History 2004 Abstracts
History Division
News across the border: Associated Press in Canada, 1894-1917 • Gene Allen, Ryerson University • The connection between powerful international news agencies and their smaller domestic counterparts is a central characteristic of the international news system. This study of the relationship between Associated Press and Canadian Press illustrates that while AP was the dominant partner, it also pushed the Canadians into forming a functioning domestic news agency despite their reluctance. For both parties, the requirements of telegraphic news affected the structure of their relationship more than national sentiment.
“We See Beyond Tomorrow Now” Progress and Press Promotion of Bonneville Dam • Jon S. Arakaki, New York at Oneonto • For Oregonians living along the Columbia River, the greatest symbols of economic and social advancement, as well as man’s manipulation of nature, are the four large federal dams—Bonneville, The Dalles, John Day, and McNary—constructed between 1933 and 1968. Not only did the dams fulfill its objective of providing navigation, irrigation, hydro-electric power, and flood control—they also transformed the environmental, economical, philosophical, and political nature of the Pacific Northwest. This study examines local press promotion leading up to federal funding approval of the first of these dams, Bonneville (1933)—and more specifically, how the idea of progress was communicated to gain community support for the project.
Moral Duty Trumps Legal Rights On The Other Hutchins Commission • Frederick Blevins, University of Oklahoma • In the mid-1940s, University of Chicago President Robert Maynard Hutchins appointed to study groups – one to examine the state of the press in American, another to explore the feasibility of establishing a new world order. One, the Commission on Freedom of the Press, prompted the social responsibility theory of the press as the other, the Committee to Frame a World Constitution, faded quickly into the footnotes of postwar history. But the press panel’s moderate findings, tempered by remnants of libertarian thinking among a few members, evolved a few months later into a global free press clause that specifically outlined how civil liberties – including expression – could be abridged. The key debate on the press commission brought balance between duties and rights. On the constitution panel, the debates started and finished heavily favoring a maximalist position of duties over rights.
Social Questions Treated in The Catholic World Magazine During the 1884-1897 Transition Period of the American Catholic Press • Jack Breslin, Iona College • The Catholic World magazine, a prominent Catholic monthly periodical, was first published in 1865 by Isaac Hecker, founder of the Paulist Fathers. The World was both a forum for discussion and advocate for change on several key social questions in American life, while staying within Church orthodoxy. In focusing on the treatment of social questions in the World during the 1884-1897 Transition Period of the Catholic American Press, this study offers insights into the perceptions of Catholic clergy and laity during the late nineteenth century.
Covering a Two-Front War: African-American Correspondents during World War II • Jinx C. Broussard and John Maxwell Hamilton, Louisiana State University • This article examines the largely unrecognized area of African-American foreign correspondence during World War II, and it looks at local reporting about the conflict. The Norfolk Journal and Guide, one of the most respected African-American newspapers sent three journalists overseas to cover the war. This article provides a comprehensive analysis of editorials and articles in selected issues of the Journal and Guide between 1940 and September 1945. It finds that the contributions and perspectives of the newspaper and its war correspondents reflected the intense African-American domestic struggle for recognition, inclusion, and equal rights.
“Not in Mexico, But in Colorado!”: Newspapers’ Responses to the Ludlow Massacre • Elizabeth V. Burt, University of Hartford • This paper examines ten daily newspapers’ coverage of the Colorado mine strike and Ludlow massacre in April 1914. It was discovered that these newspapers, which usually displayed little sympathy for labor issues, did not follow the usual pattern of coverage of conflicts between labor and management. Rather than focusing solely on the conflict inherent in such a situation, many of the ten newspapers in the study developed themes unique to the Ludlow situation. One of these themes used the rhetorical argument of a paradoxical appeal to common belief when it compared the situation in Colorado to the ongoing bloody revolution in Mexico The second theme focused on the slaughter of innocents and the horrors of the massacre.
Dear, Kent State: Letters to the Editor from May 1970 • Naeemah Clark, University of Tennessee • On Monday, May 4, 1970, four students were killed on the Kent State campus during a Vietnam War protest. Due to the events of that day, the university was closed for the rest of the semester and, as a result, the student newspaper was not published. This paper focuses on the letters to the editor that were sent to newspaper’s office. These letters address what the public wanted to say to the students about this defining moment in American history.
Of Intellectual Leadership and Legacies: How JW Fulbright Sustained America’s Antipropaganda Movement in Congress, 1945-1980 • Stacey Cone, University of Iowa • Senator JW Fulbright is famous for his dissent against mainstream foreign policy but is less well-known for his antipropaganda activism. During the years when critical propaganda analysis became politically untenable in academia, Fulbright kept the antipropaganda movement alive in Congress. This paper traces and analyzes Fuibright’s activism, arguing that for much of the century, he was the unacknowledged leader of a dispersed and disorganized opposition that has remained underappreciated in media history despite its great significance for the development of national identity.
