Justin Lewis – författare

Is polling a process that brings "science" into the study of society? Or are polls crude instruments that tell us little about the way people actually think? The role of public opinion polls in government and mass media has gained increasing importance with each new election or poll taken. Here Lewis presents a new look at an old tradition, the first study of opinion polls using an interdisciplinary approach combining cultural studies, sociology, political science, and mass communication. Rather than dismissing polls, he considers them to be a significant form of representation in contemporary culture; he explores how the media report on polls and, in turn, how publicized results influence the way people respond to polls. Lewis argues that the media tend to exclude the more progressive side of popular opinion from public debate. While the media's influence is limited, it works strategically to maintain the power of pro-corporate political elites.

Is polling a process that brings "science" into the study of society? Or are polls crude instruments that tell us little about the way people actually think? The role of public opinion polls in government and mass media has gained increasing importance with each new election or poll taken. Here Lewis presents a new look at an old tradition, the first study of opinion polls using an interdisciplinary approach combining cultural studies, sociology, political science, and mass communication. Rather than dismissing polls, he considers them to be a significant form of representation in contemporary culture; he explores how the media report on polls and, in turn, how publicized results influence the way people respond to polls. Lewis argues that the media tend to exclude the more progressive side of popular opinion from public debate. While the media's influence is limited, it works strategically to maintain the power of pro-corporate political elites.

Television Studies: The Key Concepts is the definitive reference guide to an area of rapidly expanding academic interest. Among those aspects of television studies covered in this comprehensive and up-to-date guide are:theoretical perspectives which have shaped the study of television - Marxism; semiology; feminismconcepts which have shaped the study of television - narrative; representation; biastelevision genres - soap opera; news; science fictionmethods used for understanding television - content analysis; audience researchrelevant social, economic and political phenomena - ownership; social policy.

Television Studies: The Key Concepts is the definitive reference guide to an area of rapidly expanding academic interest. Among those aspects of television studies covered in this comprehensive and up-to-date guide are:theoretical perspectives which have shaped the study of television - Marxism; semiology; feminismconcepts which have shaped the study of television - narrative; representation; biastelevision genres - soap opera; news; science fictionmethods used for understanding television - content analysis; audience researchrelevant social, economic and political phenomena - ownership; social policy.

First published in 1990, this investigative overview of the politics of arts’ and cultural funding examines the question of public support for the arts. Looking at both popular commercial forms of culture, including radio, pop music and cinema, and the more traditional highbrow arts such as drama and opera, Art, Culture and Enterprise was the first book of its kind to deal systematically with the politics of contemporary culture. Drawing examples from specific British venues, Justin Lewis shows how innovative projects work in practice, and considers arts marketing and the promotion of culture as an economic strategy. A particularly relevant title in the context of the debate surrounding Arts Council funding, this reissue will prove valuable for artists, administrators and students of media and cultural studies, alongside those with a general interest in the future of public art and culture.

First published in 1990, this investigative overview of the politics of arts’ and cultural funding examines the question of public support for the arts. Looking at both popular commercial forms of culture, including radio, pop music and cinema, and the more traditional highbrow arts such as drama and opera, Art, Culture and Enterprise was the first book of its kind to deal systematically with the politics of contemporary culture. Drawing examples from specific British venues, Justin Lewis shows how innovative projects work in practice, and considers arts marketing and the promotion of culture as an economic strategy. A particularly relevant title in the context of the debate surrounding Arts Council funding, this reissue will prove valuable for artists, administrators and students of media and cultural studies, alongside those with a general interest in the future of public art and culture.

