Reading Guide: Weeks 4-7

Chapter 12: The Age of New Journalism

See esp. pp. 223-233.

Also:

The Changing Structure of the Newspaper Industry, beginning on p. 235.

Yellow Journalism, beginning on p. 238

Competition from other media, beginning on p. 244

Know: Joseph Pulitzer

Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochran)

Chapter 13: Magazines, 1740-1900

See pp. 251-262.

See particularly the history of women's magazines, especially the Ladies Home Journal.

Know Cyrus Curtis, Louisa Knapp Curtis

Harper's

Chapter 14: Advertising, 1700-1900

pp. 265-282

Considers parallel development of magazines and advertising agencies

Know: P.T. Barnum, J. Walter Thompson, Lydia Pinkham,

Chapter 15, Emergence of Modern Media

(Optional at this point but provides context for future lectures)

pg. 283: "Newspapers, which depended on advertising for more than half their revenue, laid claim to a unique status in the nation's economic and political power structure."

a. How? What is the basis for this claim?

b. What did this mean for the appearance, content, politics, etc. of newspapers?

What kind of communication prompted the emergence of the formal scientific study of communication effects?

Why is "jazz journalism" so interesting?

Was newspaper consolidation typical in other industries? What are the pros and cons of consolidation?

TRIVIA: The first School of Journalism was founded in 1908 at the University of Missouri. The UO J-School was not far behind: It was founded in 1916.

The section on objectivity on page 293 is great. Note the difference between a "mass," as in mass media, and a "public."

The rest of this chapter, pp. 294-300, is a good introduction to topics we will cover later, such as public relations, radio, and newsreels. Read this for context and the "big picture."

 Reading Guide for Chapter 16

This is an important part of American journalism history, so spend some time here on this chapter!

The Progressive Movement and muckraking

Questions to ask:

How long did this movement last?

What was the general point?

What reporting/writing techniques were used?

What was the preferred medium? Why?

Why could The Progressives be considered conservative?

How did muckrakers get their name?

What was the range of issues that fell "under the muckrake?"

You should know the basics about these people:

Jacob Riis

Ida Tarbell

Lincoln Steffens

List 8-10 claims about the value and impact of muckraking, pro and con:

Finally, how did muckraking lead to the profession of public relations?

 Reading Guide for Chapter 17

This chapter is most useful for broad context of the media's interaction with national and international events. It focuses on the role of reporters both individually and collectively, as the "press."

Read for a broad understanding of the concepts of public relations, censorship and propaganda.

Read to get a sense of the times: war, race riots, labor strikes, "Red" scares, Depression, more war. Somebody must have been having some fun somewhere, but you wouldn't know it from this chapter!

Read to get a sense of how the press shaped Americans' views of world affairs.

Then concentrate on the media-newspapers, radio, film-during the Great Depression, thinking carefully about how CENTRAL it was to the nation's life. Do the same in the section about the New Deal and Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Ditto World War II.

I'm not asking you to memorize a bunch of specifics but I am asking you to read-and enjoy!-the way this chapter pulls together so many threads and raises so many questions.

 Reading Guide for Chapter 18

Chapters 18, 19, 23 and 24 overlap in significant ways. As we have discussed in lecture, it's nearly impossible to separate the history of radio, music, television, and film. The development of each occurred nearly simultaneously (in historical perspective) and influenced the direction of the others. Be alert to these historical intersections as you read!

In about what time period were the very first radio broadcasts?

How is the sinking of the Titanic related to radio history?

How was the Radio Corporation of America formed?

How are broadcasting and the marketing of "radio sets" related?

Read the section on radio and advertising on p. 347: What "new" medium is currently fighting its way through the same minefields?

In terms of helping democracy, what were the high hopes for radio? Were they realized?

The regulatory history of radio is complicated but try to extract the common ground among the acts of 1912, 1927 and 1934. What was the government trying to do?

You'll find much of interest in pages 352-364. Read it for pleasure and context for class lectures!

 Reading Guide for Chapter 19

As noted, Chapters 18, 19, 23 and 24 overlap in significant ways. As we have discussed in lecture, it's nearly impossible to separate the history of radio, music, television, and film. The development of each occurred nearly simultaneously (in historical perspective) and influenced the direction of the others. Be alert to these historical intersections as you read!

Chapter 19 tries to cover 106 years of entertainment media! Whew!

Here's some help:

First, read the first column on the first page of the chapter (p. 367), and pay close attention to the third paragraph, which begins "With the introduction of each new medium …." This is the central theme of this section of the course.

Pay special attention to how music and radio supported each other, when they got over the competition phase.

Film: Read the rest of this section for background and context.

Ditto for the rest of the chapter: background and context. My hope is that you will NOT feel compelled to memorize any of this because 1) you probably can't, and 2) that's not the point. The point is to enjoy the richness that just a little history can bring to our lives!

Chapter 21: 405-414

Chapter 22: 423-434