Manipulating the Ether: The Power of Broadcast Radio in Thirties America

by Robert J. Brown

Overview

Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first politician to recognize the power of radio. He appealed directly to the American people for support of his New Deal and for his foreign policy. Roosevelt's speeches and fireside chats were broadcast over networks only recently equipped with newsrooms. Listeners immediately learned of events they earlier would not have heard about for days. In those newsrooms, commentators began to interpret the news for average listeners, sometimes slanting it to reflect their own view.

But it fell to a young star to demonstrate the full power of the medium. On October 30, 1938, Orson Welles' War of the Worlds broadcast brought widespread panic with its fictional newscast of an alien invasion. How Roosevelt used radio, how the news was reported, and the changes Welles caused are all detailed.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780786420667
Publisher:	McFarland & Company, Incorporated Publishers
Publication date:	11/09/2004
Pages:	324
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.65(d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Robert J. Brown lives in Rochester, New York.

Table of Contents

	Preface	xi
	Introduction	1
	Radio and Thirties America	1
Part I	The "Radio President"	7
1	Roosevelt and Radio	9
	Roosevelt's Views on Radio	9
	Roosevelt's Special Relationship with Radio	14
	The Roosevelt Method	15
2	Campaigning by Radio	25
	Roosevelt's Early Political Career and Governorship	28
	The 1932 Campaign	29
	The 1936 Campaign	32
	Imitating the Master	37
	The 1940 Campaign	39
	The 1944 Campaign	45
3	Selling the Domestic Agenda	57
	The Voice of Confidence	57
	Roosevelt's First Inaugural	61
	The Banking Crisis	63
	Evaluating the First Two Months of the New Deal: The Fireside Chat of May 7, 1933	65
	The Record of the First "Hundred Days": July 24, 1933, and October 22, 1933	67
	Fending Off Attack: June 28, 1934	68
	Fireside Chats of April 28, 1935, October 12, 1937, and April 14, 1938	69
	Domestic Success	71
4	Domestic Challenges	75
	The Plan to Pack the Supreme Court	75
	Purging the Democratic Party	79
	Huey Long	82
	Father Coughlin	84
5	Selling the Foreign Policy Agenda	89
	Cash-and-Carry	91
	"The Development of Our Defense Program"	92
	Lend-Lease	96
	Unlimited National Emergency	100
	The Greer Incident	102
	Struggle with the Isolationists	107
	War with Japan	116
	Foreign Policy Success	120
6	The Death of FDR	123
Part II	"We Take You Now To..."	129
7	Early History of Broadcast News	131
	Radio News Is Born	132
	The "Crime of the Century"	133
	The Press-Radio War	136
8	Radio Covers Domestic Events and Crises	139
	Natural Disaster	139
	The Hindenburg Explosion	141
	Explorer and Squalus	144
	Covering the 1940 Campaign	145
	Radio Discussion Programs	148
	"Time Marches On"	150
9	Radio Covers the World	153
	Early Foreign News Reporting	153
	"Ten Days That Shook the Ether"	154
	Anschluss	158
	Munich Crisis	160
	Closer to the Brink	173
	The Polish Crisis	175
	The Phoney War	180
	France's Agony	182
	Britain Under Siege	185
	A World at War	189
	Conclusion	192
Part III	"Incredible As It May Seem..."	195
10	Orson Welles and the "War of the Worlds"	197
	Precedents	197
	Orson Welles and the Mercury Theater	201
	Preparation for War of the Worlds	204
11	The Broadcast	207
12	The Public Reaction	219
	Panic in the Streets	219
	Popular Gullibility?	222
	The Welles Plan	224
13	"It Was All So Real"	229
	Manipulation	229
	Historical Environment	233
	Wonders of Science	236
	Tuning in Late	237
14	Aftermath	241
	Censorship	241
	CBS Responds	243
	Self-Regulation	244
	Lessons	246
	The State of American Preparedness	248
	The Credibility Gap	250
	The Legacy	251
15	Conclusion	255
	Notes	257
	Bibliography	287
	Selected Radio Broadcasts	295
	Index	303

Editorial Reviews

interesting and fully documented...does a splendid job of eliminating gaps in readers’ knowledge”—Choice; “a timely reminder of old-time radio’s influence on American politics and culture. Well-told and meticulously documented”—C&RL News; “an absorbing, well-documented history”—Past Times; “treasure trove of information.... There isn’t enough space in this review to properly describe the information in this book...truly remarkable”—The Illustrated Press; “a first rate, serious history...explains how radio changed listeners’ perception of the world”—Classic Images; “useful scholarly assessment”—Communication Booknotes Quarterly.

From the Publisher

Investigates the roots of modern broadcasting while contextualizing three phenomena: FDR's use of the airwaves, the rise of the network newscasters, and the panic of the American public in the face of Orson Welles's 1938 broadcast. The author shows how these phenomena are part of a much larger trend in American culture<-- >a trend that continues today in television broadcasting. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Booknews

an absorbing, well-documented history

Past Times

a timely reminder of old-time radio's influence on American politics and culture. Well-told and meticulously documented

C&RL News

interesting and fully documented...does a splendid job of eliminating gaps in readers' knowledge

Choice