From 1935 to 1951, Time Magazine bridged the gap between print & radio news reporting and the new visual medium of film, with
March of Time: award-winning newsreel reports that were a combination of objective documentary, dramatized fiction and pro-American, anti-totalitarian propaganda. They “often
tackled subjects and themes that audiences weren’t used to seeing —
foreign affairs,
social trends, public-health issues — and did so with a combination of panache and subterfuge that today seems either absurd or visionary.”
(Previous two links have autoplaying video.) By 1937, the short films were being seen by as many as 26 million people every month and
may have helped steer public opinion on numerous issues,
including (
eventually) America’s
entry to WWII. Video samples are available at
Time.com, the
March of Time Facebook page and the entire collection is available online,
(free registration required) at
HBO Archives. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Aug 22, 2011 -
8 comments
19th-century newspaper ads for patented stomach cures and digestive aids [...] foregrounded mince pie as the K2 of digestive summits. But for every published warning on the dangers of mince, the newspapers published a poem, essay, or editorial praising it as a great symbol of American cultural heritage or a nostalgic reminder of mother love and better times bygone—or even, as the State of Columbia, South Carolina, asserted in 1901, a beneficial Darwinian instrument that had "thinned out the weak ones" among the pioneering generations.
So wrote Cliff Doerksen in his wonderful, James Beard award-winning article
Mince Pie: The Real American Pie. Doerksen not only gives the history of this once most American of foods, he also makes two mince pies from 19th Century recipes to see if they are indeed all that. This is but one of many great articles Doerksen wrote for The Chicago Reader in recent years (links to a selection below the cut). Sadly, Cliff Doerksen
passed at the age of 47 just before Christmas.
[more inside]
posted by Kattullus
on Dec 29, 2010 -
73 comments
Actor, Playwright, Artist, Comedian, Magician, "Man of A Thousand Voices" (including Mighty Mouse,) "Beloved Herring Maven"
Mr. Ira Stadlen (Stage name: "
Captain" Allen Swift) has
passed away at the age of 87. Throughout his career, Mr. Stadler voiced characters in more than 30,000 television and radio commercials, as well as cartoons such as
Underdog,
Tom and Jerry and
Diver Dan, but some might remember him most as the man who saved
Howdy Doody. His nephew
has posted a remembrance on his blog, which includes a link to a "novelty 45" mp3 recording of Swift's
"Are You Lonesome Tonight."
[more inside]
posted by zarq
on Apr 28, 2010 -
13 comments
"I leave with a heavy heart as part of the changes that have, in my humble opinion, destroyed the station that I helped to set up 29 years ago."
Radio Fail documents (mostly UK) radio bloopers and cock-ups.
posted by hnnrs
on Oct 21, 2009 -
11 comments
NPR's On The Media presents a short set of pieces about comments on news websites and the challenges of "digital democracy," with
discussion from Ira Glass about responses to a show about teenage runaways, and New Republic editor and critic
Lee Siegel, who posted anonymously to respond insultingly to comments on his own blog. And a
Roanoke newspaper editor discusses how one paper sees the integration of comments into online news sites and whether it's a valuable reader service.
[more inside]
posted by Miko
on Jul 27, 2008 -
67 comments
Musekeweya ("new dawn") is a phenomenally popular radio drama broadcast out of
Kigali, Rwanda. The soap, funded by Dutch NGO
La Benevolencija, follows the story of two star-crossed lovers who come from opposing villages involved in an increasingly violent struggle. Thought Rwandan law makes it difficult to discuss the genocide in the media, the show aims to open a dialog using the fictional villages of Bumanzi and Muhumuro as a proxy for Hutus and Tutsis.