Visualizing Race: Native American and African American Imagery in Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, 1888-1891 • John M. Coward, Tulsa University • This study investigates race and racial meanings in a popular illustrated journal at an important moment in the nineteenth century. The analysis identifies four major themes in these images: (1) negative stereotyping, (2) social progress, (3) scientific exoticism, and (4) classic humanism. In Leslie’s illustrations, the shifting views of Indians and blacks in this era sometimes expanded but never subverted the existing racial order.
“The Courage of His Convictions:” C. F. Richardson, the Houston Informer, and the Fight for Racial Equality in the 1920s • Mary M. Cronin, Bridgewater State College • This research attempts to partially rectify the void in 1920s black press scholarship by examining the editorial vision of one of the South’s most prominent, eloquent, and activist publishers, Clifton F Richardson of the Houston Informer. What sets Richardson apart from many African American publishers of the time and makes him particularly worthy of study is the fact that he did not view the three leading strains of black thought of the period—Garvey’s black pride rhetoric, the Du Boisian activist vision of civil rights, or Washington’s promotion of uplift—as being incompatible or in opposition.
Mythical Hero American-Style: An Examination of the Presence of Myth in the Coverage of General Norman Schwarzkopf and the Persian Gulf War • Dale L. Edwards, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill • Lule argues the news media repeat stories that portray subjects according to seven categories of myths. This paper examines the coverage of General H. Norman Schwarzkopf in three news magazines and three biographies, seeking to determine whether that coverage portrayed Schwarzkopf as a mythological hero as defined by Lule. It concludes the coverage did portray Schwarzkopf in that manner and that the biographies used press coverage and other information to enlarge the hero status further.
After 25 years: U.S. v. The Progressive Inc. and Prior Restraint in the Era of the War against Terrorism • Eric Freedman and Ann-Marie Murphy, Michigan State University • Twenty-five years ago in the atmosphere of the Cold War, a federal judge imposed a prior restraint blocking The Progressive’s article about building an H-bomb. It was only the second time since World War II that the government obtained an injunction against the media on national security grounds. The 1979 decision conflicted with the Supreme Court’s Pentagon Papers ruling. Now, First Amendment experts worry that history may repeat itself if the government seeks prior restraints against the press in the atmosphere of a war against terrorism.
How to Infuriate a Bank, an Airline, Unions, Printing Companies, Immigration Authorities, Canadian Police, Vice President Agnew, and President Nixon in Ten Months: The Scanlan’s Monthly Story • William Gillis, University of Ohio • If a magazine’s achievements can be measured in part by whom and how many it infuriated in the shortest amount of time, then surely Scanlan‘s Monthly deserves to be honored. In its ten-month, eight-issue appearance on U.S. newsstands in 1970 and 1971, Scanlan‘s drew the attention—and often the ire—of business, labor, law enforcement, and government leaders. Scanlan ‘s also managed to print some of the most provocative muckraking journalism of its time.
Battles of opinion: Editorials through history reveal diversity of opinion in competing daily newspapers • Steve Hallock, Ohio University • Beginning with the post-Revolutionary War era and continuing through the latter half of the twentieth century, competing American newspapers have engaged in vigorous debate on topics ranging from the adoption of the constitution, war and slavery to presidential endorsements, social policy and diet. This debate has waned in recent years as the number of monopoly and chain-owned community newspapers has risen and the number of two-newspaper communities has decreased. This study, which examines select editorials from the end of the 18th century and into the Franklin Roosevelt administration to ascertain editorial diversity, found not only meaningful ideological editorial differences but also editorial variety measured in other ways – including vigor of argument, tone, focus, editorial placement and space devoted to opinions.
Media History Pedagogy: Answering Carey’s “Problem of Journalism History” 30 Years Later • Beth Fantaskey Kaszuba, Pennsylvania State University • In 1974 the first edition of the journal Journalism History included an essay by cultural historian James Carey, who criticized communications historians for redundant, unimaginative scholarship that did a disservice to students. This research explores the state of media history pedagogy today. Using a review of textbooks and syllabi, as well as instructor interviews, the author determined that scholars have in large part answered Carey’s challenges by restructuring texts and re-invigorating classroom presentations.
