With the rise of the Hollywood telefilm, as well as the airing of motion pictures on television networks, writers argued that compensation should be extended to cross-media exhibition and the rerun.
Repetition over half a century later with the rise of streaming and residuals for that
the landscape of Hollywood looked quite different.
Influenced by greater socio-political context of Cold War and the Red Scare
So, rightly or wrongly, the show sounded the same each time because it funneled through me.
Layout of a team of 4 to bounce creative ideas off each other and keep things fresh, and then one highly disciplined individual to maintain consistency in the program
said the writers were from radio, Karl Freund was from the movies, Desi was from the theater and the stage, Lucy was from the movies
New electronic medium taking from previous electronic mediums
how collaborative the new medium could be
Audiovisual nature of TV likely made it even more involved, possibly encouraged this collaborative spirit
become the future of the industry.
Solid entertainment that keeps people willing to stick around to be advertised to
cinematographer Karl Freund’s use of a multi-camera system to record the series on film in front of a live audience
Birth of the 3-cam setup?
first interracial couple
Also the fact that the show doesn't shy away from Ricky's Cuban culture - he's not there just to be there
In 1953, Lucille Ball made history by giving birth to two boys in one night
I didn't know she was pregnant in real life too
In a very real sense, too, radio's challenge in the area of news represented the first serious challenge made against the printed media.
Also foreshadowed the challenge TV would eventually create for radio
However, WOR was owned by Macy's department store, and action here was difficult because Macy's was a heavy user of the print media in its advertising programs.
I think this demonstrates a difficulty that arose with the existence of so many radio stations and newspapers - accidental webs will be inevitably created, stymying action
smaller, regional networks were being established to disseminate news
Did this create a trust in local radio and later on local TV?
no spot news.
Can't report live on location, which was one of radio's appeals
select editors
Likely editors friendly to the goals of the newspapers
broadcasters could be prevented from giving false and inaccurate news is by direct government control.
Broadcasters could've easily turned this around and argued that newspapers could do the exact same thing
local stations
And nothing preventing these local stations from handing stories over to national networks
confused, incomplete public thought and intensified ignorance on public matters
Could've brought up the proliferation of quack medicine and alt-right talk radio (if they knew about them that is)
superficial job of reporting the news
Argument against this with the reporting of the Hindenburg disaster - detailed accounting of what was going on + people understood
the potential for propaganda was too great.
Later proven right by Corwin and This Is War
little effect on radio going out and getting the news itself.
Likely a lucrative opportunity for those that wanted to be investigative journalists
and it also meant that radio was beating the press at its own game: fast reporting of the news
Not taking copy into account, it takes less time to talk about the news than to write about it and get it published and circulated
They stopped reading the papers and went to other sources which would tell them about radio, and the listings returned
Now that they were given something, they didn't like having it taken away
Yes, when he glanced down the columns of his radio page, he observed with amazement and indignation that he was advertising, without charge, radio advertisers . . . even his own best customers: department stores.
Giving space away to something that would want its reader base
the things which radio was doing made good newspaper copy
Progress and ability of this "new" technology made for good stories
embraced Germany and Japan as rehabilitated members of an international community of liberal democratic nations
Not only that, Hirohito was actually allowed to stay in power
Today's media-savvy public might regard that radio series not as strictly truthful accounts of the war, as its boosters declared, but as manipulative propaganda
Access to social media and direct stories from average people on the ground - a little bit more accurate and truthful
easiest way to inject a propaganda idea into most people's minds is to let it go through the medium of an entertainment
Persuasion through distraction/disarmament of emotion
seldom admitted a middle ground"
Admitting a middle ground comes with admitting that the opposing side makes good points, and from a military perspective you can't have that when trying to win a war (especially when the opposing side is comprised of fascists)
but it presented subjective interpretations of the global conflict.
So not objective truths
little people
Patronizing tone used to appeal to humanity - we have to save these little people
branded as an Axis stooge any person who challenged Washington's war policies. "Anyone who tries to undermine your confidence in the Armed Forces of the United States," Corwin counseled, "should be reported- by you-to the... FBI.
Similar events later with McCarthy's Red Scare
"race-against-race line is old Nazi stuff. That's one of the main things we're fighting this war for!"
Forget what we've done to you, we have a new common enemy now
a cast of red-blooded men, women, and children who implored their listeners to commit themselves to a recently derided war.
Cast intended to be (mostly) representative of the American people
whether you handle a bayonet or a monkeywrench
Not necessarily placing a laborer on the same level as a soldier, but still showing that both are very important to the war effort
Light plays, preferably of an erotic nature, may be attended [while] gambling is permitted and alcoholic beverages may be distributed to peasants"
Turning it around, the Germans and Italians also published their own propaganda of American (often Black American) and Soviet soldiers molesting their women
They turn toward the West where freedom was born. And they listen.
