Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

A necessity for the professional journalist's library, Journalism: State of the Art will prove a valuable resource for the student journalist as well. This book summarizes some 200 media studies many from the most prestigious journal in the trade, Journalism Quarterly . In a paraphrased-synthesis format, and using informal terms, the author arranges some of the most interesting studies of the 1980s into eight subject headings including: Ethics Law, and the Journalist; Advertising in the 1980s; Polling and Precision Journalism; and Predictors of Readership and Viewship.

For many years there has been a gap between media researchers and the practicing journalist. Published research about journalism as a discipline may receive attention in the classroom but seldom gets in the newsroom. Viewing the gap between the researcher and practitioner, Willis offers comments from both sides. He surveys nearly 150 news executives on media research and gives an insightful look at what factors cause readers or viewers to pay attention to the news media. From trends in the industry to types of audiences, Journalism: State of the Art uses practical research studies presented in an accessible style. Offering the most current data available on media research, this book will prove a great instructional as well as reference tool. It is a must for college journalists, working press, and media marketers.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Preface
• Prologue: The River and the Plain
• The Context of Journalistic Research
• The Journalist according to Research Law, Ethics, and the Journalist
• Predictors of Readership and Viewership
• Journalists and Sources
• Polling and Precision Journalism Advertising in the 1980s Media Effects on the Public Electronic Publishing and Other Wonders
• Epilogue: Researchers, Journalists and the Feud
• Selected Bibliography
• Index

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Willis (Ball State University) has produced a useful guide to research on journalistic issues such as ethics, advertising, sources, readership, and polling. His book would enhance a library's journalism collection. It is not, however, the sort of "good read" that would appeal to many working journalists. This flaw undermines one of the author's primary goals: to bridge the gulf separating "number-crunching" media researchers and "seat-of-the-pants" news practitioners. As a scholar who has worked as a newspaper editor, Willis is convincing about the need to link the academy and the vineyard. In his prologue and epilogue, he clearly--often eloquently--makes the case for more communication, trust, and respect between thinkers and doers. Yet the eight chapters forming the heart of the book might do little to promote his cause. In essence, they summarize dozens of articles that appeared in the 1980s in two prominent research forums, Journalism Quarterly and Newspaper Research Jounal, and arrange the summaries according to theme. This approach has produced a useful compendium, but at the expense of synthesis, analysis, a strong authorial voice, and, yes, the passsion and human interest so necessary to books aimed at building bridges. Levels: graduate and upper-division undergraduate. -A. R. Cannella, Central Connecticut State University

Author notes provided by Syndetics

JIM WILLIS is Associate Professor of Journalism at Ball State University and is an Indianapolis-based consultant to the media. A veteran of 12 years in newspapers, Willis is a former editor at the Dallas Morning News and reporter at the Daily Oklahoman , and he holds the Ph.D. in journalism from the University of Missouri. His first book, Surviving in the Newspaper Business , appeared in 1988.