10

MC 582 HISTORY OF COMMUNICATION SEMINAR

Instructor: David Sloan

Office: Phifer 402c - Phone 348-8612

Office hours: M noon - 3:30 p.m.; W noon -1:00 p.m.

Historical Research Project

Each student will research and write an original paper on a topic from mass com­munica­tion history. A substantial portion of the course will be devoted to the study of historical research methods and the student paper.

Course Reading Assignments

Students will read a chapter from the textbook and analyze two journal articles or book excerpts for each of several topics covered in the course. For each article or excerpt, each student is to submit a brief (approx. 1/2 page) report answering the following questions:

1) What is the central theme (the conclusion, not a general statement of the subject or topic) of the work?

2) What is the author’s school of interpreta­tion (underlying historical as­sumptions)? How does the work demonstrate the perspective of that school?

3) How adequate is the author’s research? Explain your evaluation. How could it be im­proved?

4) What questions for additional significant historical study are raised or left unan­swered by the author?

Textbooks

Wm. David Sloan, Perspectives in Mass Communication History (1991) (indicated in the list of readings as Perspectives).

Wm. David Sloan and Michael Stamm, His ­ tor ­ ical Methods in Mass Communication (2010) (indicated in the list of read­ings as “Historical Methods”)

Wm. David Sloan, ed., The Media in America: A History, 8th ed. (2011) (indicated in the list of read­ings as “Media in Amer ­ ica”).

All these books are available in our College’s Reading Room at one-half the retail price. The Reading Room keeps all proceeds.

Other Readings

Other readings will be available on reserve in the Communication Reading Room.

Course Schedule

Class 1 - August 28

Introduction to course

Importance of the study of mass communication history

Student research paper assignment (discussion, requirements, possibilities)

The nature of historical research

Historical Methods, Ch. 3, “The Fundamentals of ‘Good’ His­tory”

Research Methods: Selecting a Topic

Historical Methods, Ch. 4, “Basic Procedures and Techniques”

September 4 - NO CLASS: Labor Day

Class 2 - September 11

Research Methods: Collecting Resource Material

Historical Methods, Ch. 5, “Searching for Historical Materials”

The nature of the study of history:

Historical Methods, Ch.1, “The Nature of History”

Ch. 2, “The Study of History: Interpretation or Truth?” in Perspectives.

Introduction to historical interpretation

Grob, Gerald N., and George Athan Billias, eds., Ch. 1, “Introduction,” 1-17, In ­ terpreta ­ tions of American History, Vol. 1 (1967).

Higham, John, Ch. 1, “The Construction of American History,” 9-24, The Recon ­ struc ­ tion of Ameri ­ can History (1962).

Nevins, Allan, “New Lamps for Old in History,” American Archivist 17 (January 1954): 4-12.

Historical interpretations of mass communication

Ch. 1, “Perspectives in Mass Communication History,” in Perspectives.

Class 3 - September 18

Student Research Paper Reports (Due: preliminary ideas and literature review)

Research Methods: Analyzing Data

Historical Methods, Ch. 6, “Historical Sources and Their Evaluation”

The Colonial Press, 1690-1765: Mirror of Society or Origin of Journalism?

Perspectives, Ch. 3.

Avery, Donald, Ch. 3, “The Colonial Press, 1690-1765,” 35-48, in Media in America.

Parton, James, Ch. 7, “The First Sensation Paper,” 72-96, Life and Times of Ben ­ jamin Franklin (1864).

Shaaber, Matthias A., “Forerunners of the Newspaper in America,” Jour ­ nal ­ ism Quar ­ terly 11 (1934): 339-47.

Kobre, Sidney, “The First American Newspaper: A Product of En­viron­ment,” Journal ­ ism Quarterly 17 (1940): 335-45.

Class 4 - September 25

Student Research Paper Reports (Due: ideas, annotated bibliography, statement of topic’s signifi­cance)

American Revolutionary Printers, 1765-1783: Powerful Radicals or Ineffective Con ­ servatives?

Perspectives, Ch. 4.

Humphrey, Carol, Ch. 4, “The Rev­olu­tionary Press, 1765-1783,” 49-66, in Media in America.

Dickerson, O. M., “British Control of American Newspapers on the Eve of the Revolu­tion,” New England Quarterly 24 (1951): 455-68.

Bailyn, Bernard, Ch. 1, “The Literature of Revolution,” 1-21, Ideological Origins of the American Revolution (1965).

Steirer, William F., Jr., “A Study in Prudence: Philadelphia’s ‘Revolutionary’ Journal­ists,” Journalism History 3 (1976): 16-19.

