Part 1. Part 2. Part 3. Part 1 Quotes. Wallop, Bing, Bong, Boom! Digest-digests, digest-digest-digests. One column, two sentences, a headline! Whirl man's mind around about so fast under the pumping hands of publishers, exploiters, broadcasters that the centrifuge flings off all unnecessary, time-wasting thought!
Related Themes: Mass Media. Page Number and Citation : 52 Cite this Quote. Explanation and Analysis:. Don't step on the toes of the dog lovers, the cat lovers, doctors, lawyers, merchants, chiefs, Mormons, Baptists, Unitarians, second-generation Chinese, Swedes, Italians, Germans, Texans, Brooklynites, Irishmen, people from Oregon or Mexico.
The people in this book, this play, this TV serial are not meant to represent any actual painters, cartographers, mechanics anywhere. The bigger your market, Montag, the less you handle controversy, remember that! Authors, full of evil thoughts, lock up your typewriters. They did. Page Number and Citation : 54 Cite this Quote.
Part 2 Quotes. The same infinite detail and awareness could be projected through radios and televisors, but are not. Related Characters: Faber speaker. Page Number and Citation : 78 Cite this Quote. In fact, the illustrations, figures, charts, photographs, etc. They are better than any other text I have seen at creating "symbolic worlds" from different forms of media.
This is a genuine concern for mass media texts. Media content is a direct reflection of culture, and today's culture is characterized by a high level of divisiveness. I did not detect any examples or samples that were outwardly offensive or especially controversial.
But, perhaps, there is a slight bias toward "the status quo" in the case studies and examples--meaning that many but certainly not all of them seem to be "Anglo," Caucasian artists.
Looking at the "Music" chapter, for example, some popular culture critics and students might lament that Taylor Swift is an exemplar. I have been using the same text for seven years Pavlik and McIntosh. It is simply more thorough in its sweep of history and contextualization of culture, more multi-layered in its theoretical perspectives, and more rich in its examples and insights. This books is recommendable not just as an open source text, but as it compares to any conventional text.
Students will benefit greatly from reading this text. Understanding Media and Culture: an Introduction to Mass Communication covers all the important topics in mass communication and media history.
Comprehensiveness rating: 4 see less. Although this book does not provide a glossary, the comprehensiveness of the book still makes it a great textbook choice. While the information was accurate and the discussions on key issues were supported by good references, it was odd to see the questionable formatting and quality of the first reference on page 3: Barnum, P. The major weakness of this book is the fact that many of the references were outdated. For example, on page , the statistics in the section, "Information Access Like Never Before," the cited reports were from and When discussing topics such as Net Neutrality, digital service providers, new policies and technologies, the urgency for updated information becomes evident.
However, as the author correctly pointed out: "Although different forms of mass media rise and fall in popularity, it is worth noting that despite significant cultural and technological changes, none of the media discussed throughout this text has fallen out of use completely.
The writing in this book is very clear and easy to understand. The colored images, figures and tables should be very helpful in terms of student comprehension and engagement. Each chapter can be assigned to students as a stand-along reading, and can be used to realign with other subunits should an instructor decide to compile reading within this book or from different sources.
It was easy to navigate the topics and sections in this book. I downloaded the book as a PDF and had no problem to search or navigate within the file. The book can also be viewed online or in a Kindle reader. I spotted a few minor formatting or punctuation issues such as the missing quotation marks stated earlier, but no glaring errors as far as I know.
While it mainly focuses on American media and culture, this book contains statistics and cases from many countries e. Figure Overall, this is a high-quality textbook and it contains almost all the key issues in today's media studies in spite of the somewhat outdated data and statistics.
The strengths of this book are: Excellent historical examples, critical analysis and reflections, clearly defined key issues and in-depth discussions. Even when using the most recent edition of textbooks, I always research for updates and recent cases.
This open resource textbook makes an outstanding alternative to those high-priced textbooks. Perhaps the best quality of this text, Understanding Media and Culture is a very comprehensive textbook. Each chapter focuses on a different type of medium, Each chapter focuses on a different type of medium, starting with the earliest books and working its way up to the latest technological advancements in mass media.
