AR - Media- 2003

2003

AR -- Media

Metzler-Lexikon Medientheorie-Medienwissenschaft: Ansätze, Personen, Grundbegriffe [Metzler Lexicon of the Theory and Study of Media: Approaches, Individuals, Basic Concepts]. Ed. Helmut Schanze. Stuttgart; Weimar: Metzler, 2002. viii, 380 p. 24 cm. ISBN 3-476-01761-3: EUR 39.90 [03-1-070]

The editor of this Metzler encyclopedia sees it as closing the gap between the Metzler-Lexikon Literatur- und Kulturtheorie (see RREA 5:86) and the Metzler-Lexikon Kultur der Gegenwart (see RREA 7:282). Editor Schanze, in answering the call of the publishing house for a mixture of articles on topics and personalities, leaves the details of what should be subsumed under “theory and study of media” to his 80 collaborators, his “society of the media savvy.” One innovation is the introduction of main articles in addition to the Metzler standard of smaller topical and personal articles. This allows for a quick overview of the encyclopedia’s emphases: these range from the realms of the book and literature to those of television and film to music, radio, and newspapers, with overarching concerns for the ethics, esthetics, psychology, sociology, economics, history, politics, law, technology, and theory of the media. Bibliographical references from the articles are compiled into a bibliography in the appendix. The encyclopedia does not deliver finer details of topical content or personal data; it is more an encyclopedia for reading than for reference. Some other Metzler encyclopedias give more focused specifics. This work is an introduction to media theory and theorists for students, beginning or advanced, in cultural studies. Perhaps more useful would be an encyclopedia of “media” that would integrate and enumerate the realms of media alongside their theoretical and empirical implications. [wub/rdh]

Das Lexikon der TV-Moderatoren: Anekdoten, Fakten und Sprüche aus 50 Jahren TV-Geschichte [Lexicon of TV Moderators: Anecdotes, Facts, and Quotations from 50 Years of TV History]. Michael Völkel et al. Berlin: Schwarzkopf & Schwarzkopf, 2003. 591 p. ill. 24 cm. ISBN 3-89602-524-4: EUR 24.90 [03-1-076]

This volume contains portraits of television moderators, a group rarely covered in biographical dictionaries. The entire history of the 50-year-old genre is not hard to cover. The articles, nearly all by author and compiler Michael Völkel, make interesting reading. Each contains a heading with the person’s name (both real and stage names), dates (when available), and titles of the television programs with sponsoring networks in chronological order. The text reveals more or less personal information, especially as it applies to the person’s media career (including radio and film), and some family data. Some articles include a black-and-white photo of the TV personality; one wonders why they couldn’t all have had one, given the public nature of these persons. The one-page bibliography at the end contains titles on German television and talk shows, not about the individuals. This work is useful for both public and academic libraries. [sh/hh]

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