The Remarkable Popularity of Broadcasting in the United States and Canada - Essay Example

How can we explain the remarkable popularity of broad casting in the united s and Canada after 1922? Answer with reference to Lenthall, Himes (1997) and two other secondary reading. Thesis: The reason that the novelty of radio gained remarkable popularity after 1922 was because the technology was given the chance to flourish because it could be successfully commercialized and profits made off of it. The invention and discovery of radio waves and receivers revolutionized communications. Creating a way in which to use this discovery to connect to people throughout the nation meant also finding a way to capitalize on that discovery. Because it could be profited upon, the proliferation of radio stations throughout the nation allowed the popularity of radio listening as a pastime. By the time that the end of 1922 had come to pass, there were 570 radio stations licensed to operate within the United States (Lenthall, 2007). The birth of broadcast advertising and a way to profit had created an industry that spread rapidly throughout the nation. Advertising was not the first way in which radio was commercialized. Companies like Westinghouse set up broadcasting centers in order to promote the sales of radio equipment to the average consumer. The company was creating demand for radios by creating broadcasting that would appeal to people across demographics (Turow, 2010). One of the amateur broadcasters that were working for Westinghouse began to sell part of the air time to companies so they could use the medium to make money. This began the idea of broadcasting advertising and Westinghouse thought this was a good way to create a new stream of revenue (Lenthall, 2007). As with most inventions, they only have social value if there is a good way to commercialize an industry with them. People were given free access to broadcasting as long as they had the right equipment, which the cost of the equipment was the first cost. The second cost was time. Time was given in listening to commercials in exchange with the free entertainment provided during the rest of the minutes spent listening. The costs associated with listening through advertising is referred to as “the opportunity cost of listening” by Turrow (2010, p. 129). The opportunity is given to businesses to capture the listener’s attention in order to give them the chance to pitch their product. By the 1930s, 30% of the stations were owned by CBS and NBC with 90% of the power that radio gave them placed under their control. The era of the major networks was growing quickly and the culture that had been ignited that would soon be addicted to media was learning how to manage their access to the world through broadcast radio. Broadcast radio created the idea of serialized public entertainment that was accessible without having to read it. Even with the depression era raging in devastating waves of destruction, people were buying radios and ownership of the radio rose from 40% of the population to 80% by 1940 (Lenthall, 2007). The need to know outweighed almost all other aspects of society, just as it does now. The media was gaining its power through showing the world what it meant to have immediate access to information. The iPad was launched just about the same time that the economic downturn was in full swing in the last decade. It was launched to outrageous success. The need for new technologies and ways to communicate seems to outweigh all other aspects of life and provides a solid revenue stream when it is new no matter what the economic status of the nation. Resources Grant, A. E. & Meadows, J. H. (2012). Communications technologies, update and fundamentals. Abingdon: CRC Press. Lenthall, B. (2007). Radio’s America: The great depression and rise of modern mass culture. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Chicago Press. Turow, J. (2010). Media today, third edition, 2010 update: An introduction to mass communications. Abingdon: Routledge. 2. what are the relative advantage of national networks in comparison to local stations, and vice versa? Which type of broadcasting offers better service to listener? Defend your answer with reference to four or more course reading. Thesis: While local broadcasting provides essential information that is centered on local culture that affects the direct environment of the listener, the larger scope that is found through national and international broadcasting provides a much broader understanding of the world. There are many advantages to both local and national broadcasting. Culture is transmitted through any form of broadcast and can create a more cosmopolitan understanding of multiple cultures and interconnections. One of the fears of this type of broader exposure, however, is that other cultures will create change in a local culture. Xenophobia often prevails as cultures begin to collide and influences begin to create change and evolution. As Webb (2008) writes, the exposure to other cultures through national or international influences can result in change that can undermine the intentions and beliefs