These topics provide a solid base for a or level introductory communication course. They also were written in a way that each chapter provided sufficient material for a week's worth of discussion. This book was written in a very unbiased manner. It is completely factual, and not much room is left for subjective interpretation. The discussion questions allowed multiple themes and schools of thought to be explored by the students. Because this book is intended for an introductory course, the information is fairly basic and widely-accepted.
My biggest issue with this title was that the latter chapters were not written with the same quality as the first ten or so chapters. However, that was the thought I had after the first semester I used this text. Since then, multiple updates have been written and the entire text is now written in the same high-quality throughout. Because this title is being constantly updated by its authors and publishers, the text is never obsolete.
Terminology is clearly defined, and students have little trouble finding definitions in the glossary. Because this text is written for an introductory course, there are not many intense or confusing concepts for students to understand. As previously mentioned, the biggest struggle I've had with this text is the fact that the latter third was not written to the same quality of the first ten chapters.
However, this issue seems to have been remedied in the latest edition of this text. The modularity was the biggest selling point for me with this text. Our semester runs 15 weeks, the same number of chapters in this text. I was able to easily focus our classroom discussions and assignments on the chapter theme each week.
The text also provides plenty of material for two or three discussions. The text starts by introducing some basic concepts like culture and effects. From there, it focuses on ten different types of media books, newspaper, radio, television, etc.
The concluding three chapters go back to concepts such ethics and the future of mass media. While not a major issue, there was a major difference in the tone of the two types of chapters.
This text is available in. While nothing fancy or groundbreaking in terms of usability, it is simple and all of my students were able to download the format that best suited their individual needs.
The text contained no grammatical errors that I noticed in the latest edition, a tremendous improvement from the first semester I used this text. I did not find the content to be culturally insensitive or offensive in any way. It used a variety of examples from the world's history, but I found none of them to be inherently offensive.
The subject matter and the fact that this is an introductory text probably assist with the cultural relevance because it is easy to understand, but the themes rarely get into "deep" discussion. This is a fantastic text. I have recommended this book to the other instructors of this course because it allows our students to save money without sacrificing anything in terms of content or learning.
Each topic has a descent amount of information on both the history and evolution, as well as where we are today though, as tends to However, the text covers the topics that most other texts of this subject cover as well. I would have liked to have seen just a bit more depth and analysis, instead of the broad, surface-level coverage. Using sites such as MySpace as an example, or only looking at movies put out through about , impacts the accuracy as society has changed and moved on.
The book is fairly fast-paced and easy enough to follow for lower level or beginner students. Examples are easy to follow and the key takeaway boxes and exercises help further basic understanding.
The organization is fairly straightforward. Earlier forms of mass communication are covered first, moving on to newer forms. Once students have a basic understanding of each form, they can then move on to topics like ethics, government, and economics, which need that basic understanding to fully grasp the larger concepts. The book does a good job of focusing on US media and society. Some case studies reference minority groups, but it would have been nice to see even more examples featuring minority groups.
Overall the book does a great job with the history of mass communication and society. It would work for any lower level course.
However, the examples are fairly out of date and the instructor would have to present more recent and relevant examples in class.
I like the way that the author has broadened the scope of the book to incorporate so many aspects of culture, society, politics and economics that some people would be inclined to distinguish from the mass media, when in reality, all these aspects I like the way that the author has broadened the scope of the book to incorporate so many aspects of culture, society, politics and economics that some people would be inclined to distinguish from the mass media, when in reality, all these aspects of contemporary life are intertwined with and influenced by media messages.
The book appears to be objective and adopts a critical but non-partisan perspective. It presents data, including media laws and policies, accurately, and the cases it cites are well documented. The author provides sufficient references to support the facts he states and the conclusions he draws. Caveat--The media landscape and technologies are constantly evolving, so the book is accurate for its time of publication but needs to be updated to include new developments.
The way that the author integrates the historical perspective with current roles of social media in is a clear indication of its relevance. The author advances the salient issues at each juncture and contextualizes so they we can relate them to current events. The cases that are boxed, and key takeaways at the end of each chapter further distill what is already explicated. There are many concrete facts but a minimum of jargon and any terms used are adequately explained.
The framework and the terminology are consistent. The way each subsection is organized makes sense. The major sections where media, developments, policies, etc. The modules are distinguished by color, typset, size of font, etc. The organization makes sense and the topics segue smoothly from one area of media focus to another. Also, the way the book opens with an overview of mass media and cultural is a good starting point from which to document specific historical eras in the development of communication and to transition from one era of communication to another within a context of technology, politics, industry and other variables.