Originally published in 1991, this introduction to studying the television audience discusses developments in semiology and cultural studies and their contribution to our understanding of the power of television.How, in the most precise and intricate sense, does television influence the way we think about the world? What ideological role does it play in contemporary culture? Does TV control us or do we control it? This insightful book assesses the progress in responding to these questions and offers some answers of its own. In the 1980s, with the emergence of semiology and cultural studies in particular, there were a number of significant theoretical developments in our understanding of television's power of which this book provides an overview while also incorporating traditional approaches. It suggests that television influences us ambiguously and unpredictably, depending upon who we are and how we think. Ambiguity does not blunt television's power, it simply diversifies it into a very modern kind of omnipotence. Employing two major qualitative audience studies, this impressive study illustrates its argument with findings that are both unexpected and disturbing.

Critical Cultural Policy Studies: A Reader brings together classic statements and contemporary views that illustrate how everyday culture is as much a product of policy and economic determinants as it is of creative and consumer impulses.

Critical Cultural Policy Studies: A Reader brings together classic statements and contemporary views that illustrate how everyday culture is as much a product of policy and economic determinants as it is of creative and consumer impulses.

Consumer capitalism dominates our economy, our politics and our culture. Yet there is a growing body of research from a range of disciplines that suggests that consumer capitalism may be past its sell-by date.Beyond Consumer Capitalism begins by showing how, for people in the developed world, consumer capitalism has become economically and environmentally unsustainable and is no longer able to deliver its abiding promise of enhancing quality of life . This cutting-edge book then asks why we devote so little time and effort to imagining other forms of human progress. The answer, Lewis suggests, is that our cultural and information industries limit rather than stimulate critical thinking, keeping us on the treadmill of consumption and narrowing our vision of what constitutes progress. If we are to find a way out of this cul de sac, Lewis argues, we must begin by analysing the role of media in consumer capitalism and changing the way we organize media and communications. We need a cultural environment that encourages rather than stifles new ideas about what guides our economy and our society.Timely and compelling, Beyond Consumer Capitalism will have strong appeal to students and scholars of media studies, cultural studies and consumer culture.

Consumer capitalism dominates our economy, our politics and our culture. Yet there is a growing body of research from a range of disciplines that suggests that consumer capitalism may be past its sell-by date.Beyond Consumer Capitalism begins by showing how, for people in the developed world, consumer capitalism has become economically and environmentally unsustainable and is no longer able to deliver its abiding promise of enhancing quality of life . This cutting-edge book then asks why we devote so little time and effort to imagining other forms of human progress. The answer, Lewis suggests, is that our cultural and information industries limit rather than stimulate critical thinking, keeping us on the treadmill of consumption and narrowing our vision of what constitutes progress. If we are to find a way out of this cul de sac, Lewis argues, we must begin by analysing the role of media in consumer capitalism and changing the way we organize media and communications. We need a cultural environment that encourages rather than stifles new ideas about what guides our economy and our society.Timely and compelling, Beyond Consumer Capitalism will have strong appeal to students and scholars of media studies, cultural studies and consumer culture.

What does effective research and development look like in the creative industries and how might it lead to successful innovation? This book is an answer to that question.Building upon place-based creative industry research, the book focuses on evidence from the media sector, while encompassing a range of creative practices, from digital tourism to dance. Leveraging unique empirical data from the Welsh creative industries, the authors map a series of pathways for creative businesses. In so doing, the book offers new frameworks for assessing innovative practice and highlights options for tailored institutional funding.Channelling research insights, this shortform book helps researchers, policy-makers and reflective practitioners to understand how to deliver effective strategies for the creative sector.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

