COMS 381 - Final Exam

What possibilities did radio present? (3)

• Constant connectivity

• Experiencing distant events in real time

• One-to-many communication, the listening public

Characteristics of the wireless telegraph, which is what radio emerged out of (1897)

• had transmitters and receivers, like radio

• The wireless initially sent morse code rather than sound

Who transmitted sound in the first public radio broadcast (1906)?

Canadian-born Reginald Fessenden

T/F - Radio signals are inherently public

True - Electromagnetic signals radiate to anyone, they don’t care about ownership

What legislation did Canada and the US create after the Titanic disaster?

• Ships were required to constantly monitor distress signals

• All radio broadcasters had to operate with a government-issued license

What was the connection between radio and time?

• The ability to experience many distant events at the same time

• The present was now not just the present in a single local space

• Various media forms began to emphasize simultaneity (radio, newspaper, film)

What did early radio look like?

Male amateurs, diverse and chaotic

When was radio commercialized?

Early 1920s saw corporate radios popping up as more people got radio sets

How did corporate radio broadcasting make money?

Advertising - this got some criticism as people did not want to see radio taken over like news and mail already had been

Advertisers had significant creative control (names, content)

How was radio regulated in the US?

The Radio Act (1927), radio was defined as a public reception broadcast medium and subject to regulation by the FCC

How was radio commercialized in Britain?

The BBC, government control

How was radio commercialized in Canada?

Federal government provided licenses to stations, the CBC was also formed (hybrid private and public, tax-based and ad-based revenue)

What was the “War of the Worlds” broadcast?

A fake news radio broadcast that made claims that earth was being invaded by aliens

Compensatory dialogism

A need to produce intimacy on the radio (a one-way medium) through intimate sound spaces, domestic genres, cozy speech styles and radio personalities (Peters)

How did FDR foster reassurance during the Great Depression?

FDR’s fireside chats (clarified policy, projected a secure image, felt intimate)

How did the radio get used by Hitler and fascism?

Hitler and the propaganda minister embraced radio as a universal mouthpiece

They required people to have a receiver and to listen whenever Hitler made a speech (with no opportunity to respond/debate what was said, they were just listeners - Horkheimer and Adorno)

How was radio used to resist the Nazis?

Radio Londres: a broadcast operated by French people who had fled Nazi-occupied France

^ it presented counterpoints and coded messages for the resistance (ex. wound, violin)

Who offered early television broadcasts?

Organizations that already were involved in radio; this meant that funding structures of television in any given country tended to mirror radio

What was television like in the US?

Private business, commercial, emphasized entertainment

Regulated by the FCC

What kind of content was popular with commercial American TV broadcasters?

entertainment, whatever would bring in the largest audience

Fun, easy, not overly political

What was television like in Britain?

Initially only offered by the BBC (state sponsored and funded by licensing fees)

They emphasized the importance of education the public

What was television like in Canada?

Hybrid model: both government oversight and commercialism

The CBC was public but still had some advertising/commercial influence

What was the Massey Report (1951)?

A report on television that identified dangers in the commercial approach taken by the US

They didn’t want Canadians to become permanently dependant on the US for TV

What did the Massey Report (1951) propose for Canadian Content? (3)

• Reducing Canada’s dependancy on American TV

• The promotion of national unity and education in the broad sense (active listening and learning)

• Emphasis on showing Canadian content

How does ‘I Love Lucy’ exemplify the new characteristics of TV?

• TV had more context from visual elements (ex. physical comedy)

• Laugh tracks gave you a communal feeling

What is a media event (Katz and Dayan)?

A special event, akin to a holiday, in which large numbers of people tune in to a single live event on TV, which is supposed to embody values that the populace share

What is the criteria for something to be a media event? (6)

• They are not routine (they are a break from regular viewing)

• They are broadcast live, in real time

• They are typically organized by parties outside the media

• They are planned and advertised in advance (not breaking news)

• They are presented with reverence and ceremony

• They are watched by very large audiences

What are the three types of media events? (3 Cs)

Coronations, contests, and conquests

What is a coronation?