The Party Press, 1783-1833: Political Sycophant or Party Leader?

Perspectives, Ch. 5.

Sloan, Wm. David, Ch. 5, “The Party Press, 1783-1833,” 67-92, in Media in America.

Smith, William E., “Francis P. Blair, Pen-Executive of Andrew Jackson,” Mis ­ sis ­ sippi Valley Historical Review 17 (March 1931): 543-56.

Mott, Frank Luther, Ch. 9, “The Dark Ages of Partisan Journal­ism,” 167-80, American Journalism: A His ­ tory of Newspapers in the United States through 250 Years, 1690 to 1940 (1941).

Baldasty, Gerald J., “The Press and Politics in the Age of Jackson,” Jour ­ nalism Mono ­ graphs 89 (1984).

Class 5 - October 2

Freedom of the Press, 1690-1800: Libertarian or Limited?

Perspectives, Ch. 6.

Blanchard, Margaret, Ch. 6, “Freedom of the Press, 1690-1804,” 93-120, in Media in America.

Lossing, Benjamin J., “Freedom of the Press Vindicated,” Harper’s New Monthly Maga ­ zine 57 (July 1878): 293-98.

Levy, Leonard, “Introduction,” xlviii-lxi in Freedom of the Press from Zenger to Jeffer ­ son (1966).

Teeter, Dwight, “The Printer and the Chief Justice...,” Journalism Quar ­ terly 45 (1968): 235-42.

Women in Media, 1700-Present: Victims or Equals?

Perspectives, Ch. 7.

Endres, Kathleen. xxx

Jackson, George Stuyvesant, “Anne Royall vs. Washington, D.C.,” 90-131, Un ­ common Scold: The Story of Anne Royall (1937).

Henry, Susan, “Colonial Woman Printer as Prototype: Toward a Model for the Study of Minorities,” Journal ­ ism History 3 (1976): 20-24.

Belford, Barbara. Brilliant Bylines: A Biographical Anthology of Notable Newspaper Women in America. New York: Columbia University Press, 1986. chap. ? xxx

Class 6 - October 9

Student Research Paper Reports (Due: research prospectus; author’s inter­preta­tion)

The Frontier Press, 1800-1900: Personal Journalism or Paltry Business?

Perspectives, Ch. 8.

Huntzicker, William, Ch. 10, “The Frontier Press, 1800-1900,” 173-196, in Media in America.

Watson, Elmo S., “The Last Indian War, 1890-91—A Study of Newspaper Jin­go­ism,” Journalism Quarterly 20 (1943): 205-19.

Beebe, Lucius, “Season in the Sun,” 21-39, Comstock Commo ­ tion: The Story of the Ter ­ ritorial Enterprise (1954).

Housman, Robert L. "The End of Frontier Journalism in Montana." JQ 12 (1935): 133-45. ?? xxx

Reed, Delbert, “A Last Hurrah for the Frontier Press,” American Journal ­ ism 6 (1989), 65-85.

The Penny Press, 1833-1861: Product of Great Men or Natural Forces?

Perspectives, Ch. 9.

Buchholz, Michael, Ch. 7, “The Penny Press, 1833-1861,” 121-140, in Media in America.

Pray, Isaac C., Ch. 14, “The War of Journalism,” 197-213, Memoirs of James Gor ­ don Bennett and His Times (1855).

Hudson, Frederic, Ch. 27, “The New York Herald,” 428-55, Journalism in the United States, From 1690 to 1872 (1873).

Hale, William Harlan, Ch. 6, “Utopian,” 91-107, Horace Greeley, Voice of the Peo ­ ple (1950).

Schudson, Michael, Ch. 1, “The Revolution in American Jour­nal­ism in the Age of Egalitarianism: The Penny Press,” 12-60, Discovering the News: A So ­ cial History of American Newspa ­ pers (1978).

Class 7 - October 16

Student Research Paper Reports (Due: paper’s theme; report on research ac­com­plished)

Research Methods: Drawing Conclusions

Historical Methods, Ch. 7, “Explanation in History”

The Antebellum Press, 1827-1861: Effective Abolitionist or Reluctant Reformer?

Perspectives, Ch. 10.

Tripp, Bernell, Ch. 7, “The Antebellum Press, 1820-1861,” 141-156, in Media in America.

Greenwood, Grace, “An American Salon,” Cosmopolitan 8 (1890): 437-47.

Kraditor, Aileen S., Ch. 1, “Introduction,” and Ch. 2, “The Abolition­ist as Agita­tor,” 3-38, Means and Ends in American Aboli ­ tionism: Garrison and His Critics on Strategy and Tactics, 1834-1850 (1967).

