Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture

by Tony Kelso, Brian Cogan Ph.D.

Overview

Whether it's television, radio, concerts, live appearances by comedians, Internet websites, or even the political party conventions themselves, the mixing of politics and popular culture is frequently on display. The Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture examines the people, major events, media, and controversies in eight thematic chapters and over 150 entries to provide an invaluable resource for any student, scholar, or everyday political junkie needing a comprehensive introduction to the subject.

On a typical weeknight in the United States, millions shun the traditional evening network news broadcasts and, instead, later grab their remotes to turban to Comedy Central to catch up on the political happenings of the day, delivered by the comedian Jon Stewart on the faux news program, The Daily Show. Immediately afterwards, they might stay tuned to The Colbert Report for another dosage of hilarious, fake news that, to them, comes across more honestly than the serious version they could watch on CNN. Whether it's television, radio, concerts, live appearances by comedians, Internet websites, or even the political party conventions themselves, the mixing of politics and popular culture is frequently on display. The Encyclopedia of Politics, the Media, and Popular Culture provides in-depth coverage of these fascinating, and often surprising intersections in both historical and contemporary culture.

This highly readable and entertaining encyclopedia provides a sweeping survey of the historic and ongoing interplay between politics, the media, and popular culture in eight thought-provoking chapters. The volume is enhanced with the inclusion of over 150 entries to help students and researchers easily locate more in-depth information on topics ranging from political scandals to YouTube.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780313343797
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Academic
Publication date:	10/30/2009
Pages:	399
Product dimensions:	6.90(w) x 10.00(h) x 1.20(d)

About the Author

Brian Cogan is a writer and professor who has written extensively on music and popular culture as well as music criticism.

Tony Kelso is associate professor in the Department of Mass Communication at Iona College, New Rochelle, NY.

Editorial Reviews

For academic libraries that support programs in political science, popular culture, or media studies, this will be a valuable addition to their reference collections.” —ARBAonline

“Cogan (communication arts, Molloy Coll.) and Kelso (mass communications, Iona Coll.) have penned an engaging and well-researched book about the intersection of politics, media, and popular culture. . . . This volume fully succeeds in providing students with a better understanding of how politics infiltrates popular culture. A solid addition to academic library collections.” —Library Jourbanal

“Eight in-depth essays. . .provide concise history and objective analyses that will be useful for reports. . . . The browsing opportunities alone are worth the purchase price, but students will be particularly grateful for articles on outlets such as CNN and NPR, media portrayals of the recent presidents, various figures in entertainment who are or were politically active (Chris Rock, John Lennon), TV shows, and such concepts as 'Apple Pie (as symbol).” —School Library Jourbanal

“Media in this country has helped shaped culture, which has affected politics, which in turban has influenced how those same media behave. The inter-relatedness of these societal elements is distinctive. Part I of this book is thematically organized by chapter examining these relationships from both a historical and contemporary perspective. Part II presented alphabetically arranged entries for people, programs, and events related to these subjects. The book succeeds at being a handy reference work, or just a fun volume to peruse.” —Reference & Research Book News

“Targeted to undergraduates, this work would support cross-disciplinary classes. Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and general readers.” —Choice

“This highly-readable encyclopedia provides in-depth coverage of popular culture's effect on politics. Recommended.” —Library Media Connection

“This book is an interesting and engaging mélange which handily … accomplishes what it sets out to do … Enjoyable to just thumb through, it is recommended for both academic and public library reference collections, as it will appeal to a variety of audiences.” —Reference Reviews

From the Publisher

Cogan (communication arts, Molloy Coll.) and Kelso (mass communications, Iona Coll.) have penned an engaging and well-researched book about the intersection of politics, media, and popular culture. Part 1 is an overview of the different media and their relationship to politics and popular culture, with ten thought-provoking chapters covering everything from political movies to politics online and providing readers with broad and useful overviews. Any words or phrases highlighted in bold in this part of the book appear as actual entries in the second part. Part 2 is an extensive list of 150 entries on everything from the Marx Brothers to Twitter and including people, events, online social networks, and television, radio, or news shows. BOTTOM LINE This volume fully succeeds in providing students with a better understanding of how politics infiltrates popular culture. A solid addition to academic library collections.—Diane Fulkerson, Univ. of West Georgia, Carrollton

Library Journal

Gr 10 Up—Eight in-depth essays, including "Political Movies" and "Entertaining News and Political News Satire," provide concise history and objective analyses that will be useful for reports. For example, "Politics Online" opens with a short history of the Internet and then discusses its impact on the American political landscape under such subheadings as "Social Networking and the Democratization of Media" and "Political Blogs." Following these essays are shorter, alphabetically arranged entries covering past and present aspects of political culture. The browsing opportunities alone are worth the purchase price, but students will be particularly grateful for articles on outlets such as CNN and NPR, media portrayals of the recent presidents, various figures in entertainment who are or were politically active (Chris Rock, John Lennon), TV shows, and such concepts as "Apple Pie (as symbol)." The index and the selected bibliography are extensive, and the latter lists many recent articles that can be read for free online. An ebook version, available for separate purchase (pricing available from the publisher by request), provides the same text, which can be read sequentially or searched by keyword. In addition, many terms within the text are hyperlinked, but this feature is unreliable. Clicking on a term usually results in being brought to the relevant text, but sometimes users are given a linked citation (e.g., clicking on "Facebook" in the "Politics Online" section returns the linked result "See Part 1, Chapter 8…"); and some links lead to unrelated information.—Henrietta Thornton-Verma, School Library Journal

School Library Journal