This chapter documents the incredible transformations that took place in the gay and lesbian press, from its anonymous origins to its emergence into the mainstream.
In Western society, the terms 'gay' and 'lesbian' denote not just sexual orientation, but a unique identity that is confessional in nature (i.e. require one to 'come out'). The repression of this identity by society provided much of the impetus for the growth of the g/l press/movement over the years.
Notable journals:
In the post-WW II years, homosexuality was linked with communism. It was in this climate of fear that the first g/l journals began.
1) ONE (1953-) An outgrowth of the Mattachine Society. Included practical information for coping with McCarthy-era ideology (legal rights, etc.)
2) The Ladder (1954-1972) A journal for lesbians; more social than political.
3) Homophile Studies (1956-) From ONE; more scholarly journal.
These journals took a cautious stance about appropriate public behavior and the nature of being g/l. FBI began investigating the journals; journals were conveyed as 'cheap pornography' in court; Supreme Court in '58 disagreed and ruled that homosexuality is not, in and of itself, obscene. Would change the nature of 'coming out' in later generations.
As the movement expanded, self-definition and identity became a problem. What were the goals of the movement? Were they defining their uniqueness or fighting for inclusion?
4) The Gazette (1961-) started by Frank Kameny, who was expelled from the Army in 1957 for being gay. Put forth the idea that homosexuality was a preference and orientation rather than a pathology or sickness.
By the end of the 60's, the readership had vastly expanded, to about 55,000, evidence that the journals were appealing to a wider and wider portion of the population. That portion also became to be seen as a potential 'market', and the journals would soon begin to undergo changes that would reflect that perspective. By 1972, 150 gay journals had emerged. Gay liberation exploded after the 1969 Stonewall riots, setting the stage for the next generation of activists of the 70's.
5) The Advocate (1967-) What began in L.A. soon jumped to major U.S. cities. Advertising began to be incorporated. Shifted to a lifestyle magazine in 1974, when it was bought for $1 million by Wall Street banker David B. Goodstein. Political content largely dropped. Focus instead on fashion, cuisine, travel, etc. Began to enter the mainstream. Began turning a profit by end of 70's.
70's lesbian press:
6) The Furies (early 70's) Lesbian feminism formed its own identity, charging that lesbianism is a political choice, not a sexual preference or orientation per se. Thus, being a lesbian is different from being gay.
Lesbian papers soon grew quickly, to 50 by 1975. Increasingly radical views also grew.
Effect: Emergence of the idea that women's bodies belong to themselves; in their control. Learned to be independent from men.
7) Blacklight (end of 70's) First black g/l journal. Others followed. Often ignored in g/l histories.
80's: A mainstream institutional backlash against g/l began to emerge; helped solidfy g/l movement. The AIDS crisis also began. g/l press was pivotal in covering this and bringing the crisis into the mainstream (Larry Kramer's '1,112 and Counting' was pivotal in this...)
8) Bay Area Guardian (80's) Employed journalists to cover and produce news/events.
As the AIDS crisis grew, g/l journals focused on different aspects of the problem.
By the end of the 80's, circulation broke the one-million mark, with more than 800 journals in print.
90's: The era of the 'glossies'. As profits grew, corporations began to get in on the act. Consolidation of the g/l press soon followed (LPI and Window Media being the largest). Internet presence quickly expanded. Gays seen as ultimate DINKs (disposable income, no kids) by corporations/advertisers, a huge market ready to be tapped. Effect? A total shift from its origins to one where, as in so many areas of the market today, advertising essentially equals content. Result? g/l movements have achieved a high level of visibility in the mainstream media, but with the usual trade-offs that come with the shift. Some would claim it's a 'sell-out.'
Enter the dragon, the relationship between the market and identity that defines so much of what is political today. As the movement entered the mainstream more and more, this necessitated the forces of the market to make it possible. But what started out as a radical, alternative, risky, even illegal endeavor, became something entirely different as it entered the fray of the mainstream, as market forces began to change the nature of its content to fit the image of what things that exist in the mainstream must be.
So what happened to the 'alternative'? This is the pattern one sees over and over again in the s.m. press. It is there, on the sidelines of the mainstream, where it has, and where it will always, be. Desktop publishing now makes the creation of 'zines' easy, and provides a modern mode for alt journals to be created.
