Dear colleagues, I am excited to announce the release of my latest book, Hacking Hybrid Media: Power and Practice in an Age of Manipulation <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hacking-hybrid-media-9780197570289?cc=us&lang=en&#>. The book, published in the Oxford Studies in Digital Politics series, is based on five years of mixed method research examining manipulative media practices by right-wing media outlets and activists. Theoretically oriented yet empirically grounded, Hacking Hybrid Media shows how the hybrid media system enables enterprising approaches to political communication and develops a theory of "networked media capital" to explain how such power works in an era of mediatization. The book is available in a variety of formats, including via Oxford Academic <https://academic.oup.com/book/58046>, which currently has the introductory chapter available for free preview. If you are studying or teaching classes on propaganda, disinformation, media manipulation, right-wing politics, or related topics, this book may be of interest. Reviews of the book are included below my signature line. Thanks for considering! Best, Steve ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Stephen Barnard, Ph.D. Associate Professor and Chair Department of Sociology & Criminology Butler University Email: sbarnard2@butler.edu Website: http://www.stephenrbarnard.com/ Publications: https://works.bepress.com/stephen-barnard/ Hacking Hybrid Media <https://global.oup.com/academic/product/hacking-hybrid-media-9780197570289?cc=us&lang=en&> (out now from Oxford University Press) Reviews "With an engaging voice and a sophisticated eye, Barnard shows the way the complex interplay of technological, political, social, and journalistic structures and practices give birth to what he terms networked media capital, a new form of media power that is both readily weaponized and distinctly damaging to the political information environment. Rich with empirically grounded theoretical insight, Hacking Hybrid Media is a must-read for scholars of political communication, media sociology, journalism, American democracy, and public discourse." -- Sarah Sobieraj, Tufts University "As empirical research on media manipulation and disinformation has proliferated at a dizzying pace, social theory has been left behind. Thankfully, Stephen Barnard heard the call! Barnard rigorously engages this expansive research with an innovative analysis of how structural transformations of the networked public sphere have reconfigured relations of media and political power today. This incisive book will be a touchstone for social theorists for a long time to come." -- Anthony Nadler, Ursinus College "Stephen Barnard's Hacking Hybrid Media provides a much-needed update on the changing dynamics of media power, and how this power is leveraged to manipulate publics. With this critical look at the hybrid media landscape -- its infrastructures, tools, practices -- Barnard makes an incisive contribution to our understanding of how and why the public sphere in the US is so broken. This is an essential book for anyone concerned with the media's influence on politics and publics." -- Adrienne Russell, University of Washington "In this captivating read, Barnard delves into the intricate manipulative dynamics of digital communication. With finesse, he sheds light on how the hybrid media system's structures and cultures influence and promote resourceful individuals to engage in anti-democratic actions, jeopardizing our capacity to comprehend and disseminate information effectively. An essential book to understand what went wrong and how we can (try to) fix it." -- Emiliano Treré, Cardiff University