A Marriage of Friends or Foes? Radio,Newspapers, and the Facsimile in the 1930s

The 1930s represent a contentious period between the radio and newspaper industries. In the middle of the press-radio war, a new technology, the broadcast radio facsimile, emerged with the potential to bring together the warring industries. Although the radio facsimile was short lived, its story, seen through the lens of the press-radio war, provides an interesting look at the forces shaping a new technology.

Envisioned as a technology that would allow subscribers to receive the newspaper via a radio receiver, the facsimile presented an interesting dilemma: Who would control the creation and dissemination of news—the newspaper or radio industry? This article explores this question through an examination of industry narratives about the facsimile. In analyzing the discourses, this study focuses on how the newspaper and radio industries envisioned the future of the facsimile. Was the facsimile viewed as a means for cooperation or as a point of contention?     

“A New Spirit of Hope”: Educating the Book Trade, 1920–1930

This paper looks at the initiatives by the Associated Booksellers of Great Britain and Ireland between 1920 and 1930 to formalise training for booksellers, reflecting on the current moves to reinstate some kind of bookselling qualification through the partnership of Waterstones with the University of Derby. It uses as primary sources the trade papers of The Publishers’ Circular and Booksellers’ Record and The Bookseller, both key narrative repositories for histories of this nature.     

“Haptically Mediated” Radio Listening and its Commodification: The Remediation of Radio through Digital Mobile Devices

This article aims to rediscover the tactile aspects of radio listening, which until now have been underestimated by radio scholars, and to describe how haptic radio listening has evolved, from the beginning of broadcasting to the arrival of digital media. This article will first perform an overview of the studies that have dealt with the haptic dimension of media, then focus on what we call “haptically mediated” radio listening, a specific form of listening made possible by the interaction with radio content through mobile digital devices, and conclude with a critical depiction of the implications of haptically mediated listening for audience commodification.     

“Contact Us”: Archivists and Remote Users in the Digital Age

SUMMARY

Archive repository web pages have become more sophisticated in the past several years, and information about repository holdings is often readily available online. However, so long as full archival records are not available electronically, archivists will have to contend with the increase in reference requests from remote users. The author surveyed one hundred university archives web pages to examine the current availability of archival records on the Web and to explore the possible effects of this presence on archivists' efforts to provide remote users with access to repository holdings through “ask an archivist” forms, electronic mail, and other modes of communication.     

Local Radio Audiences in Iran: An Analysis of Ardebilian People's Trust in and Satisfaction with “Sabalan” Radio

There are numerous local radio stations across Iran. Considering the ethnic, linguistic, and cultural characteristics of their audiences, local stations endeavor to produce and broadcast diverse programs. One local station is “Sabalan” situated in Ardebil province in northwest Iran. Since the audience of this station speaks the same language as the inhabitants of the neighboring countries of Azerbaijan and Turkey, whether Sabalan can attract and satisfy its audience becomes significant. The paper is the result of a research project done in relation to the extent to which the Ardebilian audience is satisfied by Sabalan and trusts its programs. The findings reveal that the audience is less than satisfied with Sabalan and has almost no trust in the news, information, and programs. The reasons they mention for their attitude are: censorship of the news and little reflection of reality, lack of respect for indigenous culture and language, and broadcasting too many programs in Persian.     

Siegel,David S. and Siegel,Susan. (2007). Radio and the Jews: The untold story of how radio influenced America's image of Jews, 1920s–1950s

Bolivia is one of the most successful examples of alternative media used for helping to create a “critical citizen movement” to dynamize the “social contract.” Through recovering historical Bolivian tradition based on radio experiences with communication for social change, this study works to describe the last legal and political changes referring to the community communication, its future lines of work, and the role of the alternative media networks on their change or their consolidation, based on the “reticular profit” concept, the study of their increased number of partners, and analysis of legal documents.     

Why “Video Killed the Radio Star”: Teaching “The Medium is the Message”

Courses: Introduction to Communication, Persuasion, Communication Theory

Objective: Students will demonstrate understanding of Marshall McLuhan's aphorism “The Medium is the Message”     

“Serving the masses,not the classes”: Station WHN,pioneer of commercial broadcasting of the 1920s

Historical accounts of how American radio developed into an advertising medium in the 1920s have focused almost exclusively on the broadcasting activities of large corporate concerns, especially AT&T. The contributory role of small broadcasters to this process has been overlooked, despite the fact that many of these were operating on a commercial basis when their larger corporate competitors were still eschewing direct advertising as an abuse of the medium. Drawing on contemporary publications and archival sources, this article details the controversial career of one such commercial pioneer, station WHN of New York, which played a crucial and hitherto overlooked role in opening up the airwaves to commercial use.     

American Dreams of Women in the 1930s -A Thematic Analysis of John Steinbeck＇s Of Mice and Men

As a critical novel, Steinbeck＇s novelia Of Mice and Men has stirred widespread discussions Since it first captivated the public, In this paper, it concisely illustrates John Steinbeck and his book Of Mice and Men arid makes a profound analysis of the Characte-- Curley＇s wife, It also discusses the disillusionment of her dreams, the reflection of the living actuality Of women and Some possible causes to the long-existed sexism in America.     

Undervaluing Mutual: The FCC’s Missed Opportunity to Restructure Radio Broadcasting in the New Deal Era

This article reexamines the Federal Communications Commission’s investigation into monopoly practices by the “chain” or network radio broadcasters in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The FCC targeted NBC and CBS and eventually succeeded in forcing NBC to sell its Blue radio network. But the Commission ultimately failed to prevent network domination of affiliates. I argue that the Commission missed an opportunity to recognize that the Mutual Broadcasting System offered an alternative, cooperative model for organization of the industry that could have better served the FCC’s goals of harnessing the power of chain broadcasting and promoting localism in broadcasting.     

The Development of News as a Viable Format in Philippine Radio (1960s–Present): A Study of DZRH and DZBB

This article traces the development of news as programming content in Philippine radio from the 1960s to the present. Two radio stations, DZRH and DZBB, were chosen for the study. Aside from their popularity among Metro Manila listeners, they are also similar in content (news and information-oriented programs) and have long histories. The case studies show the socio-political, regulatory, economic, and technological influences on the metamorphosis of DZRH and DZBB into news-oriented radio stations. Attention was given to the changes in news program format, news production, and the ratings and advertising of the two stations.     

“Salúd,Amigos”: Negotiating Border History in Rural and Farm Radio of the Rio Grande Valley

The southernmost area of Texas, known as the Rio Grande Valley, is largely absent from histories of early radio. The social, political, and economic history of the Valley from 1848 to the 1950s prompts the authors to approach the region’s broadcast history from the context of rural and farm radio. The papers of broadcaster Bradford Smith, housed at the Margaret H. McAllen Memorial Archives at the Museum of South Texas History, provide an entryway for Valley radio to become part of the larger body of rural and farm radio scholarship. Smith’s radio reports emphasize the centrality of localism for remote communities, and they provide competing narratives about the region’s modern identity and its Mexican roots.