Reviewed by Sascha Thürmann In their Handbuch Politischer Journalismus, Marlis Prinzing and Roger Blum planned to take on the brave experiment of representing the totality of political journalism in modern European democracies. There is no doubt that this is a major challenge given the diversity and crucial significance of political journalism.
Reviewed by Fabian Prochazka Journalism is just one of many things on offer in the digital public sphere. User-generated content sticks to news like limpets on a ship’s hull: It is a rare article that finds readers without comments, ›likes,‹ or a friendly recommendation in the family WhatsApp group. But how does this ›metacommunication‹ shape the way recipients assess quality?
Reviewed by Lukas Herzog / In his practitioners’ manual as part of the Gelbe Reihe series, Sven Preger brings together two phenomena that are the subject of intense discussion at the moment: podcasts and storytelling. He thus finds it impossible to omit the trigger for the ongoing boom in podcasting, the American production Serial, addressing it right at the beginning in order to dispel some of what he considers common misconceptions on the success of the series.
Reviewed by Ralf Spiller / The terms storytelling and narrative have become buzzwords, states Michael Müller right on the first page of his book, and would be evaluated very differently, in part also negatively. He contends that as »storytelling animals,« we humans would be thinking in narrative structures in a wide array of areas.
Reviewed by Ursula E. Koch / 2019 was a great year for literature on the history of press illustrations. It saw the publication of both the fact-packed »Künstlerlexikon« Bilder in der Presse by art and cultural historian Detlef Lorenz and the present publication by Mannheim historian and media history expert Konrad Dussel. The title of his pioneering work refers to the phrase »the medium is the message«, coined more than 50 years ago by Canadian philosopher and communication theorist Marshall McLuhan.
Reviewed by Johannes Gemkow / In her textbook Medienanalyse, Sabine Schiffer describes the media-guided construction of meaning and presents media-analytical procedures. The author’s objective was to create a hands-on textbook for daily practice, which means that it ought to be clear and descriptive, and feature practical examples.
Reviewed by Guido Keel / Journalism, which plays a key role in the political, economic, and social development of countries, is facing two challenges at once: First, it must find its role in social transformation. It must determine whether it should help strengthen political and economic structures as a government-loyal actor, or whether it should question the changes as a critical observer. Secondly, it must – at least in part – first build the necessary (infra-)structures, or reform them to create a new self-image.
Reviewed by Hektor Haarkötter / Journalist and university lecturer Peter Welchering published a volume on digital research in the »Essentials« series by Springer VS. In a compact brochure format, Springer Essentials provide concise overviews of a variety of topics, often practical or pragmatic.
Reviewed by Steven Thomsen / It is more than 30 years since the spirit of this book began its long journey through the institutions. Men and women in print journalism, who were given a copy of Michael Haller’s Die Reportage during their own degree or apprenticeship, are themselves now teaching and researching, leading departments and editorial offices, guiding trainees, or giving advanced training to deskmen and reporters.
Reviewed by Silke Fürst / Having paid little attention to local journalism in the past, journalism research is now taking much more of an interest in the field. This is linked both to the vital role local journalism plays and to the challenges presented by digitalization and the competition for attention and advertising revenue. Even today, local journalism, and the local press in particular, is extremely important not just to many users, but also to community life in villages and towns, as well as ensuring a diversity of information within the media system as a whole.
