MetaFilter posts tagged with media and history

Advertising in the public interest

Rhaomi — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 09:54:54 -0800

"What if America wasn't America?" That was the question posed by a series of ads broadcast in the wake of the September 11th attacks, ads which depicted a dystopian America bereft of liberty: Library - Diner - Church. Together with more positive ads like Remember Freedom and I Am an American, they encouraged frightened viewers to cherish their freedoms and defend against division and prejudice in the face of terrorism (seven years previously). The campaign was the work of the Ad Council, a non-profit agency that employs the creative muscle of volunteer advertisers to raise awareness for social issues of national importance. Founded during WWII as the War Advertising Council, the organization has been behind some of the most memorable public service campaigns in American history, including Rosie the Riveter, Smokey the Bear, McGruff the Crime Dog, and the Crash Test Dummies. And the Council is still at it today, producing striking, funny, and above all effective PSAs on everything from student invention to global warming to arts education to community service.

Additional resources: A-to-Z index of Ad Council campaigns - Campaigns organized by category - Award-winning campaigns - PSA Central: A free download directory of TV, radio, and print PSAs (registration req'd) - An exhaustive history of the Ad Council [46-page PDF] - YouTube channel - Vimeo channel - Twitter feed

Wiring the Castle

Miko — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 21:09:16 -0800

Circuits are flipping on in the nation's attic. A couple of weeks ago, 31 "digerati" -- like Clay Shirky, Chris Anderson, and George Oates -- dropped in to the Smithsonian Institution for the invitation-only conference "Smithsonian 2.0: A Gathering to Re-imagine the Smithsonian in the Digital Age". Dan Cohen of the Center for History and New Media provides a great summary (and continues to pose provocative questions) on his own blog. Those whose invitations were somehow lost in the mail can play fly-on-the-wall by watching the keynotes, paging through the Flickr pool of envymaking glimpses of their behind-the-scenes lab and collections tours, reading the blog (where Bruce Wyman of the Denver Art Museum lays out a succinct road map for museums using social media), and poking around in the SI's website gallery. Want to cheer on the USA's favorite 163-year-old "Establishment for the increase & diffusion of knowledge" without taking the trip to DC? Thanks to their recent efforts, you can now follow the SI on Twitter, listen to its podcasts, watch its YouTube channel, visit the Latino Virtual Museum in Second Life, or use the FaceBook gifts page to send your best friends their very own pair of Dorothy's ruby slippers, Hope diamond, Negro Leagues baseball, or coelocanth.

Museum of the Moving Image

netbros — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 06:33:31 -0800

Moving Image Source is devoted to the history of film, television, and digital media. It features original articles by leading critics, authors, and scholars; a calendar that highlights major retrospectives, festivals, and gallery exhibitions at venues around the world; and a regularly updated guide to online research resources. Currently featured articles include Nervous About Nixon? from David Schwartz, chief curator of the museum; The People's Director, a look at Chinese filmmaker Xie Jin; and Lessons in Darkness, extreme precipices and gray areas in the films of Barbet Schroeder.

Just People, Talking

Miko — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 09:09:32 -0800

The recent passing of Studs Terkel sparked a renewed interest in his interview projects, like Working, Race, and Hard Times. But Studs was not just a broadcaster who liked people; he was a practitioner of oral history, a method of gathering information about the past through preserving individual recollections. It's a subfield of history, with its own ethics, techniques, professional literature, uses, and limitations. Learn how to collect and share oral histories yourself, from interviewing to recording and getting clearances to preserving and disseminating. Oral histories have been preserved as text transcripts for decades; now digital media isreinvigorating the form, bringing new ease to recording and wider opportunities for the public to see and hear the content. Explore oral history projects on the web with stories of veterans, suffragists, Tibetans, jazz cats, Nevada nuclear test site witnesses, Basque Americans, rodeo cowboys and cowgirls, musicians, Katrina survivors, ACT UP activists, Cambodians under the Khmer Rouge, Native Americans, women whose lives were affected by the Pill, survivors of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire,women in World War II, Hawai'ians, workers in Paterson, NJ....

Open-source online exhibit platform

Miko — Wed, 10 Sep 2008 19:40:31 -0800

Omeka is a newly available, open-source web platform, bringing good-looking, functional online exhibitry within reach of smaller museums, libraries, and arts groups. From the Center for History and New Media.

(Internetworking Frequency, 2.4 gigacycles.)

