Asa Briggs
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192129567
- eISBN:
- 9780191670022
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192129567.003.0020
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
This chapter examines the changes in the patterns of radio programming of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It explains that during the war, familiar old issues continued to be raised such ...
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This chapter examines the changes in the patterns of radio programming of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It explains that during the war, familiar old issues continued to be raised such as whether Happidrome should be broadcast in the Forces programme opposite the religious service. BBC continued to be judged by most of its listeners in terms of the home programmes it provided. This provides a detailed description of the reorganization of BBC's programming.Less
This chapter examines the changes in the patterns of radio programming of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). It explains that during the war, familiar old issues continued to be raised such as whether Happidrome should be broadcast in the Forces programme opposite the religious service. BBC continued to be judged by most of its listeners in terms of the home programmes it provided. This provides a detailed description of the reorganization of BBC's programming.
Eli M. Noam
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195188523
- eISBN:
- 9780199852574
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195188523.003.0005
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Information Technology
Given the relative cheapness of electronic and physical distribution, it is usually more cost effective to produce a program centrally and distribute it widely rather than for each retail outlet to ...
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Given the relative cheapness of electronic and physical distribution, it is usually more cost effective to produce a program centrally and distribute it widely rather than for each retail outlet to produce its own content. Thus, networks and syndicators emerged from which retail outlets acquired programming, or they produced the program themselves. These networks and syndicators package the content and distribute it to retail outlets such as broadcast stations, cable network operators, and satellite distribution systems. This chapter analyzes the concentration of trends in radio program networks and television broadcast networks. Because radio is often used as an example for media concentration trends, it needs to be discussed at greater length. In about one decade, from 1992 to 2001, the market share of the top four firms increased from 9% to 38%. The national level of radio concentration was less dramatic than its rapid rate of change suggests, coupled with local concentration. In the case of television stations, the concentration trend in ownership has received high visibility. Cable television has become the major delivery platform for additional video channels.Less
Given the relative cheapness of electronic and physical distribution, it is usually more cost effective to produce a program centrally and distribute it widely rather than for each retail outlet to produce its own content. Thus, networks and syndicators emerged from which retail outlets acquired programming, or they produced the program themselves. These networks and syndicators package the content and distribute it to retail outlets such as broadcast stations, cable network operators, and satellite distribution systems. This chapter analyzes the concentration of trends in radio program networks and television broadcast networks. Because radio is often used as an example for media concentration trends, it needs to be discussed at greater length. In about one decade, from 1992 to 2001, the market share of the top four firms increased from 9% to 38%. The national level of radio concentration was less dramatic than its rapid rate of change suggests, coupled with local concentration. In the case of television stations, the concentration trend in ownership has received high visibility. Cable television has become the major delivery platform for additional video channels.
Asa Briggs
- Published in print:
- 1995
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780192129260
- eISBN:
- 9780191670008
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780192129260.003.0018
- Subject:
- History, British and Irish Modern History, Cultural History
This chapter describes the content of the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) radio programmes from 1923 to 1925. J.C.W. Reith believed that that to use a great invention for the purpose of ...
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This chapter describes the content of the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) radio programmes from 1923 to 1925. J.C.W. Reith believed that that to use a great invention for the purpose of entertainment alone would a prostitution of its powers and an insult to the character and intelligence of the people. However, in practice, it was difficult to draw a sharp dividing line between entertainment and education. This chapter explains that jazz bands, popular music, radio drama, and sketches by humorists figured regularly in BBC programmes during this period.Less
This chapter describes the content of the British Broadcasting Corporation's (BBC) radio programmes from 1923 to 1925. J.C.W. Reith believed that that to use a great invention for the purpose of entertainment alone would a prostitution of its powers and an insult to the character and intelligence of the people. However, in practice, it was difficult to draw a sharp dividing line between entertainment and education. This chapter explains that jazz bands, popular music, radio drama, and sketches by humorists figured regularly in BBC programmes during this period.
Colin Shaw
- Published in print:
- 1999
- Published Online:
- October 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780198159377
- eISBN:
- 9780191673603
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198159377.003.0002
- Subject:
- Literature, Film, Media, and Cultural Studies
In 1927, the U.S. Congress approved the establishment of a Federal Radio Commission in the continuing effort to ensure an orderly development for the medium. The Radio Act of that year required the ...