Harrold, Stanley, Ch. 1, “Benevolence,” 1-11, Gamaliel Bai ­ ley and Anti ­ slav ­ ery Union (1986).

The Civil War Press, 1861-1865: Pro ­ moter of Unity or Neutral Re ­ porter?

Perspectives, Ch. 11.

Endres, Kathleen, Ch. 7, “The Press and the Civil War, 1861-1865” 157-172, in Media in America.

Villard, Henry, “Army Correspondence: Its History,” The Nation 1 (July 27, 1865), 79-81, 114-16, 144-46.

Randall, James G., “The Newspaper Problem in Its Bearing upon Military Se­crecy During the Civil War,” American Historical Re ­ view 23 (January 1918): 303-23.

Starr, Louis M., Ch. 1, “The News Revolution,” 3-29, Bo ­ hemian Brigade: Civil War Newsmen in Action (1954).

Class 8 - October 23

Student Research Paper Reports (Due: report on structure, direction, and shape paper is taking)

The Black Media, 1865-Present: Liberal Crusaders or Defenders of Tradition?

Perspectives, Ch. 12.

Detweiler, Frederick G. The Negro Press in the United States. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1922. xxx

Tripp, Bernell. xxx Origins of the Black Press.

Finkle, Lee. Forum for Protest: The Black Press During World War II. Cranbury, N.J.: Farleigh Dickinson University Press, 1975. xxx

Tinney, James S., and Justine J. Rector, eds., Ch. 1, “Introduction,” and Ch. 2, “Black Newspapers and Other Jour­nals,” 1-24, Is ­ sues and Trends in Afro-Ameri ­ can Journal ­ ism (1980).

Teel, Leonard Ray, “W.A. Scott and the Atlanta World,” American Journal ­ ism 6 (1989): 158-78.

The Industrial Press, 1865-1883: Professional Journalism or Pawn of Urban ­ ism?

Perspectives, Ch. 13.

Smythe, Ted C., Ch.11, “The Press and Industrial America, 1865-1883,” 197-220, in Media in America.

Payne, George Henry, “After-war Problems and Reform,” 347-59 in History of Jour ­ nalism in the United States (1920).

Stewart, Kenneth, and John Tebbel, “Dana and Godkin,” 72-85 in Makers of Mod ­ ern Journalism (1952).

Hart, Jack R., “Horatio Alger in the Newsroom: Social Origins of American Edi­tors,” Journalism Quarterly 53 (1976): 14-20.

Class 9 - October 30

New Journalism, 1883-1900: Social Reform or Professional Progress?

Perspectives, Ch. 14.

Everett, George, Ch. 12, “The Age of New Journalism, 1883-1900,” 2221-246, in Media in America.

Seitz, Don. C., Ch. 6, “The ‘New World’—1883-1885,” 129-54, Joseph Pulitzer: His Life and Letters (1924).

Emery, Edwin, “William Randolph Hearst: A Tentative Ap­praisal,” Jour ­ nal ­ ism Quar ­ terly 28 (1951): 429-39.

Smythe, Ted Curtis, “The Reporter, 1880-1900. Working Conditions and Their In­flu­ence on News,” Journal ­ ism History 7 (1980): 1-10.

Kobre xxx

Modern Journalism, 1900-1945: Working Profession or Big Business?

Perspectives, Ch. 15.

Beasley, Maurine, Ch. 15, “The Emergence of Modern Media, 1900-1945,” 281-300, in Media in America.

Seldes, George, Ch. 6, “Lord Howard and His Empire,” 76-86, Lords of the Press (1938).

Johnson, Gerald W. Prologue: “A Discourse on Titans,” 1-12, An Honorable Titan (1946).

Morris, Joe Alex, Ch. 1 (untitled), 17-31, and Ch. 34 (untitled), 337-39, Deadline Every Minute: The Story of the United Press (1957).

Brazil, John, “Murder Trials, Murder, and Twenties America,” American Quar ­ terly (1981): 163-84.

Individual student conferences on research paper (to be done outside class)

Class 10 - November 6

Research Methods: Mechanics of Writing Research Papers and Articles

Historical Methods, Ch. 8, “Writing”

Public Relations, 1900-1950: Tool for Profit or for Social Reform?

Perspectives, Ch. 16.

Miller, Karen S., Ch. 22, “Public Relations, 1900-present,” 417-434, in Media in America.

Bernays, Edward L., “The Era of Integration, 1941-1951,” 115-25, Public Re ­ lations (1952).

