Anne O'Keeffe, Investigating media discourse. London: Routledge. 2006. Pp. x, 180. Pb $24.99.

Researchers who examine media discourse play in a field made wide by the polysemy of both of the constituent terms that name it. While “media” texts appear in newspapers, on television, on the web, on the radio, in film, in books, and in magazines, among others, most studies can only afford to focus on a single medium and on a single layer of media production or media language. And “discourse” presents its usual problems of site and scale: Are we examining cultures, professions, performances, texts, and/or linguistic features? Although all of these can claim to be parts of discourse, most studies can only afford to focus in detail on a single layer.