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In 1927, the U.S. Congress approved the establishment of a Federal Radio Commission in the continuing effort to ensure an orderly development for the medium. The Radio Act of that year required the Commissioners, who took over the granting of licences from the Commerce Department, to have in mind ‘the public interest, convenience and necessity’. It was drawn by people, including Herbert Hoover himself, who saw the social and cultural possibilities of radio as a medium of enlightenment to which all the citizens of the United States should have access. Patterns of regulation both in Britain and the United States have employed regulation with the positive objective of maintaining the range of radio programming on offer to their audiences. Each country, however, has a distinct approach to the regulation of content which has led the British to support a much greater degree of intervention in the detail of radio programmes.Less
In 1927, the U.S. Congress approved the establishment of a Federal Radio Commission in the continuing effort to ensure an orderly development for the medium. The Radio Act of that year required the Commissioners, who took over the granting of licences from the Commerce Department, to have in mind ‘the public interest, convenience and necessity’. It was drawn by people, including Herbert Hoover himself, who saw the social and cultural possibilities of radio as a medium of enlightenment to which all the citizens of the United States should have access. Patterns of regulation both in Britain and the United States have employed regulation with the positive objective of maintaining the range of radio programming on offer to their audiences. Each country, however, has a distinct approach to the regulation of content which has led the British to support a much greater degree of intervention in the detail of radio programmes.
Joanna Thornborrow
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- February 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195306897
- eISBN:
- 9780199867943
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195306897.003.0013
- Subject:
- Linguistics, Sociolinguistics / Anthropological Linguistics
This chapter, written by Joanna Thornborrow, examines question‐answer sequences in TV talk shows and radio call‐in programs. While these genres tend to be more conversational than other media genres ...
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This chapter, written by Joanna Thornborrow, examines question‐answer sequences in TV talk shows and radio call‐in programs. While these genres tend to be more conversational than other media genres such as broadcast news interviews, Thornborrow argues that they are nonetheless highly structured in terms of the organization of turn taking and the distribution of turn types. Thornborrow's primary argument is that institutional roles in these contexts are constituted through the asymmetrical distribution not only of turn types (e.g., questions versus answers) but also of question types and answer types. For example, in TV talk shows, the hosts ask questions that elicit narratives and/or opinions from lay participants, all the while maintaining their neutrality vis‐à‐vis the issues discussed. By contrast, lay participants' questions express opinions in relation to the issues being discussed.Less
This chapter, written by Joanna Thornborrow, examines question‐answer sequences in TV talk shows and radio call‐in programs. While these genres tend to be more conversational than other media genres such as broadcast news interviews, Thornborrow argues that they are nonetheless highly structured in terms of the organization of turn taking and the distribution of turn types. Thornborrow's primary argument is that institutional roles in these contexts are constituted through the asymmetrical distribution not only of turn types (e.g., questions versus answers) but also of question types and answer types. For example, in TV talk shows, the hosts ask questions that elicit narratives and/or opinions from lay participants, all the while maintaining their neutrality vis‐à‐vis the issues discussed. By contrast, lay participants' questions express opinions in relation to the issues being discussed.
Mandakranta Bose
- Published in print:
- 2004
- Published Online:
- April 2005
- ISBN:
- 9780195168327
- eISBN:
- 9780199835362
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195168321.003.0011
- Subject:
- Religion, Hinduism
This chapter considers one of the many performance modes in which the Rāmāyana has appeared — a musical adaptation of the Rāmāyana from Maharashtra. Created in the early 1950s for radio audiences, ...
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This chapter considers one of the many performance modes in which the Rāmāyana has appeared — a musical adaptation of the Rāmāyana from Maharashtra. Created in the early 1950s for radio audiences, the Gīta-Rāmāyana was a series of fifty-six songs in the Marathi language set to music in the classical style. Broadcast every week, the program quickly won large audiences, and more recently it has again become popular. The instant success and enduring appeal of the series is analyzed.Less
This chapter considers one of the many performance modes in which the Rāmāyana has appeared — a musical adaptation of the Rāmāyana from Maharashtra. Created in the early 1950s for radio audiences, the Gīta-Rāmāyana was a series of fifty-six songs in the Marathi language set to music in the classical style. Broadcast every week, the program quickly won large audiences, and more recently it has again become popular. The instant success and enduring appeal of the series is analyzed.
