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An encyclopedia of news media in the US from English censorship in 1662 to the O. J. trial, discussing seminal people, processes, institutions, technologies, and events both within the industry and covered by it. Among the topics are muckrakers, advertising, the Kefauver Hearings, Rupert Murdoch, Thomas Paine, William Lloyd Garrison, and Joseph Pulitzer. Articles include references in addition to the general bibliography. Also includes a chronology. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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Library Journal Review

With television networks changing ownership and newspapers under siege from cyberspace, this book provides a welcome overview to just what is meant when we refer to the American media, historical and current. In this one-volume encyclopedia by Hollis (history, Jacksonville State Univ.), entries running up to several pages cover media companies, individual newspapers, magazines, broadcast networks, influential people, concepts (e.g., prior restraint, yellow journalism), and events affected by the media and vice-versa, such as wars, presidential debates, and congressional hearings. Some items are up-to-date through 1994, and Hollis includes on-line services and virtual reality. Readers may quibble with choice of emphasis, e.g., two pages for Barbara Walters but no separate entry for Walter Cronkite, but this is a good addition for libraries owning such titles as Trade, Industrial, and Professional Periodicals of the United States (LJ 5/1/94).-Bruce Rosenstein, "USA Today" Lib., Arlington, Va. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

CHOICE Review

Hollis's brief coverage of selective "notable firsts" and of media organs and personalities having "significant influence" is not as thorough as Donald Paneth's The Encyclopedia of American Journalism (CH, Dec'83). Although some entries in Hollis are longer, many are not, and the Paneth volume covers a far greater number of topics. Even the difference in date is not necessarily significant, as Hollis's entry for The Detroit News makes no mention of the joint operating agreement between the News and the Free Press in 1989. Hollis's brief chronology pales in comparison to Robert V. Hudson's Mass Media: A Chronological Encyclopedia of Television, Radio, Motion Pictures, Magazines, Newspapers and Books in the United States (CH, Oct'89). Libraries that own these earlier volumes will not need this one, but since Paneth is out of print and Hudson has only short entries, Hollis's scant view of the media in America may be helpful. T. Link; Michigan State University

Booklist Review

This latest volume in the ABC-Clio Companion series attempts to document the development of radio, television, newspapers, and magazines. The author is a historian, and the book's emphasis is on the historical, rather than the contemporary. More than half the alphabetically arranged entries cover specific newspapers, magazines, and important people in their history, such as Joseph Pulitzer, Walter Lippmann, and Benjamin Franklin. There are also entries for the TV networks and famous TV journalists, such as Edward R. Murrow. Entries treat concepts such as freedom of the press, such important media organizations as press clubs and the Associated Press, and such innovative technological advances as online services. In all, the book contains more than 250 entries. The introduction provides a succinct overview of the media in American history, in which the author discusses the role of government in its development, the impact of the alternative media on traditional media, and the impact of government censorship. The entries that follow are from one to two pages in length. Familiar names are found, such as the New Yorker, William F. Buckley, the Pulitzer Prize, the American Broadcasting System, and the newspaper Stars and Stripes. Important historical events are treated, such as the abolitionist movement, which the author points out "was the first time that the ability of the media to influence public opinion on social issues emerged." Some important subjects are given short treatment (e.g., National Public Radio) or are omitted (e.g., American Spectator). There is only one general article on the motion picture industry and nothing on book publishing except a brief history of Publishers Weekly. The author has a poor grasp of new technologies. He writes, for example, that "the chief use of the Internet is multiuser dimension, or MUD." The author includes references for further reading at the ends of entries and provides see references, when necessary. Following the entries are a chronology that runs from 1662, when the English Parliament passed the Licensing Act to allow government censorship of printing, to 1995 and the O. J. Simpson trial. A seven-page bibliography of books consulted in compiling the encyclopedia is arranged by author and is followed by a subject index. The entries here are well written but lack the depth to be useful in academic libraries. This companion is, however, recommended for purchase by public and high-school libraries that need an overview of this field. (Reviewed December 1, 1995)

Notas de autor provistas por Syndetics

Daniel W. Hollis III , PhD, is professor of history at Jacksonville State University, Jacksonville, AL.