"Twenty-eight experts examine broadcasting in 24 countries in this essay handbook. John Lent takes on Cuba and India; Benno Signitzer and Kurt Luger look at Austria; and Marvin Alisky reports on Chile, Mexico, and Peru. Other included countries are Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, the Federal Republic of Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Japan, Kenya, Korea, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia, the Soviet Union, Sweden, and the United States. According to the introduction, "At present no reference work exists where one can readily ascertain what the broadcast structure is in a given nation and how it came to be. By filling this void, we hope that our work will make a substantial contribution to the field of international broadcasting." This they have done. Most essays include a bibliography; information on history, regulation, economic structure, programming, new technologies, and broadcast reform; and a conclusion and/or forecast. What type of information can be found under "broadcast reform"? In Israel, for example: The reaction against the "leftist mafia," a nickname coined for broadcasters, has been strongly felt in programming and personnel appointment policies. A popular TV satirical program was taken off the air in the late 1970s in response to harsh political criticism. The television prime-time weekly news magazine, broadcast on Friday nights, was cancelled in the mid-1980s on the grounds that the Israeli people should not be exposed to "demoralizing" news on the Sabbath eve." (Jo A. Cates: Journalism - a guide to the reference literature. Englewood, Col.: Libraries Unlimited, 2nd ed. 1997 nr. 445)