Thomas Hajkowski
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- July 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780719079443
- eISBN:
- 9781781702314
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9780719079443.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Examining the ways in which the BBC constructed and disseminated British national identity during the second quarter of the twentieth century, this book focuses in a comprehensive way on how the BBC, ...
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Examining the ways in which the BBC constructed and disseminated British national identity during the second quarter of the twentieth century, this book focuses in a comprehensive way on how the BBC, through its radio programmes, tried to represent what it meant to be British. It offers a revision of histories of regional broadcasting in Britain that interpret it as a form of cultural imperialism. The regional organisation of the BBC, and the news and creative programming designed specifically for regional listeners, reinforced the cultural and historical distinctiveness of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The BBC anticipated, and perhaps encouraged, the development of the hybrid ‘dual identities’ characteristic of contemporary Britain.Less
Examining the ways in which the BBC constructed and disseminated British national identity during the second quarter of the twentieth century, this book focuses in a comprehensive way on how the BBC, through its radio programmes, tried to represent what it meant to be British. It offers a revision of histories of regional broadcasting in Britain that interpret it as a form of cultural imperialism. The regional organisation of the BBC, and the news and creative programming designed specifically for regional listeners, reinforced the cultural and historical distinctiveness of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. The BBC anticipated, and perhaps encouraged, the development of the hybrid ‘dual identities’ characteristic of contemporary Britain.
Ross Melnick
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- November 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780231159050
- eISBN:
- 9780231504256
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Columbia University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7312/columbia/9780231159050.003.0006
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
During the postwar period, film exhibition ushered in larger orchestras, more elaborate stage shows, and a growing acceptance of foreign, documentary, and avant-garde films. It was also a period of ...
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During the postwar period, film exhibition ushered in larger orchestras, more elaborate stage shows, and a growing acceptance of foreign, documentary, and avant-garde films. It was also a period of great technological advancement—of new synchronous sound formats developed by Lee DeForest and Western Electric, and, through the use of some of those same patents, the development of sound amplification and wireless transmission. This chapter describes how Roxy harnessed his growing political and cultural might and a host of new technologies to become not only the most famous film exhibitor in the United States but one of the most famous entertainers in North America. Roxy, for instance, integrated radio at the Capitol in November 1922 by broadcasting the musical portions of the show that preceded or accompanied the short and feature films he exhibited. These broadcasts were considered “radio's first genuine hit,” and Roxy's initial shows were heard across the United States, well into Canada and Cuba, and on ships at sea that picked up the broadcast.Less
During the postwar period, film exhibition ushered in larger orchestras, more elaborate stage shows, and a growing acceptance of foreign, documentary, and avant-garde films. It was also a period of great technological advancement—of new synchronous sound formats developed by Lee DeForest and Western Electric, and, through the use of some of those same patents, the development of sound amplification and wireless transmission. This chapter describes how Roxy harnessed his growing political and cultural might and a host of new technologies to become not only the most famous film exhibitor in the United States but one of the most famous entertainers in North America. Roxy, for instance, integrated radio at the Capitol in November 1922 by broadcasting the musical portions of the show that preceded or accompanied the short and feature films he exhibited. These broadcasts were considered “radio's first genuine hit,” and Roxy's initial shows were heard across the United States, well into Canada and Cuba, and on ships at sea that picked up the broadcast.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226467597
- eISBN:
- 9780226466958
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226466958.003.0008
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Radio programs whose titles promised “new horizons,” “adventures,” “explorations,” and “science on the march” harmonized well with 1930s political rhetoric and the New Deal ethos. Science ...