Hiebert, Ray Eldon, Ch. 10, “Public Relations for Public Utili­ties,” 86-93, Courier to the Crowd: The Story of Ivy Lee and the De ­ velopment of Public Rela ­ tions (1966).

Tedlow, Richard S., Ch. 2, “Up from Press Agentry,” 25-57, Keeping the Corporate Im ­ age: Public Relations and Business, 1900-1950 (1979).

Advertising, 1900-Present: Capitalist Tool or Economic Necessity?

Perspectives, Ch. 17.

Roche, Bruce, Ch. 21, “Modern Advertising, 1900-pre­sent,” 399-416, in Media in Amer ­ ica.

Presbrey, Frank, Ch. 56, “The ‘Cleaning Up’ of Advertising and Good Effect Thereof,” 531-40, The History and Develop ­ ment of Advertising (1929).

Hower, Ralph, Ch. 17, “Development of Organization and Man­agement,” 460-96, The History of an Adver ­ tising Agency (1949).

Potter, David M., Ch. 8, “The Institution of Abundance: Adver­tis­ing,” 166-88, People of Plenty: Economic Abundance and the American Character (1954).

Ewen, Stewart, Ch. 3, “Advertising’s Truth,” 69-76, Cap ­ tains of Conscious ­ ness: Adver ­ tising and the Social Roots of the Con ­ sumer Culture (1976).

Class 11 - November 13

Mass Magazines, 1900-Present: Serious Journalism or Mass Entertainment?

Perspectives, Ch. 18.

Payne, Darwin, Ch. 20, “The Age of Mass Magazines, 1900-present,” 385-398, in Media in America.

Tassin, Algernon, Ch. 14, “The End of the Century,” 340-59, The Maga ­ zine in America (1916).

Repplier, Agnes, “American Magazines,” Yale Review 16 (1926-1927): 261-74.

Peterson, Theodore, Ch. 15, “Magazines 1900-64: An Assess­ment,” 441-51, Maga ­ zines in the Twentieth Cen ­ tury, 2nd ed. (1964).

The Muckrakers, 1901-1917: Defenders of Conservatism or Liberal Reformers?

Perspectives, Ch. 19.

Kielbowicz, Richard, Ch. 16, “The Media and Reform, 1900-1917,” 365-84, in Media in America.

Filler, Louis, Ch. 18, “The Search for Democracy,” 234-44, The Muckrak ­ ers: Cru ­ saders for American Liber ­ al ­ ism, rev. ed. (1976).

Chamberlain, John, Ch. 4, “The Muck-rake Pack,” 119-43, Farewell to Re ­ form (1932).

Hofstadter, Richard, Part 5, Ch. 2, “Muckraking: The Revolu­tion in Jour­nal­ism,” 186-98, The Age of Re ­ form: From Bryan to F.D. R. (1955).

Cassedy, James H., “Muckraking and Medicine, Samuel Hopkins Adams,” Amer ­ ican Quarterly 16 (1964): 85-99.

Evensen, Bruce, “The Evangelical Origins of the Muckrakers,” American Jour ­ nalism 6 (1989): 5-29.

Class 12 - November 20

The Media in Trying Times, 1917-1945: Propagandists, Patriots, or Profession ­ als?

Perspectives, Ch. 20.

Startt, James D., Ch. 17, “The Media and National Crises, 1917-1945,” 317-338, in Media in America.

Mathews, Joseph J., Ch. 11, “World War II,” 174-96, Re ­ port ­ ing the Wars (1957).

Richstad, Jim Andrew, “The Press Under Martial Law: The Hawaiian Ex­peri­ence,” Journalism Monographs 17 (1970).

Moffett, E. Albert, “Hometown Radio in 1942: The Role of Local Sta­tions Dur­ing the First Year of Total War,” American Journalism 3 (1986): 87-98.

Pratte, Alf, “The Honolulu Star-Bulletin and the ‘Day of Infamy,’” Ameri ­ can Journal ­ ism 5 (1988): 5-13.

Research Methods: Presentation and Publication

Historical Methods, Ch. 9, “Presentation and Publication”

Due: drafts of Student Research papers: Nov. 22

Class 13 - November 27

American Radio, 1920-1948: Traditional Journalism or Revolutionary Technol ­ ogy?

Perspectives, Ch. 21.

Godfrey, Donald, Ch. 18, “Radio Comes of Age, 1900-1945,” 339-362, in Media in Amer ­ ica.

Bohn, Thomas W., “Broadcasting National Election Returns: 1916-1948,” Journal of Broadcasting 12 (1968): 267-86.