A celebration of powerful leaders (Ex. Queen Elizabeth)

What is a contest?

A competition of sports or politics (Ex. Olympics, presidential debate)

What is a conquest?

A dramatization of political or diplomatic efforts, aiming to shift public opinion (Ex. signing of peace treaties, moon landing)

What scholar predicted world connectivity (the World Wide Web)?

Marshall McLuhan

What is a global village?

The idea that electronic technologies take away barriers from people across distances, they create a close kinship with people across the world

Was television compatible with cultural ideas after WW2?

Yes

Why were the postwar years a period of strong and sustained consumption?

• High employment

• Pent up consumer demand

• Strong social safety net for returning military workers (Canada, US)

Essentially more economic prosperity and free time

What were the structural factors behind the fantasy of domestic existence (safety, comfort, family unity)?

• Women’s return to the domestic sphere

• The Baby Boom

• Suburbanization

How were cars connected to suburbanization?

Family wanted to get out of the city and have some space, cars made it possible and easy to make that transition. Cars were mass produced in this period, just like suburban homes.

What was the home like in consumer culture?

A place for family unity, a haven from the outside world, a place where consumer goods reigned supreme

How was the television originally advertised to fit the suburban, consumer fantasy?

The television was a tool and presence in the home that would promote unity, while still allowing for social and se*ual divisions in the home

The whole family would gather in front of the TV, like a hearth

TVs were also advertised as a window to the world

How was the power of TV in politics exemplified by the Nixon-Kennedy debate?

Kennedy = TV personality, good image projected

Nixon = uncomfortable on camera, preferred radio

TV was a way to bring politics to the American people, it was seen to have power to shape public opinion differently

What was the Living Room War?

The Vietnam War; this was one of the first wars where people got to see it first-hand on TV. It pulled the curtain back and showed people things they didn’t normally get to see (how ordinary citizens suffered) - Ex. Morley Safer, CBS segment

What was the first account of “computing”?

Ancient tallies (counting, preservation of quantitative information)

What is Babbage’s Analytical Engine? (1833)

A machine intended to conduct mathematical operations at rapid speeds using punchcards

Who was Ada Lovelace?

A prodigal mathematician who was a collaborator of Babbage’s; she is credited with creating the first computer algorithm

She was also the first to identify that the engine could act on things other than numbers, i.e. application beyond just mathematical calculation (0s and 1s, programming)

What was the Jacquard Loom (1805)?

A loom that wove fabric in decorative patterns according to operations in punchcards. The loom = hardware, punchcards = software

How did industrial production previously done by humans change with machines?

Machines performed what was formerly manual labor; faster, less payment needed, etc

Who were the Luddites? (1810s)

Sometimes-violent opposition to the mechanization of the textile industry

They though that technology would lead to exploitation

Stubborn, fool, afraid of technology

What sectors were the first to use computing?

Government and Military (tech-assisted warfare, have money to spend on new tech)

What is the Turing Test?

A human assesses a conversation between a human and computer to see how advanced a computer is (the imitation game)

What was Hollerith’s census tabulating machine (1890) and what could it do for governments?

It was a machine that could combine facts using overlapping categories (age, sex, race, job, etc)

It used punch card date processing

It was quicker and saved lots of money, as well as made it easier to keep track of populations

What was the rationalization of society? (Weber)

The development of new, impersonal criteria for categorizing people; if you didn’t fit into categories you are treated as marginal, a problem

What was ARPAnet (1969)?

A US military computer network that would eventually expend to form the internet

When were government-run computer networks becoming really popular?

1970s (Canada and other nations wanted to develop their own government-run networks)

How were home computers advertised to individuals in the 80s and 90s?

Often with rigid gender roles (men = stock prices, women = cooking)

What were the technological fears over computers and the internet?

Tech was interesting but eerie; you can see the hesitations being addressed with the launch of Apple’s Macintosh computer (1984)