TheOnlyCoolTim — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 19:36:35 -0800

The Early Television Foundation and Museum Website covers the nascent days of the nation's pastime, with interesting items like mechanical TVs and programming schedules from 1939.

US Presidential Campaign Videos

flibbertigibbet — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:03:41 -0800

The evolution of the US presidential campaign ad, 1952 to 1996... 1952: Eisenhower-Nixon (We Like Ike, The Man from Abilene) vs Stevenson-Sparkman (I Love the Gov [apologies for the intro], Ike... Bob..., Vote Stevenson/The Music Man, (Remember the Farmer, Back to the Days of '31). Bonus: Newsreels dealing with the campaigns. 1956: Eisenhower-Nixon (Eisenhower Answers America: The Cost of Living [excerpt], Corruption (california spot)) vs Stevenson-Kefauver (How's that again, General?, The Man from Libertyville [same annoying intro], Ad-lee, Ad-lie). Bonus: Election Day newsreel, including a santa Claus arriving in a flying saucer; Eisenhower, Suez, and hungary in 1956. 1960: Kennedy/Johnson (Harry Belafonte for Kennedy, West Virginia PRIMARY reel, Every Republican.../Nixon's Experience [higher quality version as part of this reel of Kennedy ads], Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy Kennedy, If We Fail..., Viva Kennedy, Medical Care for our Older Citizens) vs Nixon-Lodge (Peace without Surrender, A Little Help from Ike, Lodge: Our Responsibility is Great). Bonus: Nixon, a year after the election, playing his piano concerto; Nixon/Kennedy bio and debate, other parts of whicdh, dealing solely with Nixon and his life, are available here; Kennedy's inauguration, (part 2), Kennedy on November 9th, 1960. 1964: Johnson-Humphrey (I don't feel guilty being a Republican, Goldwater needs the KKK's help, The Daisy Ad, Which Barry?/Remember Him?, Great Society, Saw off the Eastern Seaboard [annoying intro]) vs Goldwater-Miller (I Don't like No-Win Wars, Bearded Dictator, 90-miles off/The Hand of Big Government/Is Moral Responsibility Out of Style/I Pledge Allegiance). Bonus: Johnson's 1965 inauguration newsreel, more on his inauguration. 1968: Nixon-Agnew (Honourable End, Endorsed by Bush/Endorsed by Baker, Freedom from Fear, Do Something WITH your Country, American Youth, Speaking For You, So Ineffectively as in Vietnam) vs Humphrey-Muskie (What has Nixon ever done for you?, Agnew for VP [annoying intro], Nixon's Silence, Political Winds, Do you want Castro to have the bomb?) vs Wallace-LeMay (Wallace has the courage). 1972: Nixon-Agnew (Nixon Now) vs McGovern-Shriver (This is about..., You have to make those hard decisions, He was hired by James McCord/Don't want to rock the boat/assorted 1984 primary advertisements, Our Economy... [annoying intro]). Bonus: CBS on Nixon's re-election efforts, in January, 1972; Nixon goes on Soviet TV; Shirley Maclaine goes on Cavett for McGovern. 1976: Carter-Mondale (I'm a Southerner (annoying intro), It's hard Work (Rosalyn Carter) (annoying intro), The Republicans assure us/two 1980 commercials, We've built walls) vs Ford-Dole (He was...). Bonus: Carter profile, Ford's debate gaffe, Ford at Republican National Convention, Reagan's Impromptu Concession speech, Ford's bicentennial minute, Mark Russell's special on the '76 campaign (1, 2, 3, 4, 5), Dole: Democratic wars. 1980: Reagan-Bush (Nancy deeply resents..., Ted Kennedy: No More, Can we afford four more years?, George Bush: a president we won't have to train [primary commercial, 25 seconds in], Slowly we slip..., Biographical sketch: a State of Crisis, The Ayatollah Votes, Home-owning and inflation, Inflation and the elderly) vs Carter-Mondale (Two men are the real contenders..., Jimmy Carter, Commander in Chief. Bonus: clip of the Reagan-Carter debate ("there you go again"), and that phrase reprised in the Reagan-Mondale debate, Reagan accepts the nomination, Carter's statement on the doomed Operation Eagle Claw, the birth of toll-free contribution numbers. 