What does effective research and development look like in the creative industries and how might it lead to successful innovation? This book is an answer to that question.Building upon place-based creative industry research, the book focuses on evidence from the media sector, while encompassing a range of creative practices, from digital tourism to dance. Leveraging unique empirical data from the Welsh creative industries, the authors map a series of pathways for creative businesses. In so doing, the book offers new frameworks for assessing innovative practice and highlights options for tailored institutional funding.Channelling research insights, this shortform book helps researchers, policy-makers and reflective practitioners to understand how to deliver effective strategies for the creative sector.The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Originally published in 1991, this introduction to studying the television audience discusses developments in semiology and cultural studies and their contribution to our understanding of the power of television.How, in the most precise and intricate sense, does television influence the way we think about the world? What ideological role does it play in contemporary culture? Does TV control us or do we control it? This insightful book assesses the progress in responding to these questions and offers some answers of its own. In the 1980s, with the emergence of semiology and cultural studies in particular, there were a number of significant theoretical developments in our understanding of television's power of which this book provides an overview while also incorporating traditional approaches. It suggests that television influences us ambiguously and unpredictably, depending upon who we are and how we think. Ambiguity does not blunt television's power, it simply diversifies it into a very modern kind of omnipotence. Employing two major qualitative audience studies, this impressive study illustrates its argument with findings that are both unexpected and disturbing.

Climate Change and the Media brings together an international group of scholars to discuss one of the most important issues in human history: climate change. Since public understanding of the issue relies heavily on media coverage, the media plays a pivotal role in the way we address it. This edited collection – the first scholarly work to examine the relationship between climate change and the media – examines the changing nature of media coverage around the world, from the USA, the UK, and Europe, to China, Australasia, and the developing world. Chapters consider the impact of public relations and fictional programming, the relationship between public understanding and media coverage, and the impact of the media industries themselves on climate change. At a time when governments must take action to alleviate the catastrophic risk that climate change poses, this collection expertly details the pivotal role the media plays in this most fundamental of issues.

Climate Change and the Media brings together an international group of scholars to discuss one of the most important issues in human history: climate change. Since public understanding of the issue relies heavily on media coverage, the media plays a pivotal role in the way we address it. This edited collection – the first scholarly work to examine the relationship between climate change and the media – examines the changing nature of media coverage around the world, from the USA, the UK, and Europe, to China, Australasia, and the developing world. Chapters consider the impact of public relations and fictional programming, the relationship between public understanding and media coverage, and the impact of the media industries themselves on climate change. At a time when governments must take action to alleviate the catastrophic risk that climate change poses, this collection expertly details the pivotal role the media plays in this most fundamental of issues.

Hunter Thompson’s writing is widely read and studied, yet as a methodology and body of work his Gonzo journalism has not been the subject of much critical or theoretical examination. This book fills the gap by constructing a coherent theoretical framework around Gonzo journalism.Drawing on theories of subjectivity and authorship from Derrida, Foucault and Barthes, key themes of Gonzo journalism are considered, including edgework, representations of drug use, ideas of professional objectivity in political journalism, sports in American culture and ‘the death of the American Dream’. It is considered in wider social, political and historical contexts and in terms of boundaries of reportable experience and of objectivity and/or journalism.Matthew Winston’s study provides a critical commentary and a theoretical exploration of how Gonzo can be read as destabilising conventional ideas of journalism itself, in its peculiarly unclassifiable nature.This book is designed to be read by postgraduates and scholars in journalism, cultural studies and media and communication. It is also suitable as an undergraduate text dealing with journalism theory, literary journalism, sports journalism, the New Journalism and the wider historical contexts of American journalism.

It is now more than a quarter of a century since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published their first comprehensive report on the dangers posed by anthropogenic global warming. Over the last twenty-five years the weight of evidence about the causes and consequences of climate change has become compelling. The solutions are fairly simple—we must switch to more sustainable and efficient forms of energy production. And yet they remain elusive—globally we produce significantly more greenhouse gases now than we did back in 1990. The sad truth is that this inaction has made climate change inevitable—the only question that remains is whether we can prevent it spiraling out of control. How do we explain this colossal global failure? The problem is political rather than scientific: we know the risks and we know how to address them, but we lack the political will to do so. The media are pivotal in this equation: they have the power to set the public and the political agenda. Climate Change and the Media, Volume 2 gathers contributions from a range of international scholars to explore the media’s role in our understanding of the problem and our willingness to take action. Combined, these chapters explain how and why media coverage has, to date, fallen short in communicating both the science and the politics of climate change. They also offer guidance about how the media might shift from being the problem to becoming part of the solution.

