John Fiske (media scholar)

John Fiske (September 12, 1939 – July 12, 2021) was a British, Australian, and American media scholar and cultural theorist. His primary areas of scholarly interest included cultural studies, critical analysis of popular culture, media semiotics, and television studies. After retiring emeritus, he became an antiques dealer.

He was the author of eight academic books, including Power Plays, Power Works (1993), Understanding Popular Culture (1989), Reading the Popular (1989), and the influential Television Culture (1987) and Reading Television (1978). Fiske was also a media critic, examining how cultural meaning has been created in American society and how debates over issues such as race have been handled in different media.