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Radio programs whose titles promised “new horizons,” “adventures,” “explorations,” and “science on the march” harmonized well with 1930s political rhetoric and the New Deal ethos. Science popularization too was infected by this spirit of social optimism. Eager to seem dynamic and forward-thinking, many of the creators of science series began to adopt dramatizations and similar entertainment techniques in the service of what Smithsonian secretary C. G. Abbot dubbed “ultra-popularization.” Corporate and government radio initiatives began adding dialogue and fictionalization to accounts of great experiments, employing professional actors to read the words of revered scientists, and using orchestral accompaniment and sound effects to evoke dramatic moods. The most notable projects—DuPont's Cavalcade of America and the Smithsonian Institution's The World Is Yours—relied on substantial corporate and government underwriting. Others, such as the American Museum of Natural History's New Horizons, combined private initiative with network production. The more listeners were drawn to such series, the more other programs imitated their approaches.Less
Radio programs whose titles promised “new horizons,” “adventures,” “explorations,” and “science on the march” harmonized well with 1930s political rhetoric and the New Deal ethos. Science popularization too was infected by this spirit of social optimism. Eager to seem dynamic and forward-thinking, many of the creators of science series began to adopt dramatizations and similar entertainment techniques in the service of what Smithsonian secretary C. G. Abbot dubbed “ultra-popularization.” Corporate and government radio initiatives began adding dialogue and fictionalization to accounts of great experiments, employing professional actors to read the words of revered scientists, and using orchestral accompaniment and sound effects to evoke dramatic moods. The most notable projects—DuPont's Cavalcade of America and the Smithsonian Institution's The World Is Yours—relied on substantial corporate and government underwriting. Others, such as the American Museum of Natural History's New Horizons, combined private initiative with network production. The more listeners were drawn to such series, the more other programs imitated their approaches.
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520268838
- eISBN:
- 9780520948860
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520268838.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter describes the history of radio broadcasting in Los Angeles. Radio broadcasts are as popular in Los Angeles as elsewhere, perhaps more so. Most homes have radio sets, and the proportion ...
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This chapter describes the history of radio broadcasting in Los Angeles. Radio broadcasts are as popular in Los Angeles as elsewhere, perhaps more so. Most homes have radio sets, and the proportion of automobiles equipped with radios is also high. Radio's early history in Los Angeles was one of hit-and-miss, of trial and error—the identical experience of radio throughout the United States in the days of crystal sets and earphones. Radio broadcasting began in Los Angeles in 1922, when four stations were established. Three of them—KNX, KFI, and KHJ—dominated local broadcasting from the beginning and continue to do so today, each representing a major national chain.Less
This chapter describes the history of radio broadcasting in Los Angeles. Radio broadcasts are as popular in Los Angeles as elsewhere, perhaps more so. Most homes have radio sets, and the proportion of automobiles equipped with radios is also high. Radio's early history in Los Angeles was one of hit-and-miss, of trial and error—the identical experience of radio throughout the United States in the days of crystal sets and earphones. Radio broadcasting began in Los Angeles in 1922, when four stations were established. Three of them—KNX, KFI, and KHJ—dominated local broadcasting from the beginning and continue to do so today, each representing a major national chain.
- Published in print:
- 2008
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226467597
- eISBN:
- 9780226466958
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226466958.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
In 1923 Austin Hobart Clark, a middle-aged curator in the Smithsonian's U.S. National Museum, began appearing in the program “Smithsonian Radio Talks,” which invited speakers from within his ...
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In 1923 Austin Hobart Clark, a middle-aged curator in the Smithsonian's U.S. National Museum, began appearing in the program “Smithsonian Radio Talks,” which invited speakers from within his institution's various bureaus. Clark's broadcasts represent one of the first sustained efforts in the United States to use radio to reach the public with science, the first wave in steadily expanding popularization efforts. The circumstances surrounding these pioneering broadcasts illuminate an important moment in the history of science and of American life. From the 1920s through the 1940s, the scientific community became more concerned about scripting its public image for the sake of increased funding and political support, and therefore became more engaged in popularization. The extent to which prestigious researchers in the United States cooperated in and supported ventures involving radio—a medium they regarded as intrinsically sensationalistic—demonstrated begrudging acceptance of the need for popularization.Less
In 1923 Austin Hobart Clark, a middle-aged curator in the Smithsonian's U.S. National Museum, began appearing in the program “Smithsonian Radio Talks,” which invited speakers from within his institution's various bureaus. Clark's broadcasts represent one of the first sustained efforts in the United States to use radio to reach the public with science, the first wave in steadily expanding popularization efforts. The circumstances surrounding these pioneering broadcasts illuminate an important moment in the history of science and of American life. From the 1920s through the 1940s, the scientific community became more concerned about scripting its public image for the sake of increased funding and political support, and therefore became more engaged in popularization. The extent to which prestigious researchers in the United States cooperated in and supported ventures involving radio—a medium they regarded as intrinsically sensationalistic—demonstrated begrudging acceptance of the need for popularization.