of a local culture. The example that Webb (2008) uses is the occupation of Newfoundland by American soldiers where music from their culture was brought in and considered to be modern and cosmopolitan. While the music brought by the American soldiers was not seen as a threat, the music on the radio was more generally perceived as threatening to the local culture. The changes that occurred in the 1930s and the 1940s were vast. Webb (2008) shows that studying only economics and politics do not speak to the experiences of daily life or what was experienced in cultural change. Music, on the other hand, as it was dispersed both through occupation and through broadcasting shows that homogenization was occurring during that period of social change. What happened in Canada, however, during the early period of radio broadcasting was that a more unified national identity was established. However, there did exist the criticism that rather than a Canadian national identity, an American influenced identity was emerging. This ‘blurring’ was of great concern and has dominated most of the research that has been done on early Canadian radio, although MacLennen (2005) believes this to be rather limited and narrow-minded. Webb (2008) agrees that the dislocation of many cultures during World War II created a lean towards homogenization through media influences. Newman (2000) shows an example of the power of radio influences on culture through the emergence of radio stations that were aimed at African Americans. When Sponsor magazine made a point that very few radio stations were targeting African Americans in 1957, broadcast station owners saw the advantages to targeting this demographic and a shift in programming began as African American cultures were addressed This example shows that there is a powerful force that comes from reaching the masses, and in targeting a specific demographic, consumerist interests can be achieved. This can also achieve political goals and shift public opinion so that belief is changed, thereby changing culture (Croteau, Hoynes, Milan, & Croteau, 2012). The power of broadcasting, which essentially began with the radio, was seen through the advantages of reaching the largest population possible. The disadvantages, however, to the cultures that are homogenized through broadcast media is that they lose some of the unique aspects through trying to conform. Resources Croteau, D., Hoynes, W., Milan, S., & Croteau, D. (2012). Media/society: Industries, images, and audiences. Thousand Oaks, Calif: SAGE. MacLennen, A. (2005). What do the radio program schedules reveal? Content analysis versus accidental sampling in early Canadian Radio History. In Keshen, J., & Perrier, S. Building new bridges: Sources, methods, and interdisciplinarity. Ottawa, Ont.: University of Ottawa Press. Newman, K. M. (1 January 2000). The forgotten fifteen million: Black radio, the “Negro Market” and the civil rights movement. Radical History Review 1000(76), 114-135. Webb, J. A. (2008). Repertoire and reception: radio and music in St. John’s Newfoundland, 1930-45. Journal of Canadian Studies 42(2), 117. 3: Women, language minorities and visible minorities have not always had a voice on the radio in Canada and the United States. What obstacles have they faced, and how have these obstacles been overcome? State your answer with reference to three or more secondary readings and at least one radio program. Thesis: While minorities, whether they be gender, language related or race based, have had broadcasting messages transmitted in their direction in order to gain their consumer interest, their voices were mostly silent during the early years of broadcasting due to white male dominance as a basis for social construction. Newman (2000) writes that after an article written for Sponsor magazine in which the absence of programming for African American people was pointed out, the rise of programming geared toward that culture rose sharply in order to engage them with advertising. However, having programming geared towards one’s culture is not the same as having a voice on the airwaves. That began to change in the 1950s as the civil rights movement was galvanized by those on the radio who encouraged their listeners towards change. It was dangerous, but by the 1960s there was a firm list of black broadcasters who were voicing the demands of generations of oppressed people. This was the same for women, but their cause was more hard-pressed to be heard. In the 1940s there were some reporters who were women who went to the battlefields of World War II. Their voices, however, were made to conform to that of the male news reporters, just like much of the early women’s rights movement changes meant. This was not the case for Helen Hiett. She was broadcasting an interest based radio program based on her publication called ‘Paris Letter’ which described life in Paris during the war, but before the occupation of the Germans (Hosley & Yamada, 1987). While not hard news and more of a soft topic, she was using her time to create support by Americans for entering into the conflict in order to save lives. By the next summer after