Going back to the idea of a beacon of hope
Americans bore a moral responsibility to their embattled, freedom-loving brethren around the world that justified their country's painful participation in the global war.
Similar ideas of moral responsibility that justified American imperialism pre-WW1
domestic production statistics with vivid depictions of Axis atrocities
Appealing to both ego with accomplishments and sense of humanity
peripatetic
Going from place to place
its apology to Jesus for having let the Axis powers unleash such brutality on the world.
Appeal to morality that will be expanded upon later
that distant battles had come home to roost in the United States.
Using exaggeration to get a message across
to help dissipate complacency and overconfidence, while at the same time maintaining faith in the ability of America to conduct a successful war against the Axis
Plus it would be boring to just list off facts
nameless characters
Blank model/everyman - this could be any soldier, which means this could be every soldier - help the war effort to alleviate their suffering!
sought to avoid government oversight
Better to just comply than be forcefully told what to do
wanted to use radio to generate public backing for the U.S. war effort without undermining radio's character as a popular entertainment medium.
I feel like this implicitly acknowledges that there'll be a postwar period - will radio be able to return to a state of normalcy?
ready model to guide war-related programming.
Most likely due to the fact that radio was in a much different place around the time of WW1
paeans
Calls of support
straightforward morality play
The most basic story of good vs evil
intimately over the airwaves, government agencies and their willing partners in network radio used the medium to inform Americans about the war, to impress on them that hostilities bordered on their own doorsteps, and to urge them to help finance, fight, and produce materiel for global combat.
Feels like they're directly asking for your help, when really they're asking everybody
Americans had already listened to eyewitness accounts of European war zones
Some context as to what was going on
Lining up behind Washington's declarations of war against Japan and then its Axis partners, network radio, Hollywood and print media promoted America's new war efforts to their national audiences.
Going back to the lecture, this would then help curry favor with the federal government, hypothetically allowing these networks to push their own objectives in the future, with little/reduced resistance
These networks generally avoided alienating their federal regulators, corporate sponsors, and politically divided audiences with blatantly biased war-related reports
Makes sense from a business perspective - have to keep ratings up
an industry which did not really come into existence until almost ten years after the Act had been passed
Didn't expect the technology to move forward so fast and for opportunists to capitalize
The government's powers, which were based on an Act of 1912, were quite inadequate to control the new medium.
Recurring theme throughout American legislative history of Congress passing an act, but neglecting to actually give itself the powers to enforce said act, until it becomes abundantly clear that such a thing is needed
so if they are to get a good musical program without paying a cent for the artists, it will probably be necessary to listen to the donor of the hour's entertainment’.
Modern equivalent with Spotify or any other music streaming service that offers premium services - if you aren't willing to buy CDs and give these struggling artists money, then the least you can do is watch a couple ads (except Spotify does also kind of shaft smaller artists)
neither indifference nor contempt gave Americans immunity from them
Can't escape trends
The manufacturers of radio transmitters, receivers, and accessories were in much the same position, as Radio Broadcast pointed out, that munition makers were when war broke out.
Profiting off people's desires for information and entertainment the same way that weapons manufacturers profit off people's underlying violent instincts
only to be told when they finally reached the counter that they might place an order and it would be filled when possible
Running out of stock likely adding to the hype around radio - it's selling out so fast, I just have to have one!
The natural fascination of its mystery, coupled with its ability to annihilate distance
Average person not in complete understanding of the ether, making radio a novelty
American broadcasters of their lead served as a warning rather than an example
Shown what not to do - learning from others' mistakes, the perks of being second
common ideas
Likely ideas of decency and what was and wasn't appropriate to put on the radio
however, they were not so distinct as they were soon to become.
Likely that amateur operators helped push radio in Britain forward as they had done in America
Britain procrastinated while the United States forged ahead.
Advantage of private market, or at least slightly more private compared to Britain - don't have to wait for government's permission to forge on with your ideas Possible disadvantage explored later on with oversaturation of market
One
Whole article restarts from here onnward
To the amateurs, the ether was neither the rightful province of the military nor a resource a private firm could appropriate ' and monopolize. The ether was, instead, an exciting new frontier in which men and boys could congregate, compete, test their mettle, and be privy to a range of new information.
