Comparative Media History An Introduction: 1789 to the Present

by Chapman, Jane L.

• ISBN13: 9780745632438
• ISBN10: 0745632432
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-07-11
• Publisher: Polity

Summary

Comparative Media History is a unique thematic textbook which introduces students to the key ideas underpinning media development. It is an essential first step to a better understanding of both the media industry today and the way in which it evolved over time.The textbook compares developments and influences from a broad perspective, highlighting and contrasting different countries, industries and periods of history in order to encourage an understanding of cause and effect. In a style which is clear, accessible and provocative, Jane Chapman argues that most of the roots of today's media - even the globalizing impulse - lie in the late 18th and 19th centuries. The book emphasises continuity and certain decisive factors such as the social use of technology, the character of the institutions in which it is applied and the political approach of the specific countries involved.The comparative element to this book, both across countries and industries, will enable students to reflect on key issues in media studies, including those of diversity, form, method and choice, both past and present. It will become an essential text for any student of the media and its history.For more information about the book and the author, please see www.janechapman.co.uk

Author Biography

Jane Chapman is Principal Lecturer in Journalism at the University of Lincoln.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	xii
Introduction	1	(1)
Aims	1	(1)
What is the comparative approach?	1	(1)
How to use this book	2	(1)
Further research	2	(1)
Arguments	3	(3)
The importance of the nineteenth century	3	(1)
Theories and themes have early roots	4	(1)
Continuity of issues	5	(1)
Choice of starting point	6	(1)
Choice of countries	6	(1)
Choice of industries	7	(2)
PART I ANTECEDENTS, CONTINUITIES AND DISCONTINUITIES	9	(60)
Newspapers: Radicalism, Repression and Economic Change, 1789--1847	11	(32)
Summary	11	(1)
Introduction	11	(2)
The influence of the American Revolution	13	(2)
The impact of French revolutionary newspapers	15	(7)
The influence of press freedom on newspaper style and operations	15	(4)
The reality of the fourth estate	19	(3)
Reaction and repression	22	(4)
Newspapers and political discourse in Britain, 1789--1815	22	(3)
The collapse of press freedom in France, 1794--1815	25	(1)
The worldwide development of local newspapers, 1815--1847	26	(4)
America	26	(1)
Germany	27	(1)
France	28	(1)
Britain	29	(1)
Industrialization and improved distribution	30	(2)
Railways	31	(1)
The mail	31	(1)
Strategies for new readerships on both sides of the Atlantic	32	(7)
The American penny press	32	(4)
Britain's radical press	36	(3)
The emergence of the profession of journalism	39	(2)
Conclusions	41	(1)
Study questions	42	(1)
The Focusing of Political Communications and the Newspaper Business, 1848--1881	43	(26)
Summary	43	(1)
Introduction	44	(1)
Press freedom	45	(4)
Government-media relations	49	(6)
The Crimean War and the American Civil War	50	(1)
German and Japanese government control of the press	51	(4)
Consumers, media industrialization and imperialism	55	(13)
Education, consumption and mass literacy	55	(1)
Newspaper growth	56	(1)
Production technology	57	(1)
The invention of the phonograph	58	(1)
The telegraph and other communications systems	58	(2)
The birth of news agencies and the worldwide growth of Reuters	60	(4)
Global agency deals	64	(2)
The effect of news agencies on newspaper style, content and jobs	66	(1)
The telegraph and empire	67	(1)
Conclusions	68	(1)
Study questions	68	(1)
PART II POPULARIZATION, INDUSTRIALIZATION AND THE TRIUMPH OF TECHNOLOGY, 1881--1918	69	(72)
Commercialization, Consumerism and Technology	71	(30)
Summary	71	(1)
Introduction	72	(2)
