This fascinating study focuses on an area neglected in previous studies of the media: the meetings between ordinary people and the media. Couldry explores what happens when people who normally consume the media witness media processes in action, or even become the object of media attention themselves.

Nick Couldry is a Lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications, Goldsmiths College, University of London

PART1 A new theory of media power 1 Locating media power 2 Charting media territory 3 Media power: some hidden dimensions PART 2 Media pilgrims: on the set of Coronation Street 4 On the actual Street 5 The reality of the fiction 6 Playing with boundaries PART 3 Media witnesses: two decades of protest 7 Brightlingsea: the de-naturalisation of the media frame 8 Acting within the media frame PART 4 The future of the media frame? 9 Conclusion and perspectives beyond