Simon J. Potter
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- July 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780198800231
- eISBN:
- 9780191840036
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198800231.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Cultural History, World Modern History
The BBC Empire Service was established in 1932 and primarily sought to serve white expatriates scattered across British colonies in Africa and Asia. It provided a selection of programmes taken from ...
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The BBC Empire Service was established in 1932 and primarily sought to serve white expatriates scattered across British colonies in Africa and Asia. It provided a selection of programmes taken from its home services, augmented with specially produced and recorded material, and based decisions on what to broadcast largely on feedback provided by its listeners. This chapter challenges the assumption that the interwar BBC was largely uninterested in what its audience thought, and that it gave listeners what it thought they should have rather than what they wanted. It also questions the belief that the BBC was intent on the ‘uplift’ of audiences and thus focused on providing high culture. For the Empire Service concentrated on offering light music, light talks, and light entertainment. Listeners were thought to be tired after a day spent working in hot climates, and lonely and thus requiring something that reminded them of ‘home’. The BBC knew it also had to compete with other international broadcasters for the attention of overseas audiences. Special production techniques were developed in an attempt to overcome the problems associated with short-wave reception and ensure that programmes were comprehensible and enjoyable. Big Ben became the aural signature of the Empire Service. However, by the late 1930s many critics were questioning whether it was wise to devote so much of the BBC’s resources to this tiny audience, and whether BBC international broadcasts should instead be seeking to project Britain to larger and more important audiences across the world.Less
The BBC Empire Service was established in 1932 and primarily sought to serve white expatriates scattered across British colonies in Africa and Asia. It provided a selection of programmes taken from its home services, augmented with specially produced and recorded material, and based decisions on what to broadcast largely on feedback provided by its listeners. This chapter challenges the assumption that the interwar BBC was largely uninterested in what its audience thought, and that it gave listeners what it thought they should have rather than what they wanted. It also questions the belief that the BBC was intent on the ‘uplift’ of audiences and thus focused on providing high culture. For the Empire Service concentrated on offering light music, light talks, and light entertainment. Listeners were thought to be tired after a day spent working in hot climates, and lonely and thus requiring something that reminded them of ‘home’. The BBC knew it also had to compete with other international broadcasters for the attention of overseas audiences. Special production techniques were developed in an attempt to overcome the problems associated with short-wave reception and ensure that programmes were comprehensible and enjoyable. Big Ben became the aural signature of the Empire Service. However, by the late 1930s many critics were questioning whether it was wise to devote so much of the BBC’s resources to this tiny audience, and whether BBC international broadcasts should instead be seeking to project Britain to larger and more important audiences across the world.
Kathleen Battles
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816649136
- eISBN:
- 9781452945996
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816649136.003.0004
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Radio
This chapter focuses on how the public glamorized crimes and criminal figures, as evident in the increasing consumption of gangster-headlined newspapers and motion pictures. The most prominent ...