she arrived Hitler invaded France. Hiett had to flee Paris and go through Switzerland, but provided broadcasts and first hand reports of the events (Weatherford, 2010). While ‘Paris Letter’ was originally intended to be a program of interest that reported on the daily lives of the French while they managed in a world that was being threatened by invasion, the result was that Hiett was telling stories that were horrific and terrifying because of the trials she was facing as she attempted to flee Paris. As she spoke of children with deep blisters and burns on their feet from running from the invasion, she was told that her listeners were eating breakfast during her broadcast and she should not mention words such as ‘blood (Weatherford, 2010). This would likely not have been the case for a male broadcaster. Language based barriers in radio have creates a great number of challenges. According to Voss and Bloemraad (2011) while the number of Spanish speaking stations in the United States, as an example, rose to levels that have competed with those stations that consider themselves focused on black culture, they will never integrate with mainstream media the way that black culture stations have because of the continuation of the language barrier. One of the aspects of broadcasting that was supported by Graham Spry was the inclusion of French broadcasting programs. He believed in bi-lingual communications through public broadcasting in order to make more people in the nation aware. Even though the time period was seeing a rise in British attachments, Spry believed that those speaking either language should have access to information (Raboy, 1990). Resources Hosley, D. H., & Yamada, G. K. (1987). Hard news: Women in broadcast journalism. New York: Greenwood Press. Keeling, K. (2011). Sound clash: Listening to American studies. Baltimore, Md: Johns Hopkins Univ. Press. Newman, K. M. (1 January 2000). The forgotten fifteen million: Black radio, the “Negro Market” and the civil rights movement. Radical History Review 1000(76), 114-135. Voss, K., & Bloemraad, I. (2011). Rallying for Immigrant Rights: The Fight for Inclusion in 21st Century America. Berkeley: University of California Press. Weatherford, D. (2010). American women during World War II. New York: Routledge. Raboy, M. (1990). Missed opportunities: The story of Canada's broadcasting policy. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. 4. The league Canadian radio believed that Canadian radio listener had to choose between “the state and the united states. “What did they mean when they used this slogan? Were they correct? Defend your answers with reference to the radio league pamphlet and any three other primary or secondary readings Thesis: The need for Canada to separate itself from the commercialism of American radio was a way to keep the interests of the people at the high end of public concern and the interests of corporations in check. One of the problems in Canada in relationship to independence from American influences was that by the 1920s the United States had already put in place a number of radio broadcasting stations within the nation. Canadians who were listening to the radio were listening to American broadcasts, receiving cultural cues from American formed ideas, beliefs, and traditions. Graham Spry stated emphatically that “Canadians had to choose between ‘the state or the United States” (Haenens & Saeys, 2007, p. 366). Haenens and Saeys (2007) write that “Either the government intervened to establish a publically financed broadcasting system that would be in Spry’s words “a single glowing spirit of nationality” or Canadian broadcasting would simply become an adjunct to the American commercial system” (p. 366). The Aird Commission report was set about discovering the benefits of independent radio for Canada. McChesney (1999) writes that “The question to be decided by Canada is largely whether the Canadian people are to have Canadian independence in radio broadcasting or to become dependent upon sources in the United States”. The one way that Canada wanted to differentiate itself from the United States was to have a more public based system of radio than a commercialized type. In 1930 Graham Spry and Alan Plaunt formed the Canadian Radio League in which the purpose was to support a public service broadcasting system. They believed that commercialism would be contradictory to the democratic possibilities of public broadcasting in Canada. Spry was adamantly against commercialized radio. He said "Democracy is by definition that system of Government responsible and controlled by public opinion. Radio broadcasting is palpably the most potent and significant agent for the formation of public opinion," Spry argued. "It is no more a business than the public school system" (Canada, House of Commons, 1932, pp. 546-547). Spry considered radio to be a weapon for advertising which could influence the thinking of the public. McChesney (1999) writes that this was considered aligned with the U. S. broadcast reform movement that was underway at the same time. The organization called the Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (2000) called