It is now more than a quarter of a century since the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change published their first comprehensive report on the dangers posed by anthropogenic global warming. Over the last twenty-five years the weight of evidence about the causes and consequences of climate change has become compelling. The solutions are fairly simple—we must switch to more sustainable and efficient forms of energy production. And yet they remain elusive—globally we produce significantly more greenhouse gases now than we did back in 1990. The sad truth is that this inaction has made climate change inevitable—the only question that remains is whether we can prevent it spiraling out of control. How do we explain this colossal global failure? The problem is political rather than scientific: we know the risks and we know how to address them, but we lack the political will to do so. The media are pivotal in this equation: they have the power to set the public and the political agenda. Climate Change and the Media, Volume 2 gathers contributions from a range of international scholars to explore the media’s role in our understanding of the problem and our willingness to take action. Combined, these chapters explain how and why media coverage has, to date, fallen short in communicating both the science and the politics of climate change. They also offer guidance about how the media might shift from being the problem to becoming part of the solution.

‘This is pop history told from a delightfully original perspective.’ Daily MailWith entries for every day of the year, ranging from mini-essays to pithy and engaging sentences, Don’t Stop the Music is a novel musical companion – a way of charting your year through the major events and tiny incidents in the lives and careers of pop stars and recording artists, spanning 130 years of unmissable musical milestones from 1894 to the present day.Whether it be when pop became newsworthy; when future stars attended notable gigs; when that K-Pop act issued their first single; or when Elvis Presley found himself on TV singing ‘Hound Dog’ to a basset hound, there are surprising and enlightening events from the history of popular music for every single day of the year. And esteemed music writer Justin Lewis has compiled them all for you, informatively and divertingly.***‘A wonderful ride through our pop universe amongst thousands of bright stars, gnarled debris and twinkling nuggets of music and events made distant over time. Lewis has made all of it up-close and vivid through this indispensable companion for anyone who loves music and popular culture. Whatever the age of the reader, it’s brimming with new discoveries and triggering classics: memories and signposts make this an intoxicating music journey!’ Peter Curran‘This is an astonishing book, a calendar of pop, an almanac of songs, a day by day in the life of music. A book of events that’s an event in itself.’ David Quantick‘An absolute must for all music fans, Lewis' addictive volume is packed to the gills with facts, trivia, notable events and pure pop nuggets.’ Waterstones‘A brilliant musical almanac, compiled by an engaging writer whose musical knowledge is not just detailed but wide-ranging and generous.’ Jonathan Coe

‘This is pop history told from a delightfully original perspective.’ Daily MailWith entries for every day of the year, ranging from mini-essays to pithy and engaging sentences, Don’t Stop the Music is a novel musical companion – a way of charting your year through the major events and tiny incidents in the lives and careers of pop stars and recording artists, spanning 130 years of unmissable musical milestones from 1894 to the present day.Whether it be when pop became newsworthy; when future stars attended notable gigs; when that K-Pop act issued their first single; or when Elvis Presley found himself on TV singing ‘Hound Dog’ to a basset hound, there are surprising and enlightening events from the history of popular music for every single day of the year. And esteemed music writer Justin Lewis has compiled them all for you, informatively and divertingly.***‘A wonderful ride through our pop universe amongst thousands of bright stars, gnarled debris and twinkling nuggets of music and events made distant over time. Lewis has made all of it up-close and vivid through this indispensable companion for anyone who loves music and popular culture. Whatever the age of the reader, it’s brimming with new discoveries and triggering classics: memories and signposts make this an intoxicating music journey!’ Peter Curran‘This is an astonishing book, a calendar of pop, an almanac of songs, a day by day in the life of music. A book of events that’s an event in itself.’ David Quantick‘An absolute must for all music fans, Lewis' addictive volume is packed to the gills with facts, trivia, notable events and pure pop nuggets.’ Waterstones‘A brilliant musical almanac, compiled by an engaging writer whose musical knowledge is not just detailed but wide-ranging and generous.’ Jonathan Coe