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This chapter focuses on how the public glamorized crimes and criminal figures, as evident in the increasing consumption of gangster-headlined newspapers and motion pictures. The most prominent criminal personalities include Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, as well as John Dillinger. Bonnie and Clyde were American outlaws and robbers, responsible for killing nine police officers and several civilians; while Dillinger is a gangster and bank robber who escaped from jail twice. The chapter also describes four ways in which radio programs attempted to shift the blame for the crime problem from the police to criminals, strongly criticizing vigilantism and arguing that citizens can help prevent crime by yielding to the expertise and authority of the police.Less
This chapter focuses on how the public glamorized crimes and criminal figures, as evident in the increasing consumption of gangster-headlined newspapers and motion pictures. The most prominent criminal personalities include Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, as well as John Dillinger. Bonnie and Clyde were American outlaws and robbers, responsible for killing nine police officers and several civilians; while Dillinger is a gangster and bank robber who escaped from jail twice. The chapter also describes four ways in which radio programs attempted to shift the blame for the crime problem from the police to criminals, strongly criticizing vigilantism and arguing that citizens can help prevent crime by yielding to the expertise and authority of the police.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226853505
- eISBN:
- 9780226853529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226853529.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
The radio play “The Fall of the City,” with its bustling traffic of unruly mobs and untrustworthy ministers, reflects the political friction lying beneath the audioposition choices made in many ...
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The radio play “The Fall of the City,” with its bustling traffic of unruly mobs and untrustworthy ministers, reflects the political friction lying beneath the audioposition choices made in many scripts and studios during the 1930s. The conventionalization of the style of a radio play can have a greater reach than a single broadcast because it implies a normativity among the aesthetic instincts of the listeners. This chapter examines the normative use of perspective in such radio programs as The Columbia Workshop, The Shadow, The Mercury Theater on the Air, and The March of Time. It argues that late-1930s directors developed two audioposition formulas that account for the overall sound of the period—the intimate style and the kaleidosonic style—each of which embodied an aspect of the political rhetoric of the period and enabled prominent broadcasters to solve representational and narrative problems. When these styles became imbalanced, radio aesthetics ended its connection with space and time, and dramatists turned to stronger models.Less
The radio play “The Fall of the City,” with its bustling traffic of unruly mobs and untrustworthy ministers, reflects the political friction lying beneath the audioposition choices made in many scripts and studios during the 1930s. The conventionalization of the style of a radio play can have a greater reach than a single broadcast because it implies a normativity among the aesthetic instincts of the listeners. This chapter examines the normative use of perspective in such radio programs as The Columbia Workshop, The Shadow, The Mercury Theater on the Air, and The March of Time. It argues that late-1930s directors developed two audioposition formulas that account for the overall sound of the period—the intimate style and the kaleidosonic style—each of which embodied an aspect of the political rhetoric of the period and enabled prominent broadcasters to solve representational and narrative problems. When these styles became imbalanced, radio aesthetics ended its connection with space and time, and dramatists turned to stronger models.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226853505
- eISBN:
- 9780226853529
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226853529.003.0011
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
In the summer of 1950, a series entitled “I Posed as a Communist for the FBI” was published in the Saturday Evening Post. It told the story of Matt Cvetic, a Pittsburgh clerk who was asked by the ...
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In the summer of 1950, a series entitled “I Posed as a Communist for the FBI” was published in the Saturday Evening Post. It told the story of Matt Cvetic, a Pittsburgh clerk who was asked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to join the Communist Party of the United States as an informant in the 1940s. Cvetic's experiences were also fictionalized in the radio show I Was a Communist for the FBI. With so many radio programs dealing with disguise and undercover work by both authorities and civilians, the overmeaning of I Was a Communist seems to reside in a romance with the undercover life that underlies its efforts to model civic duty. This chapter looks at stories about undercover men, tests of conscience, and self-repression and argues that each of these narratives reveals new models of the mind emerging out of wartime patterns. It also examines how “psychological tests” became dominant in postwar radio.Less
In the summer of 1950, a series entitled “I Posed as a Communist for the FBI” was published in the Saturday Evening Post. It told the story of Matt Cvetic, a Pittsburgh clerk who was asked by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to join the Communist Party of the United States as an informant in the 1940s. Cvetic's experiences were also fictionalized in the radio show I Was a Communist for the FBI. With so many radio programs dealing with disguise and undercover work by both authorities and civilians, the overmeaning of I Was a Communist seems to reside in a romance with the undercover life that underlies its efforts to model civic duty. This chapter looks at stories about undercover men, tests of conscience, and self-repression and argues that each of these narratives reveals new models of the mind emerging out of wartime patterns. It also examines how “psychological tests” became dominant in postwar radio.