Illustration, photography and new print technology	74	(1)
New Journalism across continents: individuals and institutions	75	(6)
Advertising and its relationship to the growth of newspapers	81	(2)
New consumerism and the advertising industry	83	(6)
The rise of agencies	87	(1)
Magazines	88	(1)
Changes in the structure and working practices of the newspaper industry	89	(6)
The age of the reporter	93	(2)
The early recording industry	95	(5)
Music, theories of modernity and creative trends	97	(1)
Technology and the business of music	98	(2)
Conclusions	100	(1)
Study questions	100	(1)
Politics, New Forms of Communication and the Globalizing Process	101	(40)
Summary	101	(1)
Introduction	102	(2)
Newspapers: political influence versus political independence	104	(5)
American yellow journalism and national chauvinism elsewhere	109	(4)
Muckraking, public relations, power and popularism	113	(5)
Wireless before broadcasting	118	(5)
The early film industry	123	(3)
The international appeal of the film industry	126	(5)
The growth of American dominance	131	(3)
`Universalism' versus cultural specificity	134	(3)
Stages of globalization: a summary	137	(1)
Conclusions	138	(1)
Study questions	139	(2)
PART III DISCOVERY AND EXPLOITATION OF THE MASSES FORMULA, 1918--1947	141	(64)
The Business and Ideology of Mass Culture, 1918--1939	143	(37)
Summary	143	(1)
Introduction	144	(1)
The influence of the Russian Revolution on media	145	(2)
The growth of broadcasting	147	(2)
Broadcasting structures and impact	149	(4)
The Nazi takeover of media for propaganda	153	(1)
Comparative press opposition to radio in the United States and Britain	154	(2)
Steps in press opposition to radio	156	(3)
The United States	156	(1)
Britain	156	(3)
The press: popularism, politics, business and advertising	159	(5)
Connections between radio, advertising, Hollywood and music	164	(3)
The music industry and the Depression	167	(2)
New developments in consumption and advertising method: US initiatives	169	(5)
The film business: Hollywood and beyond	174	(3)
Technical developments in early television	177	(1)
Conclusions	178	(1)
Study questions	179	(1)
War and Beyond, 1939--1947	180	(25)
Summary	180	(1)
Introduction	181	(2)
Pressure on newspapers	183	(1)
The drama of radio news	184	(2)
Fact, fiction, truth and propaganda	186	(6)
The fortunes of wartime film	192	(2)
Media and post-war social change	194	(9)
Popular influences in France and Britain	195	(3)
Re-education or cultural imperialism in Japan and Germany?	198	(5)
Conclusions	203	(1)
Study questions	204	(1)
PART IV THE GLOBAL AGE, 1948--2002	205	(61)
Cold War and the Victory of Commercialism, 1948--1980	207	(31)
Summary	207	(1)
Introduction	208	(2)
Cold War thinking and media reactions	210	(4)
Media production influenced by Cold War politics	214	(2)
Public-service television in Japan, Britain, France and Germany	216	(5)
The growth of television commercialism and sponsorship	221	(3)
Cross-over media influences and further media wars	224	(7)
Newspaper decline	224	(2)
Film and television	226	(1)
Television and radio	227	(1)
Radio and music	228	(1)
Music, technology and convergence	229	(2)
The influence of radio and television on politics and the public: some comparisons	231	(2)
Newspaper reactions	233	(3)
Campaigning journalism, creativity and newspaper survival	233	(2)
Subsidy or monopoly?	235	(1)
Conclusions	236	(1)
Study questions	237	(1)
Continuity and Change since 1980	238	(28)
Summary	238	(1)
Introduction	238	(1)
Globalization and the rule of the unaccountable `free market'	239	(3)
Home video, satellite and cable	242	(2)
Globalizing influences in news, television, and press reaction	244	(3)
Technology, convergence and the Internet	247	(4)
Music industry convergence	251	(1)
Deregulation and public-service broadcasting	252	(5)
Radio	257	(1)
Advertising	257	(1)
Film	258	(2)
Conclusions	260	(5)
Study questions	265	(1)
Notes	266	(3)
References and Bibliography	269	(16)
Index	285