“We Shall Not Submit!” How the Twenty-Fourth Congress and the Jackson Administration attempted and failed to stop the circulation of abolitionist publications through the United States Post Office during the late 1830s • Kevin R. Kemper, University of Missouri at Columbia • During the rising conflict over slavery, the Twenty-Fourth Congress and the Jackson Administration attempted and failed to stop the circulation of abolitionist publications through the United States Post Office during the late 1830s. The age of Jackson includes precursors to the “clear and present danger” and “bad tendency” tests of free press jurisprudence during the twentieth century. This legal history illustrates that openness during political discourse promotes democratic solutions during times of crisis.
Raymond Bonner and the Salvadoran Civil War 1980 to 1983 • John F. Kirch, University of Maryland • This paper tells the story of New York Times correspondent Raymond Bonner through his reports from El Salvador during the early 1980s. In short, the historical narrative and textual analysis found some evidence to suggest that the Times pulled Bonner out of El Salvador under pressure from the Reagan White House. In addition, the paper found that the Times softened its critical reporting of the civil war in El Salvador after Bonner was reassigned to the city desk in 1982.
The Day Jackie Robinson Changed Baseball and Society: The Press Coverage Was as Striking as Black and White • Chris Lamb, College of Charleston • The signing of Jackie Robinson to a professional baseball contract transformed both baseball and society. With the signing of Robinson, baseball emerged as more than a game and came to represent not the dreams deferred of segregation but the possibilities of integration. The story meant one thing to the black press and quite another to the mainstream press. This paper examines the differences in the coverage of this story by examining more than 50 newspapers and magazines.
“Woman’s Angle In War”: World War II Reporter Ruth Cowan Nash Tightrope Act Across the Separate Spheres • Linda J. Lumsden, Western Kentucky University • This paper argues that Associated Press overseas correspondent Ruth Cowan’s quest for the woman’s angle paradoxically reinforced restrictive gender divisions of the traditional male and female “separate spheres” despite the radical act of a woman writing about war. It concludes that conceptualizing the woman’s angle as a function of separate spheres offers a promising new theoretical framework for analyzing women’s journalism history, which often has found itself stuck in the compensatory stage of women’s history.
The Weapons of Character Assassination: “Scandal Intertextuality” in Anti-Blaine Political Cartoons During the 1884 Presidential Campaign • Harlen Makemson, Elon University • For more than a hundred years, “A Campaign of Caricature” has been credited for helping Grover Cleveland reach the White House. Puck artists and Harper’s Weekly cartoonist Thomas Nast shared a desire to discredit Republican candidate James Blaine by ascribing to him characteristics of scandal during the presidential campaign of 1884. This research explores how cartoonists differed in their approaches using the concept of “scandal intertextuality.” This study offers strong evidence that cartoonists had a great deal of influence on each other during the canvass.
The (Oregon) Advocate: Boosting The Race and Portland, Too • Kimberly Mangun, University of Oregon • Through a qualitative analysis of editorials and columns in the African American newspaper The (Portland, Oregon) Advocate, this original study examines The Advocate’s role as a booster. Between 1922 and 1932, editors ED and Beatrice Morrow Cannady promoted the city to current and potential residents even as they criticized Oregon’s unwritten segregation policies. Racism offers an interesting lens for exploring how the editors worked to build a community and reconcile these related — yet conflicting — objectives.
These Working Wives: The “Two-Job” Woman in Interwar Magazines • Jane Marcellus, Middle Tennessee State University • Between the world wars, a married woman who worked for pay was called a “two-job wife.” This paper examines portrayal of the two-job wife in four magazines—Ladies’ Home Journal, Forbes, The American Magazine, and Independent Woman. Depiction varied, with the two-job wife often portrayed as a beneficiary or a victim of modern times, or as an intruder in male territory. Dissident depictions did appear, both in the mainstream and, particularly, in Independent Woman.
The Feminist in the Feminine: WHER-AM Radio and 1950s Proto-feminism • Melissa Meade, University of Washington • In 1955 Memphis’ ninth radio station went on-air: WHERaAM, the “All-Girl Station.” In addition to the gimmick of vocalized femininity, WHER emerged as a women’s cultural space that can allow us to think through notions of gender and femininity in postwar U.S., women in media production, and how gender operates within the study of media history. While the WHER staff may not have articulated a feminist agenda, the station activities were an important proto-feminist endeavor.
To Suppress or Not To Suppress, That Is the Question: Pros and Cons Over the Suppression of the Japanese-Language Press From Pearl Harbor to Mass Evacuation • Takeya Mizune, Bunkyo-Japan • After Pearl Harbor, the Roosevelt administration faced a question of how to treat the Japanese “enemy language” newspapers within its borders. While one group demanded to suppress them all, another group insisted to preserve them. Their political battle ended in favor of the latter, meaning the Japanese-language press would be immune from total suppression. But the mass evacuation policy forced all West Coast Japanese papers to close, leaving only a few in Utah and Colorado.