Glyne A. Griffith
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- January 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781628464757
- eISBN:
- 9781628464801
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Mississippi
- DOI:
- 10.14325/mississippi/9781628464757.003.0008
- Subject:
- Literature, World Literature
This chapter examines the BBC Program Caribbean Voices, one of the most important influences on the development of literature in the Anglophone Caribbean focusing on the role of Henry Swanzy, the ...
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This chapter examines the BBC Program Caribbean Voices, one of the most important influences on the development of literature in the Anglophone Caribbean focusing on the role of Henry Swanzy, the program’s editor (1946-1954) and of the “Critics’ Circle,” a group of Caribbean writers (John Figueroa, Gordon Bell, and Ulric Cross) and English writers (Roy Fuller, and Arthur Calder-Marshall) who evaluated works the program broadcast. It argues that Caribbean Voices wielded significant power in shaping postwar literary aesthetics and politics by promoting social realist literature that focused on “local color” and by limiting literary criticism to formal concerns. The program thus dissuaded writers from submitting more obviously ideological writingand highlighted specific national cultures rather than a shared notion of Caribbeanness. As a result, the program fostered an aesthetics and politics that undermined British policy: Independence for the region in the form of the West Indian Federation rather than individual nationalisms.Less
This chapter examines the BBC Program Caribbean Voices, one of the most important influences on the development of literature in the Anglophone Caribbean focusing on the role of Henry Swanzy, the program’s editor (1946-1954) and of the “Critics’ Circle,” a group of Caribbean writers (John Figueroa, Gordon Bell, and Ulric Cross) and English writers (Roy Fuller, and Arthur Calder-Marshall) who evaluated works the program broadcast. It argues that Caribbean Voices wielded significant power in shaping postwar literary aesthetics and politics by promoting social realist literature that focused on “local color” and by limiting literary criticism to formal concerns. The program thus dissuaded writers from submitting more obviously ideological writingand highlighted specific national cultures rather than a shared notion of Caribbeanness. As a result, the program fostered an aesthetics and politics that undermined British policy: Independence for the region in the form of the West Indian Federation rather than individual nationalisms.
H. Michael Gelfand
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807830475
- eISBN:
- 9781469605449
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807877470_gelfand.7
- Subject:
- History, Military History
When the Naval Academy football team won the Sugar Bowl in 1955, USNA administrators realized the benefits of television exposure to the American public. This chapter examines the origin and ...
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When the Naval Academy football team won the Sugar Bowl in 1955, USNA administrators realized the benefits of television exposure to the American public. This chapter examines the origin and development of Naval Academy recruiting, including specialized recruiting activities involving radio programs, the television series Men of Annapolis, films, and the creation of the Blue and Gold program, a system of admission advisers responsible for spreading information about the Academy and searching prospective candidates. It also examines midshipmen who were members of a variety of minority groups who experienced discrimination at USNA before 1965.Less
When the Naval Academy football team won the Sugar Bowl in 1955, USNA administrators realized the benefits of television exposure to the American public. This chapter examines the origin and development of Naval Academy recruiting, including specialized recruiting activities involving radio programs, the television series Men of Annapolis, films, and the creation of the Blue and Gold program, a system of admission advisers responsible for spreading information about the Academy and searching prospective candidates. It also examines midshipmen who were members of a variety of minority groups who experienced discrimination at USNA before 1965.
Rebekah E. Pite
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9781469606897
- eISBN:
- 9781469608044
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9781469606910_Pite
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
Doña Petrona C. de Gandulfo (c. 1896–1992) reigned as Argentina's preeminent domestic and culinary expert from the 1930s through the 1980s. An enduring culinary icon thanks to her magazine columns, ...