A soap opera may seem like an unlikely vehicle to tackle a topic of such national importance, but it's actually
not uncommon. And, certainly, Rwanda is a country that knows all too well about the
power of radio
posted by meta_eli
on Jul 8, 2007 -
8 comments
CSN has been called the Clear Channel of the low power FM's. One of the many broadcasting arms of
Calvary Chapel. It owns and operates over 400 stations. Apparently its board, consisting of two members, is about to
self destruct. But the story doesn't end there. Its president is being accused of
sexual harassment and is also being accused of defaulting on a
million dollar loan. The loan came from Calvary Chapel founder and Pastor,
Chuck Smith, who has a
history with the guy. CSN's president wants the board dissolved but that could be a problem. By
some accounts, next in line to head the board is one Pastor Skip Heltzig, who seems to be involved in a bit of a scandal of his
own. Church defenders say the troubles are private matters,
critics say the movement has a history of covering
things up. (Some links are .pdf)
posted by wyldeboi
on Mar 7, 2006 -
4 comments
NOISE is a global youth arts initiative (under 25s) that develops and profiles artists and their work across television, radio, in print and online. Requires Flash. [MI]
posted by sjvilla79
on Nov 15, 2005 -
3 comments
Pop Vultures, perhaps the freshest show to grace our radio airwaves in recent years has been cancelled. Host
Kate Sullivan and a collection of friends mused on pop music and associated pop culture with passion, a strong does of "um" and "uh, like" and an always great soundtrack. You can listen (for the moment anyway) to the
archives . R.I.P.
posted by donovan
on Dec 16, 2004 -
21 comments
State of the Media Report 2004 by
journalism.org, which seeks to improve news coverage in a more neutral fashion than those who cry bias from the left and right. The group offers advice for
average citizens and
others. The report focuses mainly on US media and identifies
eight trends.
The content analyses finds that
newspapers have more lifestyle news than in the past, but less government and foreign affairs, even with wars abroad. More front page articles about issues, less on crime and disasters.
Network news was heavy on foreign affairs, government, accidents, disaster, crime and health care. The
cable networks had a lot of politics and Iraq stuff, but also a lot more celebrity/entertainment/lifestyle stuff than the big four.
Local TV news treats crime as topic A.
The
magazine audience is aging, and total pages are declining, but some, like The Economist and the New Yorker, have found success in niches.
Internet journalism is "still largely material from old media rather than something original." And it's still text-y. But it is clearly the
future of journalism. But don't pronounce the dinosaurs dead yet. Radio once ruled, and in a way it still does: 94 percent still tune in to
radio news at least once a week.
posted by Slagman
on Apr 1, 2004 -
7 comments
Habla Usted Clear Channel? So Clear Channel wants to dominate Spanish-language radio?
Nothing new. From the first link, the final piece in a Salon
series on media consolidation:
The deal is big and contentious, and involves politics, music and media -- and, to make matters even more interesting, Clear Channel, the U.S. radio station conglomerate, has a starring role. Clear Channel is HBC's largest shareholder, and the company has been accused by opponents of the deal of maneuvering illegally behind the scenes to exert control over HBC, as well as spreading rumors of drug use about the CEO of HBC's chief competitor.
posted by Ignatius J. Reilly
on Apr 23, 2003 -
2 comments
This evening
20/20 broadcast a
report on the new payola.Names are named. This explains a lot about the current state of music radio. Ironically, one of those complaining the loudest was good ol' Hilary Rosen of the
RIAA who are doing their damnedest to
destroy internet radio, along with college and public radio, the only alternative to the institutional corruption she decries. But in this case, she's on the side of the angels, it would seem. This report is timely though and does illustrate what's wrong with concentrating media power in too few hands.
posted by jonmc
on May 24, 2002 -
22 comments
Is NPR anti-Israel? I listen to NPR all the time and hadn't noticed any (overt) bias against Israel, but I only listen in the mornings...maybe it's on in the afternoon.
posted by mrmanley
on Oct 24, 2001 -
46 comments
BBC to North America and Australia: Drop Dead. The BBC World Service is dumping all shortwave broadcasts to the US, Canada and Australia as of July. If you want to listen you'll have to get it off the net, or hope your local public radio station uses at least a few WS programs as cheap filler material. A couple hundred US stations do this, but did we mention they tend to do it at 3 in the morning? (Scroll down past the Angola stuff in the above link.)
posted by aaron
on May 8, 2001 -
18 comments