Modern equivalent of techno-libertarians pushing against internet regulation; John Perry Barlow's piece "Declaration of the Independence of Cyberspace" where he argues that government interference would destroy the value of the internet (or something along those lines, it's been a while since I looked at it)
While many of the amateurs had been transmitting as well as tinkering with their own apparat us for years, and then had trained for five years to become first-class commercial operators, naval operators only went through a two-month training course before manning a wireless station.
What stopped the Navy from recruiting these older boys?
For example, the one hundred members of a wireless club in Chicago worked out an air-sharing agreement with the local commercial operators which was de ' signed to reduce interference for both groups.
What prevented such a deal or some other form of partnership with the Navy?
the amateurs' increasingly bad press.
If good press increased boys' desires to be amateur operators, could bad press have spurned more malicious interference, just out of spite for the press?
The efficiency of a number of the coastal stations of the Navy has been cut in half because of the presence of dozens of small amateur stations. Boston is the head of some five hundred amateur operators, a number of whom can put the Charlestown Navy Yard completely out of commission as regards the receiving of messages."
Problematic if you're going to go to war in a couple years - need to be able to receive your commands
The different kids around here raise an awful noise, all try to talk at once, call when anybody is in and never use any sense, half can't read 4 words a minute and sit calling everybody within 20 miles and can't hear 800 feet from another station."
Visual in my head of some prepubescent kid making fart noises into his radio set, and a Navy operator on the other end losing his mind
The amateurs were tapping point-to-point messages meant only for certain ears
Problematic with national security as will be seen later
The few boys in school in the area who claimed to have received the distress call were local heroes for a time
Going for the celebrity that Binns didn't want
For, even though a young man might be secure in the comfort of his own home, his live did become more exciting through radio. The amateurs came to feel that their lives were intertwined with truly significant events, as they overheard messages about shipwrecks or political developments and transmitted these messages to others.
Needing to hold onto a sense of insecurity in a (relatively) secure new setting
It was through his technical mastery that he had proved himself a man.
Using his technical and physical prowess to help others rather than just boost himself up
As for Tom, he sat at the key clicking away, while, overhead, from the wires fastened to the dead tree, flashed out the messages." Finally, "from somewhere in the great void," a reply came back and all were rescued.
Pretty much the opposite of what happened in Lord of the Flies
unremunerative
Bringing no profit or income
Within fifteen years, radio would become the vehicle through which popular culture was imprinted on electrical communications and was brought more directly and brazenly into the home than ever before.
Not without some background, telephones had been used to broadcast concerts prior
slave
Interesting choice of words given that actual slavery had been abolished less than half a century prior, and a new slavery in Jim Crow was in effect. Possibly a take on how people continued to seek out control of things - if not people then machines?
Nick Carter
Telegraph's back, alright
and he could defy them by using it, without fear of being discovered, to misbehave.
Comparable today to kids and social media - having identities for themselves that don't necessarily match up with their parents view of them
to a never-never land in which he heard the disembodied "voices'' of ships' captains, newspaper men, famous inventors, or lovers passing in the night
Cool adventures for otherwise pubescent boys stuck in the factory/home/farm/school-house
if they controlled the right kind of machine.
Making these machines an extension of themselves
vivid yet often conflicting definitions of masculinity and success.
Debate persisting today with ideas of toxic masculinity and self-care vs self-sacrifice
with shaky nerves and doubtful vitality
Early acknowledgment of the dangers of smoking or an attack on men that are naturally a little more neurotic?
important role popular culture and journalism
Two things that rose up as a result of telegraphy and telephony
furrowed brow
In a constant state of focus
His ordinariness and diligence were emphasized: "He is no prodigy. What he has done has been done by hard work. He began at fifteen in a little closet-like room on the top floor of his house."
Symbol of the American Dream: blue grass kid who came from nothing and turned himself into something (please ignore dad's money); although to be fair to Willenborg, it did say previously that he didn't rely on said money
take to the air
Fascination with air travel for much of human history (thinking back to the Greek myth of Icarus and Leonardo Da Vinci having plane prototypes), so it would make sense that people would be hyped about this new form of technology that makes use of invisible waves in the air to get across messages
Stevens Institute.
Looked into it, still an active institution
Walter J. Willenborg
Willenborg very much the star of this paper, reads like a "great man" narrative
defending the Republic when in danger.
Example of a marginalized group being given an opportunity and running with it
The next morning, a captain of the Signal Corps telegraph office found his line was down when he tried to telegraph the news across the front. The men must get the announcement before 11:00 a.m.
