Book excerpt: This accessible and thought-provoking book provides a critical insight into the relationship between the media and the public. It examines the way in which the public is represented, referred to and portrayed in the media, and how the media acts or speaks on the public’s behalf. The first part explores the political side of the relationship between the media and the public. This includes interesting discussion of advocacy in political interviews and the discursive arrangement of political discussion programmes. The second part of the book examines a range of discourses outside of the political realm. Michael Higgins looks at the construction of ordinariness, authenticity and public legitimacy, the relationship between institutional and media expertise, and the exercise of public decency. He argues that what unites the relationships between media and forms of public are their concern with wider issues of politics, governance, and cultural influence. The author offers a range of illustrative examples of broadcasting from US, Australian and British contexts, providing students with a rage of engaging international examples with which to draw comparisons and compare their own media experiences. Each chapter includes recommended texts for further reading and questions for discussion. The Media and Their Publics is an essential text for students and researchers in media studies, cultural policy and political communications.