THE ARTS DESK – BEST BOOKS OF 2025An epic compendium of stories and trivia from the 80s music scene ‘It’s almost indecently entertaining’ The Mail on Sunday'Justin Lewis tells pop's never-ending story brilliantly' David QuantickThe eighties was one of the most innovative periods in the history of pop music – and even forty years on remains one of the best-loved, championed by radio, television, advertisements, theatre and films, with many of the acts still performing and recording. Into the Groove is a tale of pop and circumstance. It charts the global story of pop music month by month from January 1980 to December 1989, highlighting a variety of events and tracing the career paths of many noteworthy pop acts around the world, including Annie Lennox, A-ha, Roxette, Prince, Madonna, Kraftwerk, David Bowie, Whitney Houston, Sugarcubes – and many more. It celebrates genres of all kinds – the enduring and the faddish, the mainstream and the underground, from post-punk to acid house, from heavy rock to electronic, from hip hop to teen pop – showcasing many of the decade’s key recordings, figures and events, while also revealing plenty of intriguing lesser-known stories to create a wry and diverse musical tapestry.The perfect gift for any music lover or eighties aficionado, Into the Groove is an endlessly entertaining homage to the 1980s music scene. ‘A treasure chest of pop riches ... I loved this book!’ Samira Ahmed‘Forensic, forthright and downright unputdownable’ Ian WadeREVISIT THE ULTIMATE DECADE IN MUSIC HISTORY·        1980: Blondie’s Debbie Harry sings ‘Call Me’ with the Muppets on their TV variety series.·        1981: Kicking off with ‘Video Killed the Radio Star’ by Buggles, MTV in the US becomes the first 24-hour TV music station in the world.·        1982: Newcomers Culture Club replace an unavailable Shakin’ Stevens for their Top of the Pops debut. ·        1983: The compact disc and the karaoke machine are launched in the UK.·        1984: Rick Rubin’s new Def Jam record label specialises in a mix of hip hop and rock, introducing LL Cool J and the Beastie Boys.·        1985: Duran Duran, Madonna, Phil Collins and U2 are among the dozens of artists appearing at Live Aid for Africa, which raises millions to ease famine relief. ·        1986: ‘Love Can’t Turn Around’ and ‘Jack Your Body’ become the first House records from Chicago to cross over into the mainstream.·        1987: In Australia, Neighbours actor Kylie Minogue records her first single – with a cover of ‘The Loco-Motion’.·        1988: Seventeen-year-old MC Lyte, with Lyte as a Rock, becomes the first ever female rapper to release a full album.·        1989: Members of New Order, The Smiths and Pet Shop Boys join forces for Electronic’s single ‘Getting Away with It’.

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH has played detective and monster, barrister and scientist, politician and painter, comic and spy. Still only in his thirties, he has become one of Britain's foremost acting talents, excelling in theatre, television, radio and cinema. With a string of starring and supporting roles, he has portrayed contemporary icons, historical figures and fictional favourites, from Stephen Hawking, to William Pitt the Younger, to Frankenstein. He has become a radio comedy staple too, as the bungling airline pilot Captain Martin Crieff, in Radio 4's Cabin Pressure. But inevitably, he is still best known for his idiosyncratic and boldly 21st century incarnation of Sherlock Holmes in the BBC TV series, Sherlock. In this book, Justin Lewis traces Benedict Cumberbatch's career to date, from his early promise in Harrow School plays, through his first supporting roles in film, theatre and TV, to national and international acclaim. He examines his considerable contributions not only to Sherlock, but also to Sir Tom Stoppard's adaptation of Parade's End on television, and to feature films such as Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy, Star Trek Into Darkness and War Horse.