All features of the book are legible and all display features are legible and functional. The book represents a range of cultural groups in a sensitive and bias-free way.
Its discussions of media with regard to both dominant cultures and various minority cultures is respectful, bias-free, and non-stereotypical. It is culturally relevant and inclusive. For many years, I have used a textbook that I have regarded as very high quality and comprehensive, but as it has become increasingly expensive and out of reach financially for many of my students, I find it hard to justify asking my struggling students to add another financial burden to them.
Why should I when they can use this OER textbook? I am seriously considering using Understanding Media and Culture in future semesters and recommending it to my colleagues. The book does a good job of accurately surveying mass communications. Good job sourcing information. The most recent citations are from That's just too far in the past for a rapidly changing subject like mass communication.
The interface is fine. It's a big book. Would appreciate active links to help skip chapters. Really wish the authors would update this a bit. It does a great job with the history. Needs updating on the modern issues. The presentation of the historical context of media evolution in the US is clear and reasonably detailed, providing a good foundation for an introductory level course.
As other reviewers have mentioned, this text was published in and is out As other reviewers have mentioned, this text was published in and is out of date in multiple areas, particularly with respect to media laws and regulation, social media, and newer developments of technology e. Beyond needing updates to reflect newer advancements in media, this text would benefit from more attention to global media structures, including how they vary across political systems and how they impact how citizens use media to communicate.
Additionally, an index and glossary would be helpful for navigation. I am basing this on the fact that this was published in Considering the publication date, the factual content for that particular time frame is presented accurately, clearly cited, and reasonably unbiased. There is perhaps an unintended gender bias in the presentation of some content e. Sister Rosetta Tharpe is absent in the music section, as is Nina Simone , though this could be a result of a broader, societal gender bias.
Images, charts, and graphs are used well and clearly explained. The historical content is fine, but the text is almost 9 years out of date and there is a great deal of content that needs to be updated. Making the necessary updates may take some time since the content is tightly written and there are reflections of the date of publication throughout the examples used, images presented, and media discussed. Using this text in class would require the instructor to provide supplemental content on newer advancements in media.
Important terms are defined and each section includes an overview to set a context and clearly defined learning objectives. The language, terminology, and organization of the text is consistent throughout.
This makes moving between chapters easy since they follow a similar format. With a few exceptions chapters 1 and 2 , the text lends itself well to using different sections at different points. Where there are self-references, there is typically a hyperlink to the section referenced. This is useful for those reading the text online, but less useful if printed sections of text were used.
Chapters 1 and 2 clearly present a structure that the following chapters follow. The only chapter that seems to really break that flow is Chapter 16, but that is more a result of the text being so out of date than a significant change in structure.
I found the online reading format the easiest to navigate. The Word and PDF versions are somewhat more awkward to navigate without using a search keyboard function. There were a couple minor typos, but no significant grammatical errors that might impact comprehension. The readability assessment via MS Word indicated a reading grade level of There is a heavy focus on US media, which is acknowledged early on in the text.
More integration of content related to global media would strengthen the text. There should be more examples that integrate multiple forms of diversity, such as gender, ability, age, sexuality, race, and ethnicity.
Additionally, without an update, younger students may not understand some of the references. It would be great to see an update in the content of this text for that also incorporates broader perspectives of multiple identities and global perspectives. As is, I would use sections of the text and supplement that content with more current examples and issues.
Balancing the cost of textbooks in this field with the quality and recency of the content is an ongoing challenge. This OER is very comprehensive. I used it for an online course as a PDF textbook. While this discipline evolves faster than any other communication area I teach, this book remains solidly grounded in a wide variety of resources and foundational While this discipline evolves faster than any other communication area I teach, this book remains solidly grounded in a wide variety of resources and foundational theories.
The examples in this book are often dated. This is my one very mild criticism of this text and only reflects the nature of the information.
As we grow into new media and adapt as a society to those delivery methods, it's only natural. I actually use updating the examples in the textbook as an assignment for students. Some closer to up-to-date examples that I have added into my teaching of the course and to the materials are: "Fake news" and social media's role in spreading it, especially in terms of Facebook and the last election Data mining and algorithm practices "Listening" devices and digital assistants, like Siri and Alexa The subculture of podcasts Business models — both for artists and consumers — of streaming services across all media The chapter on convergence is short and could be a text all on its own.
