[ecrea] New Book: Contemporary Journalism in the US and Germany: Agents of Accountability

New book announcement:
Contemporary Journalism in the US and Germany: Agents of Accountability
by Matthias Revers (University of Frankfurt)
Palgrave Macmillan US (2017)
http://link.springer.com/book/10.1057%2F978-1-137-51537-7

This book challenges the idea that Western media systems are becoming 
more American in the digital age, arguing that journalistic cultures are 
not only significantly different from each other still but also variably 
open and resistant to change. Drawing upon extensive field research of 
political reporters and examination of discourses of journalistic 
professionalism as well institutional analysis, this book finds that 
occupational norms and values of journalism in the US are vigorously 
upheld but in fact relatively porous and malleable. In Germany, by 
contrast, professional boundaries are rather strong and resilient but 
treated matter-of-factly. Revers argues that this is both a consequence 
of institutional arrangements of media systems and historically evolved 
cultural principles of journalism in both countries which mutually 
constitute each other.

“Matthias Revers has written a terrific cross-national ethnographic 
study of political news reporting in two leading democracies. He draws 
out the similarities and differences between Germany and the United 
States with compelling observations and quotes, and he explains his 
findings with a sophisticated blend of cultural sociology and field 
theory. Revers is sometimes critical, but never cynical: one comes away 
from this book with a renewed appreciation of how much civic values 
still matter for journalists, in profound and meaningful ways that 
affect all of us.”

– Rodney Benson, Professor of Media, Culture, and Communication, New 
York University, USA, and author of “Shaping Immigration News”

“This is first-rate scholarship. Cross-national studies of the news 
media are unusual; those based on ethnographic research are rare indeed. 
This rich, well-conceived, and deeply thoughtful work illuminates both 
German and American journalistic values and practices. It’s a treasure!”

– Michael Schudson, Professor of Journalism and Adjunct Professor of 
Sociology, Columbia University, USA

“No one is foolish enough to think of news media as a transparent window 
into political action, but few consider the national differences in how 
the work that journalists do to construct mediated realities for their 
readers.  This study of local political reporting in Albany and Munich 
unpacks German and American reporters’ beliefs about professionalism, 
objectivity and fairness to explain significant differences in how they 
walk the line between facts and opinion.”

– Myra Marx Ferree, Alice H. Cook Professor of Sociology, University of 
Wisconsin, USA, and co-author of “Shaping Abortion Discourse”

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: Introduction: Textures and Porosities of Journalistic Fields
Chapter 2: Contextualizing US and German Journalism
Chapter 3: The Sacred Discourse of Journalistic Professionalism
Chapter 4: Staking Out the Boundaries of Professionalism: Good and Bad 
Journalism
Chapter 5: Competitive Collegiality: The Press Corps Environment
Chapter 6: Embedded Political Reporting: Boundary Processes and Performances
Chapter 7: Digital Media and the Diversification of Professionalism
Chapter 8: Conclusion: Occupational Cultures and Journalistic Fields in 
Germany and the USA
Appendix: Methods

ISBN: 978-1-137-51536-0 (Print) 978-1-137-51537-7 (Online)
270 p.


---------------
The COMMLIST
---------------
This mailing list is a free service offered by Nico Carpentier. Please
use it responsibly and wisely.
--
To subscribe or unsubscribe, please visit http://commlist.org/
--
Before sending a posting request, please always read the guidelines at
http://commlist.org/
--
To contact the mailing list manager:
Email: (nico.carpentier /at/ vub.ac.be)
URL: http://nicocarpentier.net
---------------