The rhetoric of Huey Long—radio orator

Even by modern standards, the success of Huey Long's rhetoric in the 1920s and 1930s is remarkable. When Long was assassinated in September of 1935, he was a potential candidate for the presidency and one of the most powerful members of the U.S. Senate. He was also widely perceived as being a demagogue. Long's training as a radio speaker began in the 1920s during his stormy political career. Most city newspapers were against him, but Long had a friend who owned a powerful radio station (KWKH) in Shreveport, Louisiana. Long got free time on KWKH to take his case to the people. Long often talked for several hours at a time, sometimes by remote control from his hotel room while lounging in his pajamas. In the final nine months of his life, from January to September of 1935, Long received free time on national networks for eight major broadcasts. This paper makes a fantasy theme analysis of these broadcasts, and examines whether or not Long was a demagogue and what influences he has had on subsequent political communication.     

Demise of the radio commentator: An irreparable loss to broadcast journalism

Opinion on the airwaves, once the province of a select few exceptionally qualified journalist‐historians, is now the domain of strident talk show hosts and callers. Radio opens its microphones to public cranks, but not to those best equipped to offer a lucid point of view. The commentator—the gifted essayist whose function was to extract meaning and context from the day's news—is simply extinct, a relic of radio's Golden Age. The irony is, never has he or she been more needed. A grand tradition of broadcast journalism has been abandoned. This article looks back at three icons of radio news: H. V. Kaltenborn, Elmer Davis, and Raymond Gram Swing; the standards they set. . . and a forgotten legacy.     

"Hello Americans": Paul Harvey and the Rhetorical Construction of Modern Agrarianism

This study examines Paul Harvey, the nation's most popular radio broadcaster, and explains his lasting success through a content analysis of selected broadcasts. Findings reveal that Harvey is a national opinion leader for millions of Americans, urban and rural, who identify with the values of agrarianism. His daily news program emphasizes the importance of the common person through strategic choices in both content and structure. By use of such choices, Harvey presents a predictable and orderly interpretation of the day's events that generates a sense of stability and comfort for his audience.     

Not the Best: What Rush Limbaugh's Apology to Sandra Fluke Reveals about Image Restoration Strategies on Commercial Radio

This study analyzes the rhetorical strategies used by Rush Limbaugh to rebuild his public image after he made offensive remarks about law student Sandra Fluke in early 2012. A close reading of Limbaugh's public statements reveals that Limbaugh employed the strategies of evading responsibility, reducing offensiveness, and mortification (i.e., apologizing). However, Limbaugh's apology was more of a pseudo-apology than a genuine apology. This article argues that Limbaugh adopted the strategies he did because the nature of political talk radio makes it more important to maintain a good public image with the audience than with political opponents or even advertisers.     

American Isolationism and The Political Evolution of Journalist-Turned-US Senator Gerald P. Nye

This article outlines the rise of the radical agrarian Nonpartisan League (NPL) press in North Dakota, focusing on NPL editor Gerald P. Nye, who took his Prairie-based populist platform and constituents' post-World War I anti-British sentiments to Washington, DC. There he effectively opposed active US participation in European and Asian wars as a US senator from 1925 to 1941. The article explores the intersection of journalism and politics through the development of Nye's isolationist ideology as a rural newspaper editor and his rise as a powerful political ideologue and advocate in the Senate.     

Resting Prefrontal Cortex Asymmetry and Communication Apprehension,Verbal Aggression,and Other Social Interaction Constructs: A Meta-Analytic Review

This study examined the effect of body piercing on perceptions of an employment seeker's credibility, hirability, and attractiveness. Participants (undergraduate students and managers) viewed a photograph of a job candidate who wore either no jewelry, an earring, or a nose ring, and then rated dimensions of the candidate's credibility, hirability, and attractiveness. Analysis indicated that although the candidate's attractiveness ratings were not affected by the type of jewelry he wore, his credibility ratings decreased when he was wearing jewelry, and his hirability ratings decreased when he was wearing a nose ring. These results and their implications are discussed.     

EARLY MULTI-PLATFORMING

Early examples of the re-purposing of material from one medium to one or several others are examined through various cases of television cooking programmes and associated print materials. The presenter was the key property uniting the materials and the first television cook to be examined here is Philip Harben, who started on the BBC in 1946 and whose first spin-off book appeared in 1951. A small discussion of Julia Child's American work precedes the main focus, which is on the British-born Graham Kerr, from his first television work in New Zealand in 1961, through his period in Australia from 1965, to his move to Canada in 1969. During this period the serious hardcover publications were not directly associated with television, while those which stressed the televisual relationship had lower production values and needed to justify their existence with explicit commentary on the service they were providing to viewers. It is these latter however which provide valuable information about the early everyday experiences of watching television.     

Buying Time to Start Spanish-Language Radio in San Antonio: Manuel Davila and the Beginning of Tejano Programming

This article reveals how Spanish-language radio started in San Antonio, Texas—as blocks of time bought by Hispanics interested in providing music to San Antonio's Spanish-speaking residents. In particular, this study recognizes the contributions of San Antonio radio pioneer Manuel Davila and his role in starting Spanish-language radio and the Tejano format, drawing from a combination of on-site observation at Davila's station, personal interviews, and the collection of historical data. The article also lays a foundation for critically analyzing the political economy and hegemonic process of maintenance of economic and cultural power possible in the early days of radio broadcasting to compare it to the current corporately dominated marketplace.     

The axiological foundations of Plato's theory of rhetoric

This essay examines Plato's theory of rhetoric to discover the values implicit in that theory. Plato's assumptions about rhetoric and his uses of it initiate a different tradition of thought in Western rhetoric, a tradition which embraces lies, censorship, and deception to inculcate “correct” thought and action in audiences.     