Information relating to this topic is sprinkled throughout the book, but the concept itself is so important to analyze that I like to think about it on its own. This is an area I will beef up in future semesters for my own students.
Streaming services and online journalism overall are two areas that I have noted to update and reference in nearly every chapter. The short segments and snippets of information are very helpful and clear for students.
It's all very digestible and the vocabulary is at just the right level. And this consistency helps the reader understand their prompts and what to do next — and additionally the important topics to take away. I love how this text can be reordered very easily. Since it's so comprehensive, I actually omit a couple of the chapters radio and magazines to take the info at a slower pace and have never struggled with remixing other chapters.
In fact, I plan to blend Chapters 11 and 16 Social Media and New Technology for my upcoming semesters and have no doubt the text and materials will allow for this. I like how the chapters primarily focus on one medium at a time.
The interface is reliable and easy-to-use. I deliver it as a PDF within my online classroom software. I have never had issues with students downloading and reading on multiple devices — or even printing and referencing — based on their preferences.
This book is very concise and grammatically crisp. It's clear that the authors of the version I am using valued precision in their language and it helps students to see this resource as high-quality!
Cultural and societal relevance are important in this discipline and it's purposely covered in each and every chapter. However, as I mentioned earlier, the examples are outdated in many cases.
So I layer this into class discussions and supplement with further readings and assignments. I always include a key assignment on this topic. It's also an area I plan to emphasize even more in the future — particularly the idea of tastemaking and gatekeeping. There are many crossovers to many examples that are more up-to-date than the version of the text I have been using.
I love this book and it is on-par with many others I have reviewed for my Introduction to Mass Communication class. The title Understanding Media and Culture: An Introduction to Mass Communication suggests that we are looking at a comprehensive introductory text.
In my opinion, this book is the most valuable to GE courses and entry level courses across Mass Comprehensiveness rating: 2 see less. In my opinion, this book is the most valuable to GE courses and entry level courses across Mass Communication disciplines, as it does excellent job in covering the fundamentals of mass communication. The textbook is heavy on history, which is a great thing. In comparison with other introductory texts, the content is generally up-to date with current trends.
Yet, the distribution of attention towards various forms of media tends to be slightly disproportional. As a communications practitioner and an instructor, I was pleased to see information on the merge of paid media and social media content partnerships and native advertising being the prime examples, albeit these particular terms were not used by the author.
On the other hand, some aspects of current media landscape such as the role of mobile apps, for instance could be explored further. The text is written in simple, easy-to-understand language and would be appropriate to non-native speakers.
The book is organized in rather non-trivial fashion, without a unified approach to chapter categorization. Yet, I found this approach refreshing. I loved that the author suggests specific learning outcomes for each section example: "Distinguish between mass communication and mass media" , key takeaways, and practical exercises. The question bank provided as part of this textbook is a treasure box! The chapters are designed to be used selectively, in no particular order.
Big plus. The content is presented in chronological pattern: from past to future. Other than that, I did not trace much consistency in the material.
For instance, Media and Culture is followed by Media Effects, after which the author switches to reviewing various forms of media Radio, Magazines, Newspapers, etc. I find to be an advantage, as the subsections may be used selectively, and the order may be easily redesigned.
I found the navigation to be very easy. Good interface. I found the content USA-centric. For this reason, it may have limited application to global courses such as Global Citizens Project courses offered at USF. The majority of case studies are drawn from the United States; much attention is paid to the history of mass media in the USA and current U.
More international references would enhance the points made by the author. It is important for students to understand that major trends in mass communication, such as convergence of the media, are not unique to the United States. Similarly, increasing media literacy should be positioned as a global, rather than national, priority. It is a great introductory text that provides a current overview of various forms of media and highlights the role of mass communication in society.
The book should be the perfect fit for my course Understanding Media, as it indeed covers all of the subject matter of the course. The problem is that it is not up to date and therefore detracts from the complete picture that each one of these The problem is that it is not up to date and therefore detracts from the complete picture that each one of these topics delves into.
