What impact did popular culture and news media have on society, 1917-80? Flashcards
Name two ways that Roosevelt used the growing radio audience to his political advantage
Fireside chats, broadcast of the song “happy days are here again”
What was the biggest entertainment media by 1917?
What was the first “talkie” called and when was it shown?
What impact did this have on the industry?
When did movies really take off?
Who became the “It” girl, where women would ask for her hairstyle at hairdressers?
Movies The Jazz Singer (1927) The industry removed those stars who looked good but didn't sound right Late 20s, early 30s Clara Bow
What were the two types of movies and up to how much more expensive could one be to make than another, why?
In the 30s/40s what percentage of films worldwide were made in Hollywood?
A movies could cost five times the amount to make, B movies didnt have stars
90%
How many films did Clara Bow make in her busiest year, what year was this?
How many films did Clarke Gabel make in his busiest year, what year was this?
How were stars expected to behave?
Which type of media would report them not behaving if they didn’t?
How much money did Shirley Temple make per week in the 30s when the average wage was under $2000 per year?
How much would ordinary actors earn?
How could studios and stars make bucketloads of cash, give an example?
Why would it be almost impossible for actors to find work elsewhere if blacklisted by one studio?
15, 1925
12, 1931
In a way that fitted their screen image (not marrying or being gay if their characters were handsome bachelors)
Gossip magazines
$5000
close to or less than the average wage
By striking deals with sponsors, MGM made a $500,000 deal with coca-cola sothat it’s stars would drink coke in their breaks
Because there was a small amount of studios with a large chokehold over the industry
Name three reasons some people disliked the movie industries growing impact on society?
Why did movie studios produce the Motion Picture Production code, what was another name for this, between which years did all movies have to adhere to it?
Give two examples from the code
Female stars were too scantily dressed/drank/smoked, gangster genre made crime look attractive, stars caused scandals
To make reforms in the light of star scandals so gov wouldnt step in, the Hays Code, 1930-66
Sex between mixed race couples should never be suggestes, family life should be portrayed as a good thing
What music really took off in the 20s/30s?
What were two reasons why conservatives/other groups opposed this music?
Name a statistic to show the popularity of music towards the end of the 20s
By which year had record sales dropped alarmingly, what had replaced them and why?
Jazz
It was considered morally lax, was often played by blacks
1929, almost 50% of homes owned a gramophone
1935, radio, the great depression meant that this was the cheaper option
What was the first commercial radio station, what date did it broadcast on, why was this significant?
Name a statistic which shows the growth of radio in the 20s
When was the first radio advertisement?
What year was the first national radio station, who was it, what was their first broadcast?
What act, of which year, had to be passed after this because airwaves were becoming jammed (what did the act do?
Who broadcast a series of sermons criticising the KKK, name a statistic which shows his radio success, who did/ didnt he support?
KDKA, 2nd November 1920, presidential Election Day and radio got results out before newspapers could print them
By 1924, there were 600 commercial stations
1922
1926, NBC, American football game
Radio Act, 1927, (shared out the airwaves)
Father Coughlin, 1930 = 40 million listeners, criticised bankers in the depression and supported Roosevelt but eventually turned on Roosevelt and lost the president some support
Give two reasons why radio ownership rose so rapidly
What was a positive result of radio growth alongside increased car ownership?
What event was used by newspapers in attempt to make radio look bad, give date/statistic
Mass production, Hire purchase (both made it cheaper)
People began to feel a part of a mass culture
Halloween 1938, they “interrupted” a news broadcast with War of The Worlds, 1.2 million listeners said they had been frightened by the programme
When/where was the worlds first commercial tv demonstrated, who was the first president to be broadcast in this local area?
What did the government do after WW2 to help businesses develop tv?
Which commission regulated both tv and radio?
1939, World’s Fair, Roosevelt
They gave media businesses tax breaks
the Federal Communications Commission
Despite advertisement being a massive part of tv, until what year were there no black Americans in adverts?
How did the post-war baby boom encourage more adverts?
Give a year/president who used tv for their presidential campaign after political parties began buying air time for their candidates?
When were the Kennedy-Nixon debates, how many people watched the first debate, what did people who listened on radio say against those who watched it?
What did this show about the importance of TV in politics?
1963
They targeted children with products related to tv programmes
1952, Eisenhower
1960, 70 million, radio listeners said Nixon won but TV watchers said that Kennedy won
It had become important to look and interview well on live tv
Name a statistic which shows the growth of pre-recorded (as opposed to live) TV
What were two criticisms of tv in the late 60s?
1953, 80% of TV was recorded live, 1960 =36%, 70s=news/sport only live programmes
conservatives/religious groups disliked the glamourisation of crime and violence, criticism of programmes being manipulated (e.g. quiz shows lying)
What year did the government funded Corporation For Public broadcasting set up the first non-commercial tv station, what was it called?
What was the most popular show in children’s entertainment to come of this (also one of the first shows to have a racially balanced cast)?
When was government funding withdrawn from this station, why?
1969, Public Broadcasting Services (PBS)
Sesame Street
1981, conservative backswing
What was one drawback to the serious documentaries which began to be developed after the Kennedy-Nixon debate?
What 1970s programme was based on real life and contributed to popular feeling against the Vietnam war? Where was it set?
What shows helped some white Americans come to see black americans as normal people?
Which was one of the first shows which openly mocked politicians with the use of political satire, what year did it start, how did this effect the way people viewed politicians?
Between which decades did books and films begin to focus on government conspiracies and cover-ups?
What was an effect of new programmes doing more in-depth analysis/having more broadcasting time?
People would accept the slant given to the issues by the programme makers
MAS*H, Korean War
Black family comedies
Rowan and Martin’s laugh in, 1968, people were less respectful and more on the lookout for mistakes
1960s-1970s
People who watched them became more politically aware, issues raised on the news became a talking point
What was the one thing that newspapers could provide that radio couldn’t?
How did both newspaper and radio help worsen the Great Depression?
How did radio help relieve the great depression?
What was radio’s importance in WW2, who made his name doing these broadcasts, having accompanying over 20 bombing missions?
What show did he later join, what year did they broadcast a story on the Red Scare about a young airman losing his job due to possibly family communist sympathies, what year did they expose McCarthy as a liar and a bully, what effect did this have on public opinion?
With news coverage of massive events in the 60s (moon landing, cuban missile crisis), what was the most popular and most believed media of controversial issues, give an example of how this changed public opinion of the presidency/government + the year
Images
They fuelled fears of falling share prices
Roosevelt’s fireside talks helped people trust banks again
It allowed events of the war to be broadcast more quickly, Ed Murrow
See It Now, 1953, 1954, created a shift away from McCarthy
TV (had pictures and sound), Watergate hearings live in 1973
What did broadcast media begin to do more-and-more (despite an overall more “neutral” style of reporting), give an example of when this effected the government
Give its own interpretations, 1965 CBS news showed marines burning a southern vitnamese village to the ground but no rebels were found
