John Fiske is quite probably one of the most important voices in popular culture criticism today. His name is synonymous with reader-oriented analysis (which explores how readers interpret/use texts, as opposed to text-based, which seems to assume that readers have no agency in interpreting texts). And not only is he important, he is brilliant and--dare I say it about academic criticism--FUN. His celebration of the reader in this book is enlightening and admirable. I recommend this book to anyone.

John Fiske takes us into the television world that we take for granted. He analyzes such aspects as Professional Wrestling, Dallas, daytime soap operas, M.A.S.H., the A-team, Miami Vice, Magnum p.i. and Saturday Night Live. He incorporates magazines (Playboy, Vogue), movies (Rambo, Mad Max) and famous celebrities (Madonna). He even looks into game shows such as the Family Feud, and The New Price is Right. He takes a look into the white culture of American media in order to examine televisions influence in popular culture. He explores the questions of why mass population consumes this form of cultural industry. He answers such questions as, who watches what programs and why? How does televisions become so aborted into social lives? Fiske explores the cultural process in which gives these show their meanings. It is an interesting and enlightening insight. It is useful when exploring other sociological theories relating to mass media and popular culture.

This an excellent book, that teels the reporter what needs to be done when writing engineering and techincal reports. I like its organization and skillful thoughts. The book provides hints on how to write lab and project reports. It has 14 chapters. It answers many questions on Writing Style and Report Format. I really like the samples that the author presents. He provides exampls of miscues in technical writings and suggests solutions. The book talks about how to deal with equatins, figures, photographies, and many important elements in report writing.

This publication gives the reader a dynamic understanding of the nature of mankind as it relates to power. We are able to see ourselves as we struggle to control everything in our environment under the disquise of seeking to understand things. It is extremely abstract and should be read with others to discuss general content and have group feedback. It offers some reasonable solutions to the problems in American culture today.

Fiske is one of the few intellectuals considering the media in an easily accessible way whose work doesn't fall into the boring, and woefully inadequate school of 'the media is making every child a killer' stupidity. He carefully and with relevance examines just how media audiences use media texts to produce what we want from them: we are not as controlled by the evil corporate powers as much as either they or knee-jerk reactionary critics would like us to believe. A thoroughly well written and engaging read, and one that will challenge your mind in great ways

John Fiske is a professor at the University of Wisconson-Madison and has done a fair bit of research concerning culture, its portrayal in the media, and its effects. This book, (Media Matters) takes a different perspective and does a good job of exploring what causes political change, how that political change affects people and the role that the media and dominant culture plays in this process. Fiske does a good job of explaining his position and backs up his writings with examples that most poeple can understand and relate to. Fiske has written many books concerning popular culture and the effects of television on culture and many of those same concepts carry over to this book. If you have read and enjoyed his other writings, then I think you'll find that this book follows in the same tradition.