It's All Done With Mirrors: About Television

by Helen Martin, Geoff Lealand

Because we have all watched such a lot o television, we tend to regards ourselves as e3xperts on the subject. This book, written by two leading figures in Television Studies in New Zealand, argues that to be fully informed and educated about this most important aspect of New Zealand life, we need to know a lot more. Taking readers through ways of understanding and studying television (and its relationship to other media), the authors provide the concepts, terms and structural approaches which are essential knowledge for both students and teachers. Because of its emphasis on New Zealand, this book informs both the Visual Language strand of the New Zealand English Curriculum, and the burgeoning area of Media Studies. There is also a great deal here of interest to the general reader, in the form of details about how television works, the role of the television audience, and why we have the kind of television we have in New Zealand. The authors draw on their wide experiences of teaching, writing, researching and working in the New Zealand media. Their intention is to increase critical understanding and appreciation of television, and to share the pleasure in knowing why it matters.

283 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2001