greek case"
Chapter 12: Philip M. Taylor: "Information in wartime"
Chapter 13: Mark Deuze: "Journalism and the internet"
Chapter 14: George Pleios: "Information in the blogosphere: New medium - Old logics?"

Part Five: Politics and Communication
Chapter 15: Stelios Papathanasopoulos: "Media and political communication"
Chapter 16: Prodromos Giannas: "Political marketing facing three forms of democracy"
Chapter 17: Athanasios N. Samaras, Stelios Papathanasopoulos: "Denial and attacks in the televised confrontations of political leaders in Greece"
Chapter 18: Anastasia Kavada: "The role of the internet in contemporary global activism"
Instead of a conclusion: Stelios Papathanasopoulos: "The media in the 21st century"