Journalism History

In a throwback to an episode in our vault, author Pam Parry discusses how President Dwight Eisenhower embraced public relations as a necessary component of American democracy and advanced the profession at a key moment in its history. The transcript is Episode 25 at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Gene Allen, professor emeritus at Toronto Metropolitan University, charts the career of Kent Cooper, who joined the Associated Press in 1910 before climbing the ranks and becoming its executive director. Allen describes how Cooper expanded the AP's overseas operations and fended off competing wire services such as the United Press during his more than four decades with the AP. Show transcripts are...

As a holiday tradition, we re-air our episode where hosts of the Journalism History podcast come together for a special Christmas episode that tells the story of an 8-year-old girl and the most reprinted editorial in the English language. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/. 

Writer John Hanc describes his research on the history of Christmas cards for an article that ran in Smithsonian Magazine. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

In this throwback from our vault, food journalism expert Kim Voss discusses the significance of food history and the story behind New York Times food writer Jane Nickerson and her food section from 1942-1957. The transcript for this episode is at Episode 59 at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Researcher Carolyn Kitch discusses her article, “A Death in the American Family: Myth, Memory and National Values in the Media Mourning of John F. Kennedy Jr.” Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast 

In this throwback from our vault, we trace American newspapers’ fascination with ghosts back to the 1800s with historian Paulette D. Kilmer. The transcript for this episode is at Episode 62.5 at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Historian Cayce Myers describes the tactics used by the press in explaining its errant coverage of the 1948 presidential election, drawing parallels and distinctions between the strategies used in 1948 and 2016. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

In a throwback to an episode in our vault, historian Aimee Edmondson describes how opponents of the Civil Rights movement weaponized libel law for decades to squelch free speech and silence African American dissent. The transcript is available at Episode 56 at at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/.

Historian Gerry Lanosga describes the investigative reporting techniques used by abolitionists in the early 1800s to counter lies and disinformation spread by slaveholders and their allies. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Biographer Beverley Buller discusses William Allen White, known as the Sage of Emporia, and how this Kansas newspaper owner became a national phenomenon whose home remains a tourist attraction today. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/ 

Author Heather Hendershot discusses her book, When the News Broke: Chicago 1968 and the Polarizing of America. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Author Jordana Cox discusses her book, Staged News, about a Depression-era collaboration between journalism and theater to produce news for the theatrical stage. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/. 

Researcher Caitlin Cieslik-Miskimen describes how student newspapers became prominent parts of the American high school experience in the early 1900s. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Historian Kathryn McGarr takes aim at the conventional view of the Cold War Washington press corps as a group of naïve transcriptionists. In this episode, she details the sense of responsibility driving Washington reporters in the '40s and '50s and explains their resulting complicity in passing lies and misinformation to the public. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/...

Researcher Tracy Everbach discusses the 25th anniversary since the Bill Clinton/Monica Lewinsky affair became national news and the problematic coverage that Lewinsky endured in 1998. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

University of Kansas student Chloe Martens discusses her research examining how advertisers framed their products during the Dust Bowl/Great Depression years. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Former New York Times reporter, book author, and historian Andrew L. Yarrow shares the overlooked history of Look magazine, a photojournalistic rival to better-known Life that featured pioneering coverage of topics like civil rights and gender and that both reflected and helped build the American post-war consensus. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Curator Jannelle Legg discusses a new online exhibit examining the role of Deaf printers in journalism history. Show transcripts are available at  https://journalism-history.org/podcast/ . 

For the 90th anniversary of Franklin Roosevelt becoming president, author Harold Holzer discusses FDR's relationship with the press and public relations, as well as his mastery of mass communication. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/. 

Author Andie Tucher discusses the early history of U.S. newspapers and her new book, Not Exactly Lying: Fake News and Fake Journalism in American History. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Author Jane Rhodes discusses her book, "Framing the Black Panthers: The Spectacular Rise of a Black Power Icon." Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Historian Caryl Cooper shares the career of Rebecca Stiles Taylor, who used her column at the Chicago Defender to champion social justice and political empowerment in the 1940s. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Researcher Edward Alwood explains how activists in the Gay Rights Movement used public relations practices to reframe media coverage in the 1950s and '60s. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/

Researcher Fred Vultee explains how the Associated Press Stylebook's treatment of Islam has changed over time. Show transcripts are available at https://journalism-history.org/podcast/