THE GLOBAL MEDIA AND THE EMPIRE OF LIBERAL INTERNATIONALISM,CIRCA 1910–301

This article briefly sketches the rise of the global media system after the mid-1860s before turning to the transformation of that system during the First World War and until the end of the 1920s. In particular, we look at how technological changes, especially the development of wireless and, by late 1926, short-wave radio, were dealt with by the companies that ran the world's vast network of undersea cables, news organizations and governments. We show that responses to new technologies varied greatly, with some trying to blunt their impact while others embraced them. Mergers and acquisitions were a key response to the new technologies and to the worldwide economic boom of the 1920s. However, by the end of the decade, the economic logic behind these changes was eclipsed by a discourse of technological determinism, nationalistic corporate patriotism and imperial security. These ideological discourses underpinned a series of mergers throughout Europe and Britain, most notably the formation of Cable and Wireless in 1929. Similar pressures were at play in the USA, notably in RCA and the International Telephone and Telegraph Company's own bid to create a global multimedia conglomerate, although restrictions on cross-media ownership in the Radio Act (1927) and Congressional concern about the formation of a military–communications–media complex stymied the attempt. Altogether, however, the reorganization of the global media business at the end of the 1920s reflected and reinforced the collapse of this early era of globalization – the empire of liberal internationalism – and the rise of a new geopolitical–economic regime based on the struggle for the control of global communication, virulent nationalism and relative autarchy, not to be reversed until the revival of globalization in our own times.     

‘AN INTELLIGENT AND EFFECTIVE USE OF THE RIVAL SCREEN’

Through an analysis of the first British television ‘trailers’, this article explores an intersection within media history where the film industry attempted to reach out and utilise the new dissemination medium of television. Whilst this moment could be read as an attempt to control the promotion of film on British commercial television, and impose American film trailer aesthetics on the ‘rival screen’, I explore the television trailer as an early cross-media text that offered a challenge to existing trailer structure and style. By focusing on the recreation of these lost texts through trade press commentary, the article provides a new perspective on industry attitudes, media technology and media relationships in this transitional moment.     

MEDIA CRITIQUE,AGONISTIC RESPECT AND THE (IM)POSSIBILITY OF A “REALLY QUITE PRETENTIOUS” LIMINAL SPACE

This essay reflects on the blogosphere reaction to a journal article of mine about the relationship between journalists and media academics in Aotearoa New Zealand. Much of the response reenacted the original essay's argument about journalistic antagonisms towards critical theoretical scholarship. I resituate the reaction in terms of the original essay's objectives, and discuss the chaotic nature of these academic field/journalistic field exchanges. I argue that it would be a mistake to simply dismiss the blogosphere attacks, because that would merely reinscribe my identity in the blind antagonistic frame I had originally critiqued. Instead, revisiting aspects of the original essay that were subsequently ignored, I elaborate on the implications of William Connolly's call for an ethos of “agonistic respect” both for the articulation of an engaged counter-response and the interrogation of political and cultural antagonisms more generally.     

UNIVERSITIES,PUBLIC SERVICE RADIO AND THE ‘AMERICAN SYSTEM’ OF COMMERCIAL BROADCASTING, 1921–40

In the second half of the nineteenth century, several Hebrew journals were established, creating a new cross-communal printed public sphere. At the time, Hebrew was merely a language embedded within the two languages of daily communication – spoken Jewish vernacular (Yiddish in Eastern European communities) and the state vernacular. It lacked an active basic vocabulary for many spheres of modern life and was no longer used in everyday or political discussion. In this paper, I investigate the linguistic choice of Hebrew by comparing three of the main nineteenth-century journals – HaMaggid, HaMelitz and HaTzfira. The reasons for using Hebrew were distinct and individual for each journal. Yet, I argue that choosing Hebrew had more indirect, national repercussions: even when it was not the primary rationale for its use, journalistic Hebrew acted as a catalyst for the rise of modern Jewish nationalism.     

BRITISH COMPANY MAGAZINES, 1878–1939: THE ORIGINS AND FUNCTIONS OF HOUSE JOURNALS IN LARGE-SCALE ORGANISATIONS

In the 1880s company magazines began to appear in large-scale British organizations. By the 1930s almost every corporation had one. Based on business archives and using a combination of business and media history, this article attempts to map the rise and spread of the company magazine. At the same time, it examines the organizational roles and functions of this media. Company magazines came to perform a number of important roles within large-scale business such as the construction of corporate identity, the creation of organizational culture, the validation and negation of managerial power and the evolution of industrial welfare. It is the multi-faceted nature of the company magazine that suggests the rise in its importance, and also its centrality to those interested in the relationship between business and media history.     

