Abstract
I have just wrapped up a year and have begun another as an editor of this book reviews section. I would recommend a stint as an editor—or simply assiduously read these reviews each quarter—to anyone who wants to break out of the silo of their own research interests. Our field, as some political parties like to say, is a “big tent.” It ranges across many areas and disciplines, and that fact is reflected in these pages. One caveat, however. In a time when it seems nine out of every ten new positions for hire in communications colleges use the term “digital” or some permutation of in their job ads, and in a time when books—both scholarly and popular—dealing with the digital arena are flooding the market, it strikes me as a paradox that I am seeing so little enthusiasm for these books from reviewers. Thus, I would like to use this little soapbox to request that you encourage any faculty members with digital research interests to check out the book list on the reviewers’ blog at http://jqbookreview.wordpress.com/
But, you really only need a smattering of interest, I would argue. I am probably not supposed to do this, but I would point to a recent review of the book Spreadable Media by the renowned sociologist and communication scholar Elihu Katz that appeared in Public Books. In the review titled “Don’t Throw Anything Out,” and available at http://bit.ly/1bHFxSD, Katz begins by saying,
I am too old to review this book. It aims to address media scholars, communication professionals, as well as active and curious members of the new participatory culture. I belong in the first category, but I hardly qualify as part of the third.
Yet, unhindered by hesitation, Professor Katz proceeds with an exegesis of the text, and in the process relates this next big thing to the founders and foundations of our field. It is a gem of a review, and I would recommend reading it, but not before you dip into this edition’s offerings. Those begin with a review by Sue Burzynski Bullard of Writing on the Wall: Social Media—The First 2,000 Years, a book by the digital editor at The Economist who puts social media in context by arguing that there is nothing new about its foundation, which can be found in the technologies of more than two thousand years ago. This review is one of two dealings with the digital world. The other, reviewed by Jim Sernoe, is Student Speech on the Internet: The Role of First Amendment Protections, which looks at how online expression dovetails with the iconic high court cases dealing with students and freedom of expression. Another book dealing with law is Arthur S. Hayes’ review of the Routledge Handbook of Media Law, which he describes as “an indispensable resource for anyone seeking to understand the intersection of media, law, and society in a global context in the digital age.” And for careful readers, I should note this description appeared in “Book Notes” in the last edition, but for whatever reason, the review did not appear.
In the international arena of this edition, we have Michael S. Sweeney’s Death Zones and Darling Spies: Seven Years of Vietnam War Reporting, which looks back on the author’s seven years as a reporter covering the early years of American involvement in the Vietnam War, from 1962 to 1969. More contemporaneously are Catherine Cassara’s review of Al Jazeera English: Global News in a Changing World—essentially a debate by many authors about both Al Jazeera English and its coverage of the Global South. And Adina Schneeweis reviews a special issue of a journal and a book on development communication. In addition, Jim Scotton reviews Media Commercialization and Authoritarian Rule in China, which “examines China’s commercial newspapers and argues that they actually help the Communist regime to stay in power.”
Similarly, Guido H. Stempel III reviews Opinion Polls and the Media: Reflecting and Shaping Public Opinion. Stempel writes that this is an “excellent description” of polling throughout the world—especially in the part it plays in making news; Hugh M. Culbertson reviews Citizen Journalism: Valuable, Useless or Dangerous?—an overview of how and why citizen journalism has developed and has covered particular events and issues in at least ten nations and regions; and Rosanne Pagano reviews American Culture Transformed: Dialing 9/11, which looks at “a post-9/11 America littered with angels, demons” through the lens of semiotics and sociology. Two reviews of this edition explore the media and LGBT. They are LGBT Transnational Identity and the Media, reviewed by Dane S. Claussen, and Coming Out of the Closet: Exploring LGBT Issues in Strategic Communication with Theory and Research, reviewed by Tiffany Derville Gallicano.
Two books in this edition deal with television: Kathleen Collins’ review of How to Watch Television, a collection of forty models of textual analysis, authored by highly qualified TV and media studies scholars; and Transmedia Television: New Trends in Network Serial Production, reviewed by Christopher Medjesky, who observes that the book “seeks to advance our understanding of how today’s television functions to create meaning as well as researchers’ methods for understanding those functions.”
Two on journalism history are John M. Coward’s review of Thomas Nast: The Father of Modern Political Cartooning and The Confederate Press in the Crucible of the American Civil War, reviewed by Donald Shaw and Thomas Terry. They describe this as a “superb book”—both in its documentation and narrative style—but also in the fact that it manifests the virtues of journalism history and the often-marginalized importance of journalism historians in the academy.
Also included in this edition are books on the craft of journalism, Bradley Wilson’s review of The Old Editor Says: Maxims for Writing and Editing, which the author touts as “a crusty old editor’s brisk maxims about the craft”; a book on advertising theory simply titled Advertising Theory, which the reviewer, Jason Tham, extols as “a comprehensive synthesis of the vast literature in the area and that provides a deeper understanding of the underlying facets of advertising” that both challenges and advances existing theories; and, finally, a book on the relationship between the media and the sports industry, Repairing The Athlete’s Image: Studies In Sports Image Restoration, reviewed by Anthony Moretti.
Letter to the Editor
Thank you for publishing a review of my latest book, Weighing Anchors: When Network Newscasters Don’t Know Write From Wrong, in your autumn issue. I especially liked the review’s appraisal that “its message demands your attention.”
My goal in writing Weighing Anchors was to point out the slackening in the quality, accuracy, and integrity of network newscasts.
But I want to correct something in the review. The author said, “Block focuses one blog post on [Brian] Williams.” In fact, the table of contents lists eight articles that focus on Williams; about nine thousand words, none complimentary.
The reviewer says I “never explain why MSNBC and Fox News are exempt from . . . evaluation and criticism.” My focus, as I said in the preface, was on the networks’ evening stars. MSNBC does not have an evening newscast. At 6:30 p.m. ET, when ABC, CBS, and NBC are presenting their evening news, MSNBC is showcasing the Rev. Al Sharpton.
As for Fox, its news transcripts did not become available until around the time I submitted my manuscript. But the index of my book refers to nine Fox scripts that were faulty.
No one was exempt from criticism, as evident in the book: not Wolf Blitzer, not Tom Brokaw, not Katie Couric, not Charles Gibson, not Lester Holt, not Peter Jennings, not Steve Kroft, not Lara Logan, not David Muir, not Scott Pelley, not Dan Rather, not Diane Sawyer, not Bob Schieffer, not Bob Simon, not Morley Safer, not Lesley Stahl, not Jake Tapper, and not Mike Wallace. No one.