The next American president will likely be the candidate who crafts the best "impression" in the media. It is the job of social studies teachers to help students separate impressions from substance and to understand the role that media play in crafting people's meaning making and shaping their decision making. Social studies teachers can help…

Looks at how intellectuals in the second quarter of the twentieth century responded to the rise of radio broadcasting, recovering some rich ideas about interactivity and intimacy in mass communication. Suggests that radio and television marked the end of mass communication understood as a form of communication that constitutes its audience and…

With the latest appointment to the United States Supreme Court, five of the nine justices have indicated a willingness to consider some form of camera coverage in federal courts. The landmark cases, Estes versus Texas (1965) and Chandler versus Florida (1980), called for more data prior to reconsideration of the issue. An in-depth examination of…

Discusses the relation between radio broadcasting and politics in the 1924 presidential campaign, focusing on newspaper and magazine coverage. Notes radio's influence on candidate image, the aspect of censorship, and the use of radio during the campaign and after the election. (MM)

Suggests that United States history contains many incidents of violence directed against news media and their personnel. Provides historical examples of four patterns of violent activity against the media: (1) personal assaults; (2) majoritarian; (3) antigroup; and (4) inclusionary violence. Notes a contemporary view of the media as mainstream and…

The policies initiated by broadcasters for campaign coverage during the 1924 presidential election influenced the treatment of political candidates on the air and helped set the stage for inclusion of the equal opportunities clause in the Radio Act of 1927. AT&T, RCA, and General Electric formed policies to treat candidates fairly in…

Examines television news coverage of the first days of the 1979 Iranian hostage crisis. Discovers patterns that reinforce terrorist strategy by focusing causation for the crisis on institutional targets and suggesting that military intervention would reestablish control. Suggests that media portrayals of terrorist events support the rhetorical…

This paper argues that the Children's Television Act of 1990 (CTA) required television broadcasters to air educational and informational children's programming, but Federal Communications Commission (FCC) policy did little to clarify the definition of "educational and informational." The paper first examines the historical…

Describes conditions in the 1920s, and moves into the era of Hoover and Roosevelt. Relates what it was like to live in a world that did not have television and when radio was a young industry. Concludes with a plea to the media to stop being deceived by public relations ploys from all levels of industry and government. (PA)

This classic, definitive study of Black images in American movies has been completely revised and updated to include new chapters on the films of the 1970s and 1980s. This new version of the book reveals the way in which the image of Blacks in American movies has changed--and also the way in which it has remained the same. Following a preface to…

A study examined public relations aspects of the police confrontation and bombing of the revolutionary Black group, MOVE, in Philadelphia, in which 11 persons were killed, 250 were left homeless, and 61 homes were destroyed. It explored if and how race affected the crisis and whether Black media and general media were treated differently. City…

Icelanders are a highly literate people, their culture tied together by perhaps the most complete written tradition of any modern nation. No wonder, then, that the tiny island country seemed in no rush to develop a television broadcasting system. Indeed, it is questionable whether television would have been in demand at all if not for outside…

Despite the fact that both national and regional statistics show that violent crimes (murder, non negligent manslaughter, aggravated assault, robbery, and forcible rape) in the U.S. have been declining in recent years, many believe that violent crime rates have been steadily escalating. Exaggerated media portrayals of violence, including both news…

Contrary to the prevailing view that 1952 was the year of the first nationally televised political conventions, only 32 states had TV stations at that time; nor did the term "TV candidate" originate in the Kennedy (1960) or Nixon (1968) campaigns. In fact, it is Dwight Eisenhower and the campaign of 1956 that deserve this recognition.…

Presents a study which focuses on the use of network radio in the presidential campaigns of 1932 and 1936. Discusses the use of performance skills and sales techniques in broadcasts made by the Democrats and Republicans over the two major networks: the Columbia Broadcasting System and the National Broadcasting System. Examines how radio…