The Olympics during the Cold War: Coverage of U.S. and Soviet Athletes in Two Leading American Newspapers • Anthony Moretti, Texas Tech University • This research examines coverage of the Summer Olympic Games from 1948 through 1988 in two leading American newspapers and argues that the reporters and columnists at both the Los Angeles Times and the New York Times provided unequal coverage of American and Soviet athletes. The achievements of U.S. Olympians tended to be over-reported, while the accomplishments of Soviet Olympians were under-reported in both newspapers. The author concludes that the press nationalism model accounts for this imbalance in coverage.
Eating the Zombies: George W. Bush Feeds on Reporters at a Pre-war Press Conference • James E. Mueller, University of North Texas • This paper analyzes the March 6, 2003, press conference in which George W Bush discussed war with Iraq. Bush joked that event was “scripted,” and it quickly became notorious as an example of a toothless White House press. This paper argues that although some of the questioning was flawed, both the president and press did their jobs, the former by conveying his ideas and determination, and the latter by asking him the appropriate questions.
Path Not Taken: Wired Wireless and Broadcasting in the 1920s • Randall Patnode, Xavier University • In 1922, a U.S. Army Maj. George O Squier demonstrated a system for distributing radio signals over telephone and electric power lines. Called carrier current broadcasting, or wired wireless, it solved three of radio’s most challenging problems, including how collect payments directly from the listener instead of indirectly through program sponsorship. Although both American Telephone and Telegraph and the Radio Corporation of America believed they had rights to wired wireless, neither exploited its potential. This article argues that preexisting business models, defensive business practices, and squabbling over patent rights precluded either company from adequately testing the possibilities of a technology that could have challenged over-the-air broadcasting.
The Other Double V: The Chicago Defender’s Dual Victory Campaign During 1942 • Earnest L. Perry Jr., University of Missouri at Columbia • This study examines the Chicago Defender’s dual victory campaign from its inception in March 1942 until it quietly vanished from the newspaper’s pages in June 1942. The campaign coincided with a tumultuous period in the relationship between African Americans and the white majority during the war. The reluctance on the part of the military to allow African American men to enlist and its continued segregation policies caused African Americans to question why they should participate in a war to save democracy abroad when they were denied freedoms at home. The Defender’s campaign differed from that of the more famous Pittsburgh Courier in that it also promoted a self-help plan to strengthen the African American community and debunk negative stereotypes.
Shot Down: The Women Airforce Service Pilots and the U.S. Media • Laura Resnick, Ohio University • The Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASPs) of WWII were the first women pilots to fly for the U.S. military. The media initially praised the WASPs, but negative media attention later turned public opinion and Congress against them, leading to their deactivation. This paper examines how the media both lionized and victimized the WASPs, ultimately shooting down the U.S. military’s first women pilots.
The Genteel Magazines’ Criticism of the Daily Newspaper Press 1890 to 1910 • Ronald Rogers, University of Ohio at Athens • The sensationalist press in the last decade of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th confronted the genteel culture’s desire to fend off modernity. The criticism of that press by the four major genteel magazines largely concerned itself with the sensationalism of the newspaper press and the evils that cascaded from it. In addition, within that critical discourse were arguments still relevant today about the media’s role in our society.
Images of Brutality: The Portrayal of U.S. Racial Violence in Overseas News Photographs (1955-1965) • Carol B. Schwalbe, Arizona State University • This article examines how news photographs of U.S. racial violence were perceived overseas during the early years of the cold war (1955-1965) and the effects those images had on U.S. diplomats abroad and leaders at home as they confronted powerful foes in the postwar period before television and satellite communication became significant factors overseas. Images of brutality not only raised serious concerns among America’s allies and the unaligned nations but also aided its enemies.
The Devil’s Advocate: Will H. Hays and the Campaign to Make Movies Respectable • Stephen Vaughn, University of Wisconsin at Madison • As the Motion Picture Association of America now selects a successor to Jack Valenti, it is well to examine the origins and nature of this organization that first hired Will H. Hays to be its president in 1921. Although Hays’s name remains synonymous with movie censorship, he should be remembered as an innovator in the use of new media, one of his generation’s successful practitioners of public relations, and the man who ushered motion pictures into respectability in the United States.
The Federal Election Campaign Act: A Historical Explanation • Tim P. Vos, Syracuse University • The Federal Election Campaign Act (FECA) of 1971, the last major change to the Communications Act’s equal access section ( ◊ 315), is notable for what it accomplished and for what it did not do. This paper provides a historical explanation for the FECA outcomes. Employing the analytical categories of comparative politics, alternative explanations are critically examined and found inadequate. Changes to equal access law faced structural constraints-notably cultural ideas about access and mistrust in broadcasters.
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