细节—个性—典型—时代(上)

文学是人学,这是高尔基提出的命题。我们也可以说史学是人学,因为人是历史的主体。古代传记文,自然也以人为主体。 本节着重讨论古代传记文怎样写人,并从中寻求对新闻写作的借鉴意义。 细节——个性——典型——时代,这八个字,四层意思,它们之间的关系应当是:通过细节描绘,揭示个性特征,刻画典型形象,体现时代精神。 细节,作品中细腻描写人及与人相关的事物的     

中华民族杰出人物简介(四——八)

(四) 孙武春秋时兵家。字长卿,齐国人。曾以《兵法》十三篇见吴王阖间,被任为将,率吴军攻破楚国。他主张改革图强,认为当时晋国六卿所进行的土地制度改革,其中亩大而税轻者可以成功(见山东临沂县银雀山西汉墓出土竹简《孙子兵法·吴问》)。认为“兵者国之大事”(《计篇》)。提出“知彼知     

1949——大上海破晓(二)

风雨飘摇的市长宝座 市长吴国桢坐在巨泼来斯路（今安福路）官邸的写字台前,一支接一支抽烟,心绪恶劣到了极点。已有好几个星期,他那圆嘟嘟一团和气的脸上,不见了往日经常出现在公众场合已为上海市民所熟悉的笑容。通货膨胀、物价迅跳、民怨沸腾、     

1949——大上海破晓(四)

刚进入5月,京沪铁路边上小小的丹阳县城接连来了几位叱咤风云的人物。 5月2日,第三野战军副司令员粟裕、政治部主任唐亮从三野司令部驻扎地常州赶到丹阳。两天前,他俩与刘瑞龙、张震、钟期光五人在常州召开了上海市军事接管委员会第一次会议。会议主要讨论了组织人事事项,决定由唐亮任上海市军事接管委员会主任。     

中国电视史略(1958——1978)

从1958年中国电视诞生到1978年中央电视系统建立,中国电视经历了三个发展时期:缓慢前进的初创时期,由于政治动荡而遭受挫折的时期和拨乱反正的恢复时期。中国的电视尚不成熟;但它已初具规模,并为日后的大发展奠定了基础。一、创业时期(1958—1966)     

1949——大上海破晓(五)

三套军事围攻方案 1949年5月7日,正当蒋介石向大上海投下最后一瞥,乘坐江静轮离开复兴岛驶向茫茫大海时,在常州的粟裕、张震向中央军委和总前委发出了关于围攻上海的军事部署的请示电。     

历代编辑列传(二十一)司马光(1019—1086)

我国的古典编辑学,对于义例的考究,体用的讲求,材料的鉴别,文字的风格,在司马光二十多年的编辑实践中得到了极致的表现。他主持编撰的《资治通鉴》,是我国编年史体的空前巨著,也是古代编辑工作的典型范本。司马光字君实,陕州夏县(今山西夏县)涑水乡人。宋仁宗宝元元年(1038年)中进士,年方二十。初任太常寺奉礼郎,因侍亲而请求外放,亲丧服满后才改为京官,历任大理寺评事、国子监直讲、馆阁校勘及礼部副职,仁宗末年任天章阁待制兼侍讲、知谏院,是讲     

历代编辑列传(二十六) 欧阳玄(1283—1357)

元朝在我国历史上是一个很重要的朝代。由于蒙古统治者进入中原后,厉行民族歧视和掠夺剥削政策,各族下层人民深受奴役与贫困之苦,大都(蒙语称汗八里,即今北京)的高峻宝座上坐着一个语言习俗殊异的皇帝,有些人便不加分析地认定这是一     

历代编辑列传(二十)欧阳修(1007—1072)

在北宋的学术文化界,欧阳修是个开一代风气的先进人物。他年轻时,即以善写古文而名满天下;到中央政府工作两年后,不过三十岁,支持革除时弊而不怕得罪丢官。此后,参与政务活动外,积极从事各种文化活动,在史学、文学、经学、目录学、金石学等方面,他都有重大成就。一般公认他以散文、诗、词等文学成就最高,成为影响巨大的北宋文坛领袖。殊不知他一生在编辑事业上贡献