Radio Utopia: Postwar Audio Documentary In The Public Interest (history Of Communication)
by Matthew C. Ehrlich /
2011 / English / PDF
1.6 MB Download
As World War II drew to a close and radio news was popularized
through overseas broadcasting, journalists and dramatists began
to build upon the unprecedented success of war reporting on the
radio by creating audio documentaries. Focusing particularly on
the work of radio luminaries such as Edward R. Murrow, Fred
Friendly, Norman Corwin, and Erik Barnouw,
As World War II drew to a close and radio news was popularized
through overseas broadcasting, journalists and dramatists began
to build upon the unprecedented success of war reporting on the
radio by creating audio documentaries. Focusing particularly on
the work of radio luminaries such as Edward R. Murrow, Fred
Friendly, Norman Corwin, and Erik Barnouw,Radio Utopia:
Postwar Audio Documentary in the Public Interest
Radio Utopia:
Postwar Audio Documentary in the Public Interest traces
this crucial phase in American radio history, significant not
only for its timing immediately before television, but also
because it bridges the gap between the end of the World Wars
and the beginning of the Cold War.
traces
this crucial phase in American radio history, significant not
only for its timing immediately before television, but also
because it bridges the gap between the end of the World Wars
and the beginning of the Cold War.
Matthew C. Ehrlich closely examines the production of audio
documentaries disseminated by major American commercial
broadcast networks CBS, NBC, and ABC from 1945 to 1951. Audio
documentary programs educated Americans about juvenile
delinquency, slums, race relations, venereal disease, atomic
energy, arms control, and other issues of public interest, but
they typically stopped short of calling for radical change.
Drawing on rare recordings and scripts, Ehrlich traces a
crucial phase in the evolution of news documentary, as
docudramas featuring actors were supplanted by reality-based
programs that took advantage of new recording technology.
Paralleling that shift from drama to realism was a shift in
liberal thought from dreams of world peace to uneasy
adjustments to a cold war mentality.
Matthew C. Ehrlich closely examines the production of audio
documentaries disseminated by major American commercial
broadcast networks CBS, NBC, and ABC from 1945 to 1951. Audio
documentary programs educated Americans about juvenile
delinquency, slums, race relations, venereal disease, atomic
energy, arms control, and other issues of public interest, but
they typically stopped short of calling for radical change.
Drawing on rare recordings and scripts, Ehrlich traces a
crucial phase in the evolution of news documentary, as
docudramas featuring actors were supplanted by reality-based
programs that took advantage of new recording technology.
Paralleling that shift from drama to realism was a shift in
liberal thought from dreams of world peace to uneasy
adjustments to a cold war mentality.
Influenced by corporate competition and government regulations,
radio programming reflected shifts in a range of political
thought that included pacifism, liberalism, and McCarthyism. In
showing how programming highlighted contradictions within
journalism and documentary,
Influenced by corporate competition and government regulations,
radio programming reflected shifts in a range of political
thought that included pacifism, liberalism, and McCarthyism. In
showing how programming highlighted contradictions within
journalism and documentary,Radio Utopia
Radio Utopia reveals radio's
response to the political, economic, and cultural upheaval of
the post-war era.
reveals radio's
response to the political, economic, and cultural upheaval of
the post-war era.
