Young America's next encounter with Britain came during the War of 1812, when the nation's press called for all Americans to defend their recently won independence and protect their territorial integrity and national rights. The Mexican-American War was the nation's first war of westward expansion, the reporting of which was greatly affected by the emergence of the telegraph and military censorship of news from the war zone.
The French and Indian War strengthened the bonds of the British colonists settled on the eastern shores as they eagerly sought news about the outcomes of the battles at Ticonderoga, Niagara, Duquesne, and Quebec, battles that would determine if America would be a French or a British colony. During the War of Independence newspapers would once again serve as a national clearing-house for reports of the first stirrings of the revolutionary movement, the gloomy first years of defeat and retreat, and finally of resurgence, triumph, and sovereignty.
Violent, destructive, and murderous like nothing before or since, the world wars mobilized entire societies to support the war effort. Propaganda, censorship, security demands, and military control of press credentialing pressured the media in new and novel ways. Blacks and women became war correspondents in numbers for the first time, while live radio broadcasts and combat film and photography enabled newsmen to report the heroism, tragedy and violence of war in new, more visceral, ways.
Democracies cannot sustain unpopular wars. Vietnam was the most divisive for war for the American people. The enemy's tenacity was not accounted for in U.S. war plans until there was frustration in the field, skepticism in the press, and splintered support at home. After the Vietnam debacle the press's latitude to cover military action was increasingly curtailed by the military and the government, which sought to control the flow and content of the news better than they had in Vietnam by forcing reporters into supervised media pools.
Beginning with a day that would live in infamy and ending with a war-weary sigh, reporters covering war-ravaged Asia during World War II and the Korean War had to contend with a reading public unfamiliar with the region's politics and geography, and who were more interested in European events. Some of the most storied and savage fighting of the twentieth century occurred during these two conflicts, and reporters found themselves caught between the demands of truthful reporting and the need to sustain public support for the war.
Called the first modern war and our greatest national calamity, the nation's press conveyed news of the Civil War to the citizens North and South who looked to newspapers as their primary source of information. Circulation pressures, political partisanship, scarce materials, and the unyielding public appetite for the latest news all contributed to how the growing numbers of professional journalists covered the pressing political and military events during those crucial years.
This fascinating compilation of reference entries documents the unique relationship between mass media, propaganda, and the U.S. military, a relationship that began in the period before the American Revolution and continues to this day—sometimes cooperative, sometimes combative, and always complex. The Encyclopedia of Media and Propaganda in Wartime America brings together a group of distinguished scholars to explore how war has been reported and interpreted by the media in the United States and what effects those reports and interpretations have had on the people at home and on the battlefield. Covering press–U.S. military relationships from the early North American colonial wars to the present wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, this two-volume encyclopedia focuses on the ways in which government and military leaders have used the media to support their actions and the ways in which the media has been used by other forces with different views and agendas. The volumes highlight major events and important military, political, and cultural players, offering fresh perspectives on all of America's conflicts. Bringing these wars together in one source allows readers to see how media affected the conflicts individually, but also understand how the use of the various forms of media (print, radio, television, film, and electronic) have developed and changed over the years.
"Written in a clear and accessible style that would suit the needs of journalists and scholars alike, this encyclopedia is highly recommended for large news organizations and all schools of journalism." —Starred Review, Library Journal Journalism permeates our lives and shapes our thoughts in ways we′ve long taken for granted. Whether we listen to National Public Radio in the morning, view the lead story on the Today show, read the morning newspaper headlines, stay up-to-the-minute with Internet news, browse grocery store tabloids, receive Time magazine in our mailbox, or watch the nightly news on television, journalism pervades our daily activities. The six-volume Encyclopedia of Journalism covers all significant dimensions of journalism, including print, broadcast, and Internet journalism; U.S. and international perspectives; history; technology; legal issues and court cases; ownership; and economics. The set contains more than 350 signed entries under the direction of leading journalism scholar Christopher H. Sterling of The George Washington University. In the A-to-Z volumes 1 through 4, both scholars and journalists contribute articles that span the field′s wide spectrum of topics, from design, editing, advertising, and marketing to libel, censorship, First Amendment rights, and bias to digital manipulation, media hoaxes, political cartoonists, and secrecy and leaks. Also covered are recently emerging media such as podcasting, blogs, and chat rooms. The last two volumes contain a thorough listing of journalism awards and prizes, a lengthy section on journalism freedom around the world, an annotated bibliography, and key documents. The latter, edited by Glenn Lewis of CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and York College/CUNY, comprises dozens of primary documents involving codes of ethics, media and the law, and future changes in store for journalism education. Key Themes Consumers and Audiences Criticism and Education Economics Ethnic and Minority Journalism Issues and Controversies Journalist Organizations Journalists Law and Policy Magazine Types Motion Pictures Networks News Agencies and Services News Categories News Media: U.S. News Media: World Newspaper Types News Program Types Online Journalism Political Communications Processes and Routines of Journalism Radio and Television Technology
Includes, beginning Sept. 15, 1954 (and on the 15th of each month, Sept.-May) a special section: School library journal, ISSN 0000-0035, (called Junior libraries, 1954-May 1961). Also issued separately.
