NEWS IN THEIR POCKETS

Since the debut of the iPhone in 2007 the mobile phone has become a quick convenient and immensely popular gateway for accessing and consuming news. With three billion mobile phone subscribers Asian countries have led this seismic shift in news consumption. They provide a wide range of opportunities to study how as mobile technology matures and becomes routinized mobile news is increasingly subject to societal constraints and impositions of political power that reduce the democratic benefits of such news and call into question the application of these technological innovations within governments and societies. News in Their Pockets explores the societal technological and userrelated factors behind why and how digitalsavvy college students seek news via the mobile phone across Asias most mobile citiesShanghai Hong Kong Singapore and Taipei. Situating crosssocietal comparative analyses of mobile news consumption in Asia within a digital and global context this volume outlines the evolution of the mobile phone to its prominence in disseminating news offers predictors of patterns in mobile news consumption investigates user needs and expectations and illustrates future impacts on civic engagement from mobile news consumption. By examining the interplay between gamechanging and empowering communication technology and constraining social systems News in Their Pockets provides the framework necessary for constructive continuing debates over the promise and peril of digital news and exposes our underlying reasoning behind the adoption of the mobile phone as the allinone media of choice to stay socialized entertained and informed in the modern digital age.