1984: Reagan-Bush (Reaganomics, World Leaders, The Bear, Morning in America, secure Peace, A New Beginning [part 2], Next Tuesday, This was America in 1980... Today, This was america (Foreign Policy) vs Mondale-Ferraro (American Dream, Arms Control, Whole world at stake, Polls don't vote... fight!, Your share of Mr. Reagan's Deficits, Rollercoaster, Mr. Reagan's People, Always Felt [annoying intro], Teach your Parents, Orbit KILLER WEAPONS, The Red Phone [annoying intro], Gary Hart's 'New Ideas' [primary, annoying intro], Computers will take control!, Deficits of the Presidents [annoying intro], Idle Tools [annoying intro, primary]). Bonus: Jesse Jackson at Tendley Baptist (David and Goliath), Gary Hart campaign, Jesse Jackson Blues, second Reagan-Mondale debate. 1988: Bush-Quayle (Boston Harbor, The Willie Horton ad [poor quality], "He opposed, Raised taxes [1:15 in; video also includes Newscenter 8 sign-off, an ad for Speedy, US Air, and after the Bush commercial, an ad for Geraldo], Vetos and furloughs) vs Dukakis-Bentsen (The Bush Record; [N.B. all videos that follow for the Dukakis-Bentsen campaign have an annoying intro]: Leadership: Crime, I'm Fed Up With It!, The Best America is Yet To Come, Packaging Bush, Packaging Quayle, The President if Mortal/One in Five, 60-day notice, Social Security, Hey Pal!, All of us are enriched, Furloughs: The Response, Jimmy did well..., Packaging Bush, part 2, Can't Afford to be a Republican, Packaging Bush/Furlough: Part 3, Where was George?, Stopped Seabrook: Seabrook Nuclear Power Station). Bonus: CNN analysis of the campaign commercial [poor quality], CNN highlight reel [poor quality], "You're no Jack Kennedy, Bush vs Rather on Iran-Contra [poor quality], Read My Lips, Debate: If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered..., Debate: What do you see in Dan Quayle?, Dukakis vs Ted Koppel on Nightline, Seabrook Today. 1992: Clinton-Gore (Can't Afford Four more years, Read my Lips, Read My Lips [2], Endorsed by over 600 economists, Biography [annoying into; part 2], Enough! [annoying intro], Read my Lips Alert [annoying intro], More than 30-second ads [annoying intro], Republican Neglect [annoying intro], A Plan for America) vs Bush-Quayle (no advertisements found) vs Perot-Stockdale (Let your vote say so!, plus bonus video: Perot profile on CNN, which features clips of some commercials, and an example of Perot's speaking style). Bonus: Letterman: Top Ten reasons Bush Should [not] Dump Quayle, Letterman: Top Ten: Quayle's complaints about Clinton, Potatoe and other Quayle quips, Murphy Brown responds (part 2, 3, 4, 5), Letterman: Top Ten Things Overhead at the President's Fundraiser, Clinton in Beasley School, Chicago, during the primaries, Clinton vs heckler, Clinton on Nightline [focusing on leaked letter re: Vietnam draft] (part 2, 3), Gore on campaign trail, Super 8 Clinton, A Different World election episode clip, 1992 review, Read My Lips MTV Mashup with discussion by Bill Moyers and guests. 1996: Clinton-Gore (In the line of duty: assault weapons [poor quality], growth and opportunity [annoying intro], quitting [annoying intro], If Bob Dole were already here... [annoying intro], Risky! [annoying intro]) vs Dole-Kemp (Too Liberal? [primary ad], versus Steve Forbes [primary, poor quality]) vs Nader (no ads, but there are interviews). Bonus: Again with the Mark Russell! (part 2, 3, 4, credits), Dole representative vs Charlie Rose, Charlie Rose and guests discuss the presidential debate, and many, many more; Clinton-Dole debate clip on Dole's age, football and CFC stories.

