“Radio broadcasting added a totally new dimension to modern communication by bringing the outside world into the individual home.” – Daniel J. Czitrom
The history of radio could be summarized as a long journey between military research and science-based industries. These two forces worked together to build a new technology that would breakthrough the scientific boundaries of that time. The wireless technology used during WWI and the mix of mathematics and physics were the main tools in creating a medium that would revolutionize the use and perception of mass communications.
The attempt at originated from electromagnetic telegraphy. In attempts to eliminate the use of wires, radio was envisioned as a way of information travelling through space. Electromagnetic waves, specifically, was first used as a marketing tool, giving access to waves exclusively to private owners of receivers. This one-sided relationship between the feeder and the receiver changed when the old vision of “universal communication” was sweeping throughout the country.
The theory that radio waves could be transmitted by an all pervasive “ether” brought with it a sense of the supernatural. As a direct result of science, the limits of information were being pushed to heights that no one could quite fathom; we can imagine drawing a similar parallel to how the people of the early societies of the Gutenberg galaxy must have felt when they were faced with the reality of having to learn something so “un-natural” as speech and written language.
Soon, the shift to wireless transmittance was quickly realized as a new commercial market. Marconi’s organization began the business of sending messages to marine vessels wirelessly, for the price of receiving equipment and a fee to the company for sending out the message. Quickly, as Marconi expanded to America, the government caught on to the potential benefits of going to wireless messaging, and began funding heavy research and development into the fledgling field. Many predicted military advantages, such as “steering torpedoes, firing mines, and blowing up forts with ‘radio waves.’”(67)
Apart from military implications, the public also caught on to the implications this would have on personal communication. Ray Stannard Baker, in predicting a “not-distant future where organizations and even families could secure their own private frequencies…”, seems to be predicting the world we live in today, in which every person, armed with their cell-phone, has become their very own message-receiving station. William Ayrton imagined a future in which every person had an “electro-magnetic voice” to relay a message, and an “electro-magnetic ear” to receive such messages. This ties beautifully into the concept that, as Lodge explains, “we are growing a new sense; not indeed an actual sense organ, but not so very unlike…” We see a direct tie here to the sense ratios that McLuhan proposes were shifted by the writing system; with the advent of broadcast, technology delivers yet another sense-altering jab to the human mind, once again forever altering information and intelligence. By giving man a new voice and new ear, this new technology once again altered how a message could be delivered, and also how it could be heard.
People quickly realized this impact. Initially, radio transmittance was seen mainly as a tool for government propaganda and communication, which lead to governmental regulations that can be compared to the creation of the common dictionary. However, soon, this changed. Broadcast, literally the “sowing of seeds” on a farm by scattering them over a wide field, soon became the dominant form of wireless message transmittance. Amateur wireless operators began popping up everywhere. Similar to the realization authors came to with books, people realized the tool they had: a tool which would allow them to say anything they liked, to whoever wished to listen, with no concern to physical constraints. The drive towards a true “global village”, where thoughts and ideas flowed freely with no regard to time and proximity, was on.
With the growing impact of radio came the issue of who would be paying for this service. Would it be government or privately controlled? Would, as David Sarnoff of RCA suggested, we have cartels? AT&T wanted broadcasting to be a service provided by Bell through the telephone system. In the end, the advertisers were the ones charged in order to fund radio broadcasting. This is called toll broadcasting and AT&T used their telephone lines to create the first network broadcasting system by connecting their station WEAF with others throughout the country. The Department of Commerce sold stations with assigned wavelengths, creating more of a privately owned system. Not only did this show the extensive use and power of the telephone lines, it also made clear the major presence of consumption in American life. Now advertisers could reach their consumers directly in their home, during their family time and relaxation hours. Frank A. Arnold, of the National Broadcasting Company, called radio advertising, “a sort of psychological burglar in the home” (77). The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) was developed when AT&T sold WEAF to RCA. The radio became a signature piece of furniture in the home around 1925. During the Great Depression, when other forms of entertainment were suffering, radio excelled and many of the stage actors turned to broadcast. As a consequence of the harsh economic times, more stations used network affiliation and commercial broadcasting. Radio broadcasting was an important link to the advertising and consumption ideology in America.