For example, the music section poses the question: How do the various MP3 players differ? It refers to Spin as a magazine it ceased its print operations in Or in the section on television, there is a question about the war between satellite and cable television.
I think the winner of that is neither, as streaming a la carte is what people are talking about in as the direction TV is going in.
This criticism, of course, is obvious and easy. It's actually an exhaustive book that does contain a wealth of useful information, although no glossary or index — glaring omissions. Unfortunately, it suffers from not being up to , when we are living in an up-to-the-second world. Especially in a field like media studies, it makes this book unusable in its entirety. The chapter ethics and economics aren't as badly out of date.
It is accurate for the time it was written in, but in today's world, much of this doesn't hold up. Just one example, there is the claim that Reader's Digest has the third highest circulation of all magazine, which is no longer the case in It is not in good shape.
Even the references to "President Obama," obviously show that it was written a different era with a very different landscape for the media world. Still, the great majority of it appears to be represented fairly, albeit in an outmoded way. It's just that the trends and latest innovations in won't even make sense to a college freshman whose frame of reference likely came about three years after. Content is up-to-date, but not in a way that will quickly make the text obsolete within a short period of time.
Obviously, this is a major weak link of the textbook. I've already commented on this, but I think any time the textbook is referring to MySpace or Friendster in a way that suggests that they are viable social media sites, it makes itself into a caricature of an outdated guide. No real problem here. The book is fully clear, well-written and to the point. The problem is that the point was made in That said, there is no glossary or index.
Again, this book is solid as a foundational textbook to get students the basic information regarding the history and meaningful cultural highlights of different forms of media. From radio to media and democracy, the lessons are thorough and contain useful and important information. It's just that some of this information is outdated.
The book is quite easy to read, the organization is fine and reads like any typical textbook. I will say that there have been advancements made, and that this book should be more interactive and multi-media if it wants to keep up with the Joneses.
It's fine in this regard. The writing itself is great and it's broken up nicely. Very readable and I wish it was up to date because it's a solid textbook. This is fine for , but there is no interactivity or video or things to let us know that we are in It's basic and fine, but nothing stands out are particularly innovative. Again, this is the fatal flaw of the book.
It's just not going to be persuasive if it doesn't manage to maintain the sensibilities of someone in Between politics and technology there have been extreme shifts in the media in the past few years and a book like this would need to be updated monthly to stay relevant. It could work as a historical document to see how people thought in , but not really as a relevant book today. The textbook hits the standard areas for a typical Introduction to Mass Communication course: evolution of media industries, media and society, media effects and theories, media law and ethics, the digital age, and global media.
It is It is comprehensive in its case studies and historical events that are typically taught for an Introduction to Mass Communication course. The text is current as there is a chapter on the Internet and Social Media and several chapters look at the digital revolution as it impacts media industries. There is no glossary or index, however. Instructors will have to rely on chapter sections for lesson planning. From Gutenberg to Apple and Google, the book provides content that is accurate on the development of media.
The author thoroughly cites case studies and provides questions for critical thinking about issues affecting media industry trends and on the impact of the media on the public.
Statistics, data and trends are appropriately cited for reference check on accuracy of estimates. Case studies and citations stop at However, the author makes projections for media trends up to Since media industries are most vulnerable to yearly change, the information in the book holds for now, although the positions of some of the digital media players have changed since the book has come out.
However, the author is careful to clarify dates for events that were transformative for media industry changes, at the point in which these events occurred, even if changes have occurred since the book was published in Within another 5 years, the book is likely to need some updates to digital age developments.
The language used is accessible for a first year student taking an Introduction to Mass Communication course. The theory, ethics and law chapters are broken down for a level course. The case studies and critical thinking boxes are useful in helping to break down and apply a wealth of information in the text for students to conceptualize the importance of historical events and their social or cultural impacts. The author is clear on defining media industries, digital convergence and common theories in mass communication.
The text follows the standard logic for media introduction courses moving students through print, to audio, to film to broadcasting and to the digital age. The author wisely weaves in the impact of new media in each of these phases of evolution so the student does not have to wait until the end of the text to see the impacts of the changes of the industry, as they understand media to be today.
While the interface is simple, all graphics and text boxes, as well as assignments are designed similarly throughout the text and easy to locate as an e-text for student work. It was important for me to see examples of race, gender and global dimensions of the media represented as case studies, assignments and critical thinking in the book. I did however see no mention of the black press, or the work of alternative media in introduction narratives left out of the mainstream media.