A moment in history; Obama Wins Presidential Nomination.

Effigy2000 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 20:18:49 -0800

It's official. Obama has won the Democratic Party nomination for the US Presidency. In response, McCain has launched a "verbal sortie" against him and the media has already begun disecting Hillary's campaign.

The Saddam Sessions

kliuless — Sun, 27 Jan 2008 22:33:50 -0800

Saddam's Confessions - Given Saddam Hussein's central place in the American Consciousness over the last couple decades and particularly in recent years, I found 60 minutes' interview with FBI interrogator George Piro pretty fascinating.

OldMagazineArticles.com

mediareport — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 07:44:19 -0800

Old Magazine Articles Neat little database of .pdf copies of vintage magazine articles like Gilbert Seldes' 1922 review of Krazy Kat in Vanity Fair, a 1910 look at "Horse Versus Automobile," early nose jobs, an interview with James Joyce and more. [via ResearchBuzz]

Rationalize rhetoric and it speaks to your mind; personify her and she speaks to your soul

anastasiav — Wed, 22 Aug 2007 10:15:11 -0800

American Rhetoric :: an online archive

The Path from 9/11

homunculus — Wed, 06 Sep 2006 18:59:06 -0800

Open Letter to ABC: Don't Airbrush 9/11 (Via C&L.)

Schaffer Library of Drug Policy

daksya — Sat, 20 May 2006 10:06:13 -0800

Schaffer Library of Drug Policy - read the transcripts of hearings held on the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, or the text of court decisions regarding drug policy, or the well-researched Consumer Unions report on licit and illicit drugs, or the differences between beer and drugs, according to Anheuser-Busch. A huge archive of materials, admittedly compiled from a pro-reform perspective.

From Good Cheer to "Drive-By Smiling": A Social History of Cheerfulness

y2karl — Mon, 13 Mar 2006 21:06:28 -0800

The history of emotions has yielded substantial studies on love, anger, fear, grief, jealousy, and many other discrete emotions. However, there is no particular study of cheerfulness, a rather moderate emotion, which, for reasons that I will discuss further, has remained unnoticeable to the scholarly eye. Based on much of the historical literature on emotions, some primary sources and some other areas of cultural history, I outline here the social use and conceptualization of cheerfulness over the last three centuries. I argue that, in the modern age, cheerfulness rose in value and became the most favored emotion for experience and display; as such, it was individually sought and socially encouraged until it became the main emotional norm of twentieth-century America.

From Good Cheer to "Drive-By Smiling": A Social History of Cheerfulness
And the Taxonomy of Emotion Terms there is of interest on its own.

Hidden from History?

amberglow — Sat, 13 Aug 2005 14:20:04 -0800

Claudette Colvin --a Montgomery teen arrested 9 months before Rosa Park's now-famous refusal to sit in the back of the bus. There were 4 women who stood up before Mrs. Parks, yet most of us know nothing about them. It was their actions that led to the Supreme Court overturning segregation on public transit, yet Rosa Parks is the visible symbol. On worthy and "unworthy" messengers and symbols.

Broadsword calling Danny Boy

nthdegx — Tue, 17 May 2005 06:53:25 -0800

Channel 4's 100 Greatest War Films as voted for by their (generally more clued-up than average) viewership has plenty for you to disagree with, but much to recommend. Filmsite.org has a history of war films (as does Berkeley) for the completists among you. There are more war films from and about Vietnam and Indochina than you can shake a bayonet at (see also the 1999 NYT article, Apocalypse Then: Vietnam Marketing War Films to learn a little about the Vietnamese government's 1960s and 70s archive of war film). The [British] national archives have archived film from pre-WWI to the Cold War.

Old Newspapers and their coverage of American events

Gyan — Sat, 09 Apr 2005 14:59:05 -0800

HistoryBuff - facsimiles of old newspapers that covered important events in American History.

Clara Bow

stupidsexyFlanders — Tue, 07 Sep 2004 00:09:25 -0800

Did you know that eating is one of the fondest things Clara Bow is of? Ripping the It Girl a new one, circa 1931.

Conversations with America

nthdegx — Sun, 09 May 2004 11:25:11 -0800

Studs Terkel: Conversations with America (in Real audio).

Clueless About History

Coop — Mon, 05 Apr 2004 09:13:16 -0800

Clueless about History Britain is a nation of history dunces with many even believing Adolf Hitler never existed, according to a new survey. A quarter of those interviewed were not sure if the Battle of Trafalgar was a real historic event, while one in seven did not know the Battle of Hastings really took place. Sadly, it gets worse. Apparently the Battle of Endor actually happened in some people's minds.

Ling Lung Women's Magazine

hama7 — Tue, 09 Sep 2003 08:01:43 -0800

Ling Lung Women's Magazine: Shanghai, 1931 to 1937.

jakd — Tue, 18 Sep 2001 17:38:46 -0800

MIT re:constructions has been doing an excellent job of analyzing the world media after the tragedy. If you're in the MIT area, check out the scheduled and ongoing events.