Commercial broadcasting emerged full-force in the 1930’s which transitioned theaudience from the “customer” to the “consumer” (81). Advertising agencieshad primary control of the airwaves and catered radio content to attractingthe largest audiences for their sponsors. This shift in the audiences’relationship with radio broadcasting meant that the “commercial broadcasterhad to figure out how to capture widest possible audience for the sponsor”(81). They did so with the emergence of new entertainment content. Varietyshows featuring comedians became especially popular and profitable duringthis period. Comedians’ “vaudeville acts,” “one-liners,” and “situationaljokes” were key in establishing variety show comedies as the “firstimportant style of network radio” (83-84). Sponsors were also pleased withthese comedian acts since they could use the popularity of well-knowncomedians to promote their product. Soap operas also went on air duringthis time and became 60% of daytime broadcasts (85). The programs attractedlarge female audiences and kept their loyal ears through slowly developingdramatic plots. Dramas were a third category of radio entertainment thatwas created as an “afterthought” but managed to have substantial success(86). While these other forms boosted radio audiences, music showsdramatically declined and did not rule the airwaves again until after WWII. Political censorship also resulted during the era, “both flagrant andsubtle” in an effort to reduce conflict and controversial messages that might alienate audiences (81). Those advocating political censorship arguedthat it helped maintain the country’s morale as shown through thecensorship of the severity of the Great Depression which “strengthened” the”psychology of community life” (82). Ultimately, advertising agenciesgained significant control over the radio programming as well the government through censorship.
At the end of the decade following the advent of the radio, radio news began to emerge. The pressand the radio never had an adversarial relationship, but rather a symbioticone according to Czitrom. Newspapers were used by radios to publicize theirnew product and radio stations were started by publishers to publicizetheir paper. Publishers were slightly weary about their relationship with the radio. An example from the reading was whether or not the AP should give consistent news stories to radio stations. Publishers were mostlyconcerned with the radio cutting into newspapers profits, given that theradio was generally free and easily accessible around this time.
In contemporary times, this is akin to the TV Networks reluctance to have full-length TV episodes on the Internet. Piracy on the Internet made it impossible for networks to continue to limit the amount of shows on the Internet. Independent websites like Hulu (at the time) began to provide viewers with on demand TV shows. ABC, NBC, CBS and others attempted to limit the amount of shows and the lengths of shows on the internet. This could not hold up against independent websites like Hulu, PeekVid, and TVDuck that hosted full-length TV shows on their sites. The major networks quickly adapted when the consumerist angle was realized. They placed ads around the videos and later commercials breaks in between the shows.
Radio news became popular in the 1930s due to independent news agencies like the Radio News Association sold their stories to independent news stations that were unhappy with the limits of the major news networks. Overall, the success of these radio stations illustrated that Americans had a hunger for news that was not seen Pre- the Great depression, European tension and the New Deal. Americans began to realize that politics and economics affected their daily lives. But this was not always the case.
Cizitrom discusses the high point of radio news as that of the Munich crisis, because the radio provided play-by-play for the first time and listeners were able to hear live voices of key leaders and live updates. This was basically the first newsflash and the beginning of the annoying, “We interrupt this program to take you live to the…” Citzom closes with discussing the “March of Time”, which is arguably the most important news show of the future in that it evolved the reading of the daily news story into a dramatic and performative piece in which actors were hired to do reenactments of the latest stories. News programs use drama and have distinct performative technique in delivering news stories.
Czitrom channels Berger in noting that once again the new wireless technology did not necessarily fulfill any desire of the “utopian vision”, but instead just provided another means for advertisers to exploit consumer interests and furthered the appeal of products that promised a greater existence and happiness.
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Citation: Czitrom, Daniel J. “Media and the American Mind” (Reader) pg.60-88
Blog Contributors: Krishna Vadrevu, Jun Bum Im, Jillia Fongheiser, YuJin Kim, Mikaela Ubry, Shannon Myricks