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Doña Petrona C. de Gandulfo (c. 1896–1992) reigned as Argentina's preeminent domestic and culinary expert from the 1930s through the 1980s. An enduring culinary icon thanks to her magazine columns, radio programs, and television shows, she was likely second only to Eva Peron in terms of the fame she enjoyed and the adulation she received. Her cookbook garnered tremendous popularity, becoming one of the three best-selling books in Argentina. Doña Petrona capitalized on and contributed to the growing appreciation for women's domestic roles as the Argentine economy expanded and fell into periodic crises. Drawing on a wide range of materials, including interviews with Doña Petrona's inner circle and with everyday women and men, this book provides a lively social history of twentieth-century Argentina, as exemplified through the story of Doña Petrona and the homemakers to whom she dedicated her career. The narrative illuminates the important role of food—its consumption, preparation, and production—in daily life, class formation, and national identity. By connecting issues of gender, domestic work, and economic development, the book brings into focus the critical importance of women's roles as consumers, cooks, and community builders.Less
Doña Petrona C. de Gandulfo (c. 1896–1992) reigned as Argentina's preeminent domestic and culinary expert from the 1930s through the 1980s. An enduring culinary icon thanks to her magazine columns, radio programs, and television shows, she was likely second only to Eva Peron in terms of the fame she enjoyed and the adulation she received. Her cookbook garnered tremendous popularity, becoming one of the three best-selling books in Argentina. Doña Petrona capitalized on and contributed to the growing appreciation for women's domestic roles as the Argentine economy expanded and fell into periodic crises. Drawing on a wide range of materials, including interviews with Doña Petrona's inner circle and with everyday women and men, this book provides a lively social history of twentieth-century Argentina, as exemplified through the story of Doña Petrona and the homemakers to whom she dedicated her career. The narrative illuminates the important role of food—its consumption, preparation, and production—in daily life, class formation, and national identity. By connecting issues of gender, domestic work, and economic development, the book brings into focus the critical importance of women's roles as consumers, cooks, and community builders.
Kathleen Battles
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- August 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780816649136
- eISBN:
- 9781452945996
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816649136.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Radio
This book shows how radio played a key role in an emerging form of policing during the turbulent years of the Depression. Until this time popular culture had characterized the gangster as hero, but ...
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This book shows how radio played a key role in an emerging form of policing during the turbulent years of the Depression. Until this time popular culture had characterized the gangster as hero, but radio crime dramas worked against this attitude and were ultimately successful in making heroes out of law enforcement officers. Through close analysis of radio programming of the era and the production of true crime docudramas, this book argues that radio was a significant site for overhauling the dismal public image of policing. However, it was not simply the elevation of the perception of police that was at stake. Using radio, reformers sought to control the symbolic terrain through which citizens encountered the police, and it became a medium to promote a positive meaning and purpose for policing. For example, Battles connects the apprehension of criminals by a dragnet with the idea of using the radio network to both publicize this activity and make it popular with citizens.Less
This book shows how radio played a key role in an emerging form of policing during the turbulent years of the Depression. Until this time popular culture had characterized the gangster as hero, but radio crime dramas worked against this attitude and were ultimately successful in making heroes out of law enforcement officers. Through close analysis of radio programming of the era and the production of true crime docudramas, this book argues that radio was a significant site for overhauling the dismal public image of policing. However, it was not simply the elevation of the perception of police that was at stake. Using radio, reformers sought to control the symbolic terrain through which citizens encountered the police, and it became a medium to promote a positive meaning and purpose for policing. For example, Battles connects the apprehension of criminals by a dragnet with the idea of using the radio network to both publicize this activity and make it popular with citizens.
William A. Everett
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- October 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780300111835
- eISBN:
- 9780300138351
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300111835.003.0011
- Subject:
- Music, History, American
This chapter examines the efforts of Sigmund Romberg to build a legacy. It explains that when Romberg realized that his style of operetta was becoming outmoded, he searched for the audience that ...
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This chapter examines the efforts of Sigmund Romberg to build a legacy. It explains that when Romberg realized that his style of operetta was becoming outmoded, he searched for the audience that would appreciate his old-fashioned melodies through radio programs and annual tours from 1943 through 1949. It also discusses other factors that contributed to the popularity of Romberg and his music, including the success of the film adaptations of his operettas.Less
This chapter examines the efforts of Sigmund Romberg to build a legacy. It explains that when Romberg realized that his style of operetta was becoming outmoded, he searched for the audience that would appreciate his old-fashioned melodies through radio programs and annual tours from 1943 through 1949. It also discusses other factors that contributed to the popularity of Romberg and his music, including the success of the film adaptations of his operettas.