Spry “one of the more important Canadian intellectual activists of the twentieth century, advancing many of the core values that came to be accepted as Canadian” and was the man who coined the popular phrase “the state or the United States”. The purpose of creating this sentiment was to define Canada from the United States as a unified entity that was different, as well as a set of cultures that should not be influenced by the American capitalism that dominated American ideals. Spry did not want the corporate aesthetic that was building in the United States to take hold in his nation. He saw that too much corporate influence would create a world where people began to matter less. Ideas that corporate need was superior to the individual need have flourished in the United States where Canada has managed to keep the influence of corporation thinking to a minimum. Resources Canada, House of Commons. (1932). Special Committee on Radio Broadcasting: Minutes and proceedings of evidence. Ottawa: F. A. Acland. In McChesney, R. W. (1999). Graham Spry and the future of public broadcasting: the 1997 Spry memorial lecture. Canadian Journal of Communication. 24 (1). Retrieved from http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1081/987 Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (1 March 2000). Graham Spry: The father of Canadian public broadcasting. Retrieved from http://www.friends.ca/pub/189 Haenens, L. ., & Saeys, F. (2007). Western broadcast models: Structure, conduct, and performance. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. McChesney, R. W. (1999). Graham Spry and the future of public broadcasting: the 1997 Spry memorial lecture. Canadian Journal of Communication. 24 (1). Retrieved from http://www.cjc-online.ca/index.php/journal/article/view/1081/987 5. What role has amateurs and audiences played in the development of the broadcasting industry? Construct an answer with reference to three or more secondary and three or more primary documents. Thesis: The concept of volunteerism in radio was beneficial in its beginnings in both the United States and in Canada as the beginning of the media required actors in its creation. Those who acted in creating radio were central to the development of the industry of radio broadcasting. While businesses put up the radio stations in order to create broadcasting centers, it was amateur broadcasters that built the nature of the entertainment. Westinghouse, a large contributor to the development of the radio system, hired many amateurs who performed for free in order to build the radio industry. It was through one of those amateur radio broadcasters that the idea of selling air time to advertisers emerged (Lenthall, 2007). It was Graham Spry who desired to have a voluntary set of broadcasters in order to create public radio in Canada. Spry was seeking to see the Canadian government to play an active role in world politics, which he believed meant public radio and eventually television was essential so that Canadian thought and policy remained Canadian culture based. He also believed that in order to have the ability to function as a society in which public opinion was based on the greater good, they would have to have an unbiased resource from which to gather their news and information on the world (Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (1 March 2000). Raboy (1990) writes that the use of volunteers to broadcast public radio was essential in keeping the purpose of broadcasting as to disseminate information for the public good. Listeners also volunteered to make reports so that their views could be used to judge the success of the public system in Canada. It was essential that audiences be used to understand what the impact of broadcasting was on the public. Volunteerism is still crucial in keeping certain aspects of radio alive. WHRO is a radio station that is dedicated to keeping broadcasts alive from the 1920s and 1930s and they use volunteers in order to keep the essential authenticity of the broadcast system (WHRO Public Media, 2013). Broadcasters of the 1920s and 30s were sometimes created through the use of their own broadcasting systems that were based on small, home owned crystal sets. These amateur broadcasters, just as is seen today, create independent stations through which a variety of opinions and ideas could come. It was through the desire for becoming an independent, amateur broadcaster that Powel Crosley made his son a broadcasting system which founded the Crosley Radio Corporation through Precision Electric (Radio Blvd, 2013). While the internet has primarily taken over this position in society, the need to become an amateur personality built the business of the radio through those who wanted to be heard and could get the means through which to broadcast. Another example of how the radio contributed to the public good was through educating the public. The Free Company, a volunteer based organization, put out educational radio programs that consisted of some of the most important authors of the time who “sought to transform American culture during the Depression just as workers -- and the government -- were attempting to transform the country's social and economic relations” (The Free Company, 2013). Resources Friends of Canadian Broadcasting (1 March 2000). Graham Spry: The father of Canadian public broadcasting. Retrieved from http://www.friends.ca/pub/189 Lenthall, B. (2007). Radio’s America: The great depression and rise of modern mass culture. Chicago, IL: University of Illinois Chicago Press. Raboy, M. (1990). Missed opportunities: The story of Canada's broadcasting policy. