Battleground: The Media » (Two Volume Set)

ROBIN ANDERSEN is Associate Professor of Communication and Media Studies, as well as Director of the Peace and Justice Studies Program at Fordham University. She is the author of A Century of Media, A Century of War (2006) and Consumer Culture and TV Programming (1995), and coeditor of Critical Studies in Media Commercialism (2000). She appears frequently as a media analyst for a variety of media outlets and educational documentaries. Andersen is also the series editor for Praeger's New Directions in Media series.

JONATHAN GRAY is Assistant Professor of Communication and Media Studies at Fordham University. He is author of Watching with The Simpsons: Television, Parody, and Intertextuality (2006) and the forthcoming Television Entertainment, and is co-editor of Fandom: Identities and Communities in a Mediated World (2007) and the journal Popular Communication: The International Journal of Media and Culture.

There are many controversial aspects of today's media system, and this captivating encyclopedia examines the most significant topics currently being debated. Arranged alphabetically, approximately 100 entries cover background, definitions, notable programs, significant media events and their historical significance, and important future trends. Issues from sexuality to sensationalism, from surveillance to tabloid news, are covered here in an incisive and informative manner. Coverage of on-going developments and new media technologies combine with the work's timely subject matter to make this an especially relevant set.

Entries contain an array of thoughtful perspectives on current controversies, and allow readers to formulate their own conclusions. Topics include: Al-Jazeera; anonymous sources; the blogosphere; CNN, Fox, MSNBC, and cable talk; celebrity worship; censorship; conglomeration and media monopolies; fear-mongering; google books; homogenization; independent cinema; the iTunes effect; obscenity/indecency; leaks and national security; online pornography; politics and internet journalism; privacy & surveillance; product placement; propoganda; tabloid news; videogames; and violence. Entries also include further reading sources.

Donald Altschiller - Library Journal

In 1964, Canadian academic Marshall McLuhan declared that the "Medium is the Message." More than 40 years later, the role of media in American life seems even greater. This two-volume collection, a new installment in Greenwood's "Battleground" series edited by Andersen (director, peace & justice studies, Fordham) and Gray (communications & media studies, Fordham), surveys media-related topics from Al-Jazeera to the blogosphere to satirical news shows that have often created controversies. The entries, ranging from a few paragraphs to several pages and including bibliographic references, vary greatly in quality. Some essays are useful and concise (e.g., "Disabilities and the Media" and "Dating Shows," which includes a possibly unique chronology); entries like "Islam in the Media" repeat the oft-cited claims about stereotyping but don't discuss the overwhelmingly negative but seldom examined portrayal of the West and Westerners in the Arab and Muslim media.