Instance of miscommunication at a time when communication was going great for several months (or at least great to their standards)
Devastated lands and a concentration of weaponry made plain they were following their commander into hell
Great imagery in this and subsequent sections, goes back to the story aspect of history
hesitation, confusion, imprecise translations, and inapt pronunciation
No room for mistakes in war
pass language tests, medical exams, and telephone training
Similar to the initial exams and training of telephone girls back home, but much more intense
the greatest publicity
Which could be done given the rise of the newspaper and/or radio
some operators took a pay cut to serve the Army
Two fronts - feeling that doing this could get them the vote, making some sacrifices in the process
Woman telephone operators all speaking French and English equally well.
One thing I didn't get with the lecture and now this - was being bilingual a requirement for hiring telephone workers back home? Or were they taught French on the job since it was the universal language before English?
They could not put up with “criticism or abuse” by short-tempered officers.
Young men with no people/customer service experience. Also thinking back to the young men that worked phones lines before women took over (all the roughhousing and prank calls)
Diligent and quick, they talked with demanding customers while manipulating plugs in a constantly changing pattern.
Likely built great reaction time in the process
Depicting uniformed women as especially attractive
Possibility that it also roped in younger guys who thought that these attractive women would be on the bases with them (great propaganda/recruitment strategy)
women’s gumption, hard work, and stateside assignments
Fulfillment of agreed upon American values - likely boosts pro-suffrage sentiments
The purpose of Signal Corps operators was to help the United States win its war.
Communication as an aid to war - strategy talks during or post battle, or negotiation talks to end a war entirely (although sometimes not fast enough for those in the middle of combat to realize, as will be seen later)
Shall we admit them only to a partnership of sacrifice and suffering and toil and not to a partnership of privilege and of right?
Fought the same fight as men, should be allowed the same rights
We must either conform or . . . resign the leadership of liberal minds to others.”
Land of the free at risk of looking not as free or progressive as other nations - would be a moral blow to national identity
Indeed, it was tugged along by global trends
Global trends that likely resulted in global communication via telegraphy and telephony. Different people able to talk to each other; results in discourse, possible fashion trends, etc
Propertyless white men at the end of the Revolution of 1776 and African-American males at the end of the Civil War had a similar experience.
Needing to prove themselves to those that have the power and/or the ability to give them the franchise
Useful as is the telegraph, we should not forget that it is the boys who connect its wires with our offices and our homes.
Modern equivalent of acknowledging the Amazon warehouse workers and truck drivers getting you your stuff
The work is healthy
Lot safer than working in an industrial factory
means of fines and extra hours, which soon lessen the wages, or prolong the period of daily service,
Digging the kids into holes
drilled at the school
Psychologically, could lead to a sense of indebtedness from certain boys to the company. "This business has given me so much. It took me off the streets, gave me an education, lets me work and make money. Of course I'll work 12 hour shifts for them!"
way a messenger-boy soon acquires a more complete knowledge of the city's thoroughfares than many an old resident can boast of.
Will help them when they eventually have to walk all those miles
training-school
Possibly an early form of trade school
his duties are too varied for me
He might just even have to kneecap somebody!
Every week, a certain sum is deducted from his wages
Possibly not making enough money in the process as a result, ends up getting hooked into staying
The boys are allowed to wear their uniforms only while at work, not while at home or at play.
Arguably a good work-life balance you got going here
an operator has written a message that has come in
Interesting to think what possible unsavory messages they might have had to write
Not less than nineteen miles!
I know I'm beating in the union message, but I think it's worth it. Google Maps says that the distance from Philadelphia to Trenton is 32-34 miles, and that it would take 12 hours to walk that. A little bit more than half that would be close to 7 hours. Hard to rally and organize when your little legs are just so tired from walking everywhere.
A boy who is a slow walker or inclined to be lazy will not deliver so many while a very active boy will deliver more.
More union discouragement - why stand up for the other boys if I'm the best boy in here?
it is necessary to manage their work by a set of strict rules, so that if a boy is slow or careless, he may be known at once among all his comrades.
Controlled, competitive environment - might discourage union sentiments
this company varies with the season of the year
Equivalent to Black Friday/Cyber Monday being the busiest days for physical or online retail. Also goes back to commodification of holidays in previous article.
The uniforms of the Western Union boys consist of suits of dark-blue cloth with red trimmings
Patriotic colors, symbolic representation of the work that these boys are doing for the nation?
who hurry along
Going back to how the proliferation of the telegraph/mass communication in general affected our notions of time
and a very interesting book it might be made, too.
Implicitly acknowledges the peculiarity that comes with assigning such tasks to children
without whose aid more than one industry would suffer at least serious inconvenience.