The new competitive environment of radio broadcasting in the Nordic countries: A short history of deregulation and analysis

The new competitive environment of radio broadcasting in the Nordic countries consists of three sectors: (1) public service radio channels, (2) commercial radio stations and networks, and (3) community radio. Commercial radio represents the latest phase in a long process of transformation that started with decentralization inside the national broadcasting corporations in the 1960s and continued with introduction of noncommercial forms of local and community radio since the late 1970s. In the 1990s, commercial radio represents a hegemonic cultural form whose values and meanings penetrate to all sectors of radio. As a response to commercialization, the public service broadcasting tradition is undergoing a serious rearticulation. In contrast with the radical liberalism of the 1980s, there seems to be a growing political will to safeguard a balanced dualism of noncommercial and commercial forms of broadcasting.     

Johnson,Phylis. (2009). KJLH-FM and the Los Angeles Riots of 1992: Compton's Neighborhood Station in the Aftermath of the Rodney King Verdict

When Rush Limbaugh made his now famous remarks about Sandra Fluke's Congressional testimony he set off a social media firestorm. The ensuing backlash cost Limbaugh many prominent advertisers and damaged his public image. In this study, we examine the characteristics that motivated some to engage in the social media conversation while others remained on the sidelines. We find that political information efficacy, or confidence that one has the knowledge and skills necessary to participate, dictate political engagement online. We discuss the implications of this finding for radio, communication and media scholars, and healthy democratic deliberation among young Americans.     

Regulating the Radio Monopoly: Ewin Davis and his Legislative Debates, 1923-1928

Ewin Lamar Davis is frequently cited as an influential lawmaker known for promoting antimonopolistic practices during the development of radio broadcasting through the 1920s. He believed monopolistic practices threatened fair business practices, program diversity, localism, and noncommercial radio. His work helped shape early radio legislation, including the Davis Amendment, which attempted to equalize the distribution of radio stations throughout the US. However, little research has been done to clearly articulate his role in the development of radio legislation. This paper uses Congressional records to trace Davis' involvement in legislation leading to the Radio Act of 1927 and the subsequent Davis Amendment.     

“Think With Me:” David Carr's Enduring Invitation

David Wildon Carr (1945–2016) was recognized in the international cultural community as a scholar and instigator whose critical thinking challenged museum practitioners to reflect on the purpose and responsibility of their work. In his recent papers and lectures, he argued that those discussing museum experiences are late to enter into a dialogue already in progress—a dialogue which carefully considers the whole person in a community, and wherein thinking with a museum is an enterprise embedded in the learner's experience. This forum, written by three museum professionals in response to his recent untimely death, is intended to capture personal impressions of Carr's contribution to the continuing work of museums. Each author quotes from Carr's writings, since his words have such enduring strength—a strength that will continue to resonate long into the future. Each also offers readers some personal background on his work as a teacher.     

"Short-Term Bursts of Inspiration": The Development of British Women's Alternative Radio

This paper begins with a review of literature and an historical account of the development of alternative women's community radio in the UK. It describes how UK women's radio stations were developed from feminist radio activity in the 70s and 80s. The two short case studies are based on qualitative research in women's community radio stations that have developed in the 90s: Fem FM in Bristol in the southwest and Radio Venus in Bradford in the north of England. Finally it develops a model of alternative women's radio for those who wish to forge a gendered space in a radio environment dominated by male broadcasters.     

Mea Maxima Culpa: John Reith and the Advent of Television

There is no doubting the influence and impact of (Lord) John Reith on the shape of British broadcasting, both radio and television. As one cultural historian argues: ‘he occupies an important place in the social and cultural history of twentieth-century Britain.’ The most commonly-accepted view in television histories is that John Reith disliked television, would have nothing to do with the medium, viewed those involved with establishing and running the BBC's television service with contempt, and refused to watch television programmes. However, drawing on both archival and secondary resources, together with Trine Syvertsen's notion of ‘media resistance’, I argue that Reith's relationship with television was far more complex than has been understood thus far and that his attitude towards the new technology was shaped by a combination of personal and professional factors.     

The Behaviorist in the Boardroom: The Research of Frank Stanton,Ph.D.

In 1946, at the age of 38, Frank Stanton was named President of CBS. While much of Stanton's work as a corporate executive has been chronicled, his accomplishments as one of America's earliest scholars of radio audience measurement remain neglected in media scholarship. This article reviews Stanton's research efforts between 1933 and 1942, and in doing so it places his work within the contexts of contemporaneous social and psychological media inquiry. Discussions of Stanton's methodological approach, his innovative dissertation, his scholarship, and his collaboration with key figures in the history of communication research are informed by primary and secondary sources.     

THE RADICAL TYPE?

Despite the central role of the paper in Marxist–Leninist strategy, the Communist Party of Great Britain (CPGB) had little confidence in either professional journalists, including those who were Communists, or journalism practices, even though journalism, like culture, was recognized as “a weapon in the (class) struggle”. While George Allen Hutt (1901–73) was a leading professional party journalist, his career hit a “glass ceiling”, even as he met the three criteria of Communist journalism theory and earned an international reputation as a newspaper designer. In spite of opposition to his role on the executive of the National Union of Journalists (NUJ) because of his party membership, he became the longest-serving editor of the NUJ's periodical, The Journalist. As both a loyal, lifetime Communist and the consummate professional journalist, Hutt's career provides a salient example of the ambiguous position of the middle-class journalist in the proletarian-dominated Communist Party. It was the emphasis on his “technical” ability that appears to have disqualified his candidacy for the Daily Worker's top editorial positions and to have justified support for his editorship of The Journalist.