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press. Radio Blvd. (2013). Western Historic Museum. Retrieved from http://www.radio blvd.com/20sRadio.html The Free Company (2013). The free company presents: A collection of plays about the meaning of America. (auditory examples of the programs) Retrieved from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/RADIO/Free/main.html WHRO Public Media (2013). The 1920s Radio Network. Retrieved from http://www.whro.org/home/1920s/ 6. What was the “cultural work” of American radio in the 1930s? Answer with reference to McFadden and at least two other secondary readings, as well as at least one radio program. Thesis: The Jack Benny Program was explored by McFadden (2013) and was used as a way of finding the cultural core of the American society during its run from1932-1946. The Jack Benny Show ran between the years of 1932 and 1946 through the depression and World War II giving it a unique position in the history of two of the most volatile events of the 20th century. McFadden writes that (1993) “The show modeled a fantasy world where work and consumption were unproblematic; where white male dominance in the family was unchallenged because married women did not exist; where the chaos and disorder of society were projected onto African-American communities; and where masculinity and a man's status in the family did not necessarily depend on his economic situation” (p. 113). In other words, this show created the idealized vision of a misogynistic world in which white, male dominance was not threatened. However, the show used what McFadden (2013) calls ‘foils’ which would act as characters that would counter the misogynistic and biased ideas in the show so that it could appeal to a cross-cultural demographics of differing opinions from which different characters would be used so that the audience could identify with the program on some ideological level. The concept was to create a program that could cross geographical and cultural boundaries and appeal to the widest audience possible. Radio broadcasts like those from The Free Company (2013) that were voluntary and based on specific ideological perspectives could be argued against or would appeal to only a part of the listener base. These were not dependent upon gaining the largest audience, but on dispensing the message as wide as possible. News programs like those by Hiett who reported on the affects of WWII created information without entertainment that formed a foundation on which policy and public opinion became enmeshed (Weatherford, 2010). Entertainment, on the other hand, like that of the Jack Benny Show created a fantasy of how culture could be if allowed to be expressed freely, without these outside influences. McFadden (1993) discusses Stuart Hall’s commentary on the ideological aspect of the cultural reflection in the Jack Benny Show. He said that a show that reflected the different concepts that came from the Jack Benny Show were the “dominant cultural order” which may not be politically correct, but it reflected the fantasy that the public ascribed to over those aspects of the true culture (McFadden, 1993, p. 115). This could mean either the white male dominance position or that of the foils. Jack Benny is described by McFadden (1993) as an anti-hero who had the characteristics of the male lead in screwball comedies. The danger of this type of character, however, is that his perspectives are validated by those who would want to agree with them as they identify with him. As an example, The Jack Benny Show frequently made references to how valiantly the Russians were fighting in WWII and made references to Nazi’s and Germans as being brutal and inhumane, which of course was true. The point is that this had the power to form public opinion about the war and contextualized the American position. Although it as not news, it had the power to shape cultural beliefs and attitudes (Smelser & Davies, 2008). Resources McFadden, M. T. (June 1993). America's boy friend who can't get a date": Gender, race, and the cultural work of the Jack Benny program, 1932-1946 The Journal of American History 80(1), 113-134. Smelser, R. M., & Davies, E. J. (2008). The myth of the Eastern Front: The Nazi-Soviet war in American popular culture. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. The Free Company (2013). The free company presents: A collection of plays about the meaning of America. (auditory examples of the programs) Retrieved from http://xroads.virginia.edu/~1930s/RADIO/Free/main.html Weatherford, D. (2010). American women during World War II. New York: Routledge. Read More