Category: Review

Reviewed by Beatrice Dernbach | In fall 2022, Richard David Precht and Harald Welzer’s book Die Vierte Gewalt [The Fourth Estate] hit the media sector like a hurricane. In my three decades of teaching and research in media and communication studies and many years working as a journalist in newspaper editorial offices, I cannot remember another book on media ever having spent months on the bestseller lists or having triggered such outrage in the sector.

Reviewed by Jürg Häusermann | Alla Grigor’evna Bespalova was born in 1956. I imagine that she grew up reading Komsomol’skaja Pravda, listening to songs on Radio Mayak, and watching Soviet television shows. Horst Pöttker, born in 1944, was just learning to read when the first editions of the newspaper Bild appeared. Following the Manual of Journalistic Genres, they are now presenting the result of their collaboration, a collection of essays and materials entitled Media Systems in Germany and Russia.

Reviewed by Martina Thiele | What particular characteristics do people who report on wars and crises have? How do they differ from other journalists who are not on the front line? And how do female war reporters differ from their male colleagues?

By Fritz Hausjell, Wolfgang R. Langenbucher, Maria Beinborn (contributing co-author) / The idea of selecting and presenting the best books written by journalists is a project of the Institute for Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Vienna, co-founded by Hannes Haas (1957-2014) and compiled by Wolfgang R. Langenbucher and Fritz Hausjell. In 2020 and 2021 the publication of the recommendation list had to be temporarily suspended due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The collecting of relevant books, however, was not: more than 100 copies were sent in for review during this period. Starting in 2023, the project will return to a normal rhythm, publishing a recommendation list three times a year. For the selection of books published in 2020 and 2021 we will proceed differently since these books have already resonated with an audience, receiving (often journalistic) criticism. Therefore, we will summarize characteristic quotes of book reviews by daily and weekly newspapers.

Reviewed by Marlis Prinzing / When truth becomes blurred, the biggest problem is not the lie itself, but the loss of orientation. The volume Medien und Wahrheit provides an interpretative order, insights, and concrete food for thought and calls to action from an ethical perspective. The book thus also lays down theoretical foundations, which makes it an important work beyond the immediate present.

Reviewed by Julian J. Rossig / Following the 2008 publication of Global, lokal, digital: Fotojournalismus heute, which can, without exaggeration, be considered a milestone in journalism research, Elke Grittmann and her co-author Felix Koltermann are now presenting a follow-up volume: Fotojournalismus im Umbruch – hybrid, multimedial, prekär is a compilation of 18 contributions from academia and practice, providing a multifaceted, up-to-date overview of the profession of photojournalism.

by Fritz Hausjell / Wolfgang R. Langenbucher / Maria Beinborn (contributing co-author) / The idea of selecting and presenting the best books written by journalists is a project of the Institute for Journalism and Communication Studies at the University of Vienna, co-founded by Hannes Haas (1957-2014) and compiled by Wolfgang R. Langenbucher and Fritz Hausjell. With Journalism Research, a new medium for publication has been found.

Reviewed by Ralf Spiller

The term »Peace Journalism« first emerged around 1900. Social science has been researching the concept for about 25 years. But what exactly is Peace Journalism? Is it journalism about peace? A normative concept of what constitutes good reporting? Or something else entirely? Kempf’s short book sheds light on the issue.

Reviewed by Beatrice Dernbach

Trust has become a buzzword in public communication in recent years. While people do trust science in times of crisis, as evidenced by the Science Barometer by Wissenschaft im Dialog, politicians and journalists do not enjoy much of it. In empirical research, trust in (!) journalism is often and still equated with media trust, which is not the same thing.