Supply chain domino effect, but also possible union connotations? If one group were to rise up that might inspire other groups in other industries to do the same
consult with doctors without having to be in close physical proximity has been advanced by the telephone
Telehealth
security,
Feel safer with your phone on you than without
communication technology to play a role in creating the global community
In a way it has, given that we can talk to anyone from anywhere (granted that they don't sleep)
hope that better communication would yield more accurate knowledge and that this would lead people to emphasize commonalties rather than differences.
Hoping tech can solve the problems we create
peculiar and local idioms of each language are to a large extent discarded.
Depersonalization of speech (but good for commonality)
“telegram” came to replace the phrase telegraphic dispatch or telegraph communication. “Teletype”
Prototypical abbreviations
followed by prepared texts for those who needed help in find the right words for the right occasion.
Prototypical sappy hallmark cards - no real feeling because you're not the one imbuing the text
holiday blank” (a telegram form embellished with decoration for the appropriate occasion) by Western Union in 1912
Coming to find other ways to profit off their technology
secularize Christmas and other festivals.
Created a mass appeal which made such holidays impersonal
delicate battery
Possibility exists that a number of people ended up with batteries stuck in their bodies
habit of the heart
Can't imagine not being able to access anybody at any time
at times
No pun intended (or possibly very intended)
there is often no clear distinction between work time and leisure time.
Your boss being able to call and text you now
even more conscious of concepts such as “saving time”, having no time”, “running out of time” and being “up with the times”.
My initial reaction to this was "well, at least it's better than being a farmer." But then I remembered, those farmers probably weren't as conscious of time, and thus not as conscious of how much of their lives they spent out in the field. Nothing against farmers
exchanged general conversation, gossip and news slowly disappeared.
And then reappeared in telegrams
This became the standard time of the United States and this time used in the operation of every railroad system across the country.
Most likely some complications with time zones that aren't mentioned here
making it subject to more precise management
Put time into tangible words and symbols that are able to be used by and against others
setting the stage for our modem preoccupation with lack of time
Next big thing, newer technologies ramping up effects of previous ones
whimsical
Thinking back to the banter of the people that had to put in the actual telegraph lines
society will impact on these same values and norms
Not necessarily letting yourself be manipulated, but letting yourself be worked on by technology that some other human developed
war
War might take up significant time, but it can also encourage the innovation of technology (blood transfusions, radar, nukes)
life expectancy, short lives mean little time or incentive for innovative activity; a society’s attitude toward risk taking for people in various positions within the social structure
Makes sense why media/tech history is dominated by white men. They most likely had better life spans and were in positions (i.e. not in chains or stuck cooking) that allowed them to be able to take risks
Technology is affected by culture in as much as there are various cultural factors which influence the process of innovation.
Technology doesn't build technology (as of now), people build technology as influenced by different motivations
unfolding human record
Living history now, whether we do or don't want to
elusive creature, the well-informed
But how do we define well informed? What if one person's well informed is another's not at all informed?
often conflicting interpretations
History written by people (some would even say victors), and different people are going to have different takes on things. Have to sift through material to try and understand what is true.
simple observer
Bystanders tend to get a bad rep. History can be used to understand why certain people choose to not speak up
responsible public behavior
True patriotism could be defined as understanding the ills and all the negative practices your nation has undergone and still choosing to consider yourself as a member of said nation and still loving it to a certain extent. Understanding the idealized message that your country promotes, and then working to ensure that the more underprivileged groups within that country get to experience that ideal. Don't know if that makes sense or not
evolved while retaining cohesion
Common stories that can link groups together through difficult times
student of history to test his or her own moral sense
Also the question of whether or not we should judge past people/societies by current standards
as art and entertainment
Can lead to a bending of truth if not done carefully
Biography and military history appeal in part because of the tales they contain.
Far more interesting than trade history
what elements of an institution or a society persist despite change.
Big reason why it's silly to deride something like critical race theory - history doesn't exist in a bubble. Systems put into place by the past are going to have a drastic impact on the present, no matter how much we try to deny such impact
simply to run their own lives.
I read this as a little exaggeratory at first. But it's important to remember that people aren't solitary and actions add up
But even these recourses depend on historical information
Details are interconnected, nothing happens in a bubble
storehouse of information
Good metaphor - going to the history store and picking up certain history things in order to understand certain presents; or going broad and buying general purpose items to come to a bigger picture (this metaphor has gotten away from me)
earlier leaders believed that a knowledge of certain historical facts helped distinguish the educated from the uneducated
Similar example of the SAT starting off as an IQ exam for those in the military
Historians do not perform heart transplants, improve highway design, or arrest criminals.
And yet studying the history behind these things helps us understand the why and how we do it, and helps us to improve upon our ability to do them