However, most introductory media textbooks, also leave this out. If this is an interest area for diverse students, unfortunately instructors are left to source that information themselves. But the most prominent case studies for diverse groups can be found in this text. This is a valuable resource.
I hope the author would consider updating in a few years for recent developments and important case studies such as the BlackLivesMatter movement and President Donald Trump's election for an examination of media literacy. This text is rather comprehensive, at least for the time it was published. It covers pretty much any topic one might want to cover in a Media and Society or introductory media and communications class, though for those interested in topic areas It covers pretty much any topic one might want to cover in a Media and Society or introductory media and communications class, though for those interested in topic areas like journalism, advertising, and public relations, this textbook is much more about the history of those areas than how they are surviving and functioning today and that's fine with me; I can update with information that's more recent.
There is no index at least in this form , and there is no glossary, but terms are well-defined within each chapter and within pull-out boxes as well. Often in a textbook for media and society or media history, one can see the author's world view shining through - is capitalism too much for media? Should media creators take an "unbiased" view of the world?
How is a medium influenced by the way it is funded? The book has a solid conversational tone and is authoritative on its history, but I might prefer a little more analysis of media ownership and consolidation. As for accuracy, yes, the facts seem quite accurate to the best of my knowledge, and the text is written and edited by someone with a journalist's view of language - it's useful, it's best done well, and occasionally it lends itself to some essayistic moments.
I'm not sure there's a way to write a book like this that can keep it relevant past the month in which it was written, much less seven years later. Many of the examples the author uses to illustrate music, social media, books, newspapers some of which don't exist anymore , magazines ditto , etc. I am giving it a 3, but really it's more like a 2. The book is accessible and lucid, absolutely. As with any history of a large discipline, the book contains a fair amount of jargon that is relevant to each portion of the subject matter covered, and the book is good about not only giving context and giving definitions but also setting aside boxed or special areas for examples that reinforce what it's talking about.
The key takeaways at the end of each chapter, added to the exercises that are meant to help the students understand what's important in the dense historical detail and context of each chapter, are helpful as well.
This book is wonderfully consistent with terminology and the framework it employs to discuss media across a wide range of areas. From the beginning of each chapter, where an introduction lays out the plan of the chapter, to the end of each chapter - where a box of "key takeaways" explains what students should have learned - the book keeps a tone of very slightly amused detachment, mixed with earnest passion for certain topics, throughout, which is utterly consistent with how media people actually live their lives.
The text is definitely modular. It's written in a way that could easily be read in various chunks as the instructor or professor wishes to assign it. Blocks of text are broken up with images, a few charts, and a few stories that are boxed and that illustrate examples of topics within the chapters.
Do you start with the printed word? But then, what about radio? Should radio come closer to magazines or closer to movies and TV?
In that case, where do audiobooks and podcasts go? So, even as any instructor would grapple with these sorts of questions, the book is laid out in a way that made sense to the author - and that can be ripped apart and reassigned by each instructor. There's no need to read economics at the end of the course; perhaps, despite the fact that it's at the end of the book, it should come at the front end of the course - and because it's modular enough for flexibility, that's not a problem.
I read the textbook on my desktop Kindle and on my phone. It's not super with the images or charts, and the boxed questions and exercises at the end are especially hard to take. This interface could use a little attention, at least in the Kindle applications area. It's not impossible; it just needs some work. Gallup first asked this question in and has continued to do so nearly every year since The latest findings, from Gallup's annual Governance poll conducted Aug.
Republicans' trust has not recovered since then, while Democrats' has risen sharply. In fact, Democrats' trust over the past four years has been among the highest Gallup has measured for any party in the past two decades.
This year, the result is a record percentage-point gap in trust among the political party groups. Partisans' trust in the mass media when it comes to reporting the news fully, accurately and fairly since This is the widest gap in trust between Democrats and Republicans that Gallup has recorded.
While majorities of Democrats have consistently expressed confidence in the media since , this has not been true of independents since Republicans' last majority-level reading for trust in the media was in Americans' confidence in the media to report the news fairly, accurately and fully has been persistently low for over a decade and shows no signs of improving, as Republicans' and Democrats' trust moves in opposite directions.
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