Jennings Bryant is Professor and holder of the Ronald R. Reagan endowed Chair of Broadcasting in the College of Communication at the University of Alabama. He is the founding co-editor of the Media Psychology journal, and serves on the editorial boards of 11 scholarly journals. His primary research interests are in entertainment theory, media effects, advanced communications technologies and systems, and media education.

Mary Beth Oliver is Professor and Co-Director of the Media Effects Research laboratory in the College of Communications at Penn State University. She specializes in media and psychology, with a focus on both the psychological effects of media and viewers' attraction to or enjoyment of media content. Her research includes studies pertaining to media violence, reality-based television programs, gender differences in enjoyment of media entertainment, viewers' responses to melodramas and sad films, and the effect of media portrayals of racial groups on viewers' racial attitudes.

With contributions from some of the finest scholars in the discipline, "Media Effects" serves not only as a comprehensive reference volume for media effects study but also as an exceptional textbook for advanced courses in media effects. Covering the breadth of the media effects arena, this third edition provides updated material as well as new chapters focusing on effects of mobile media and other technologies. As this area of study continues to evolve, "Media Effects" will serve as a benchmark of theory and research for current and future generations of scholars.