丹尼斯·麦奎尔(Denis McQuail)，著名传播学者，荷兰阿姆斯特丹大学传播学终身教授，“欧洲传媒研究小组”成员，《欧洲传播学杂志》三位创始人之一。麦奎尔曾经就读于牛津大学，获得历史学学位，后在利兹大学获得博士学位。曾先后在美国宾夕法尼亚大学、哥伦比亚大学、哈佛大学、俄罗斯莫斯科大学、芬兰坦佩雷大学、英国南安普敦大学担任教授或客座教授，在阿姆斯特丹大学任教长达二十多年。

丹尼斯·麦奎尔在传播学领域有着漫长而辉煌的研究经历。从1968年至今，麦奎尔出版了十几本著作，广泛涉及传播研究的诸多领域，主要著作有：《迈向大众传播社会学》(Towards a Sociology of Mass Communications，1971)、《传播》(Communication，1975)、《大众传播研究模式论》(Communication Models for the Study of Mass Communications，1982)、《大众传播理论》(Mass Communication Theory，1983)、《媒介行为》(Media Performance,1992)、《受众分析》(Audience Analysis,1997)。《媒介政策》(Media Policy，1998)。他的不少著作被翻译成多种文字并作为教材或教学参考书在世界各地使用。

'The book is essentially for a student of mass communication or may be of interest to the communications expert into communications reserach, theory or operations research. The author addresses a specific "audience" and does it to perfection with a simple very readable presentation' - The Economic Times Denis McQuail provides a coherent and succinct account of the concept of 'media audience' in terms of its history and its place in present-day media theory and research. McQuail describes and explains the main types of audience and the main traditions and fields of audience research. Audience Analysis explains the contrast between social scientific and humanistic approaches and gives due weight to the view 'from the audience' as well as the view 'from the media'. McQuail summarizes key research findings and assesses the impact of new media developments, especially transnationalization and new interactive technology. The book concludes with an evaluation of the continued relevance of the audience concept under conditions of rapid media change. Audience Analysis provides both an overview of past research and a guide to current thinking.