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Routledge
The following review appeared in the October 2015 issue of CHOICE. The review is for your internal use only. Please review our Permission and Reprints Guidelines or email permissions@ala-choice.org.
Humanities
Communication
Carlson (St. Louis Univ.) and Lewis (Univ. of Minnesota) contribute admirably to scholarship about boundary work in journalism by pulling together well-honed research by recognized scholars. The editors point out that social practices continually engage in boundary protection, repair, and extension. Journalism defends its values and behaviors from political, entertainment, and commercial interests that would invade the practice. In addition, journalists embrace citizen reporters and commentators who will accept the values of journalism, expanding the boundaries of professional media. The book is organized in two sections. The seven essays in part 1 do an excellent job of examining how journalists engage in boundary work to protect their practice’s professionalism, norms, and values. The five essays in part 2 do equally well looking at how journalists confront nonjournalistic actors, including political players and citizen journalists, in news making. The book excels because contributors apply relevant theory and original research to examine a particular subject within the larger context of how journalists go about the task of protecting and expanding the boundaries of the practice. The book has a global dimension, including research on media experiences in Europe, South America, and Asia as well as the US.
--J. L. Aucoin, University of South Alabama