This also brings up the question of influence. What kind of press has more influence, the small alt types with radical points of view that push hard agendas, or the glossies that exist in the mainstream?
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Monday, February 19, 2007
the environmental movement
This chapter looks at the history of the journals of the environmental movement, which of all social movements discussed in the book, was/is by far the largest. By the 1970s, the e.m. had become a mainstream movement. Note, however, that typically the only time the mainstream media focuses its attention on the environment is when a major environmental crisis occurs.
Nature of today's e.m. journals: Glossy pages (eco-porn); exists as a kind of donor-service for those who donate money to the cause.
Nature of the e.m. movement and its press: A more long-term movement than others, e.m. movement victories are rarely permanent; the e.m. movement addresses issues which are of a much broader scope than other s.m.'s, and the sheer magnitude of the overall environmental crisis we face on the planet means that e.m. movement faces huge problems; as such, large, permanent institutions (like the Sierra Club) are thus necessary for the movement to work towards its goals...
Political hurdles: Since the Reagan era, when "enviromentalism" ceased to be a bipartisan issue, the e.m. (along with other groups) came to be seen as a "special interest group", which, if you think about it, seems somehow contradictory and ultimately self-defeating considering what is at stake. But this is the political reality in which the e.m. must work in Washington (especially whenever Republicans hold more sway...)
Notable journals:
1) The Sierra Club Bulletin (began 1893)-Probably one of the most well-known journals of the e.m. which has led the way for the protection and conservation of America's natural resources. Before WWII, the e.m. had largely worked with the government to see these goals met. But after WWII, the government's role changed to one that the e.m. had to fight against to see its goals met. The journal helped prevent the damming of the Grand Canyon in 1966, among other things. David Bower became the journal's first editor and after leaving in 1970, went on to work at other influential e.m. journals such as Not Man Apart and the Earth Island Journal.
2) Whole Earth Catalog (began 1966)-The one-of-a-kind journal of the back-to-the-land movement which provided its readers with untold practical "how-to" advice for getting back in touch with Mother Earth. Focused not on changing environmental policy, but on how people lived their lives, and its purpose was to connect people and information.
3) RAIN (1975-mid 80's)-Similar in scope to the Whole Earth Catalog, but with less of its eccentricities. Like w.e.c., provided an outlet of information for those who desired to connect more closely with the land; originated in the Northwest.
4) Orion (1982)- More of a literary journal than other e.m. journals, with a focus on good writing.
5) Earth First! Journal (1980)-The monkeywrenchers guide to eco-sabotage, with a focus on how-to action against the infrastructure deemed harmful to the environment.
6) Regional publications, focusing on the sense of place that makes each region unique, including Cascadia West, the Northern Forest Forum, the Adirondack Explorer and High Country News.
Nature of today's e.m. journals: Glossy pages (eco-porn); exists as a kind of donor-service for those who donate money to the cause.
Nature of the e.m. movement and its press: A more long-term movement than others, e.m. movement victories are rarely permanent; the e.m. movement addresses issues which are of a much broader scope than other s.m.'s, and the sheer magnitude of the overall environmental crisis we face on the planet means that e.m. movement faces huge problems; as such, large, permanent institutions (like the Sierra Club) are thus necessary for the movement to work towards its goals...
Political hurdles: Since the Reagan era, when "enviromentalism" ceased to be a bipartisan issue, the e.m. (along with other groups) came to be seen as a "special interest group", which, if you think about it, seems somehow contradictory and ultimately self-defeating considering what is at stake. But this is the political reality in which the e.m. must work in Washington (especially whenever Republicans hold more sway...)
Notable journals:
1) The Sierra Club Bulletin (began 1893)-Probably one of the most well-known journals of the e.m. which has led the way for the protection and conservation of America's natural resources. Before WWII, the e.m. had largely worked with the government to see these goals met. But after WWII, the government's role changed to one that the e.m. had to fight against to see its goals met. The journal helped prevent the damming of the Grand Canyon in 1966, among other things. David Bower became the journal's first editor and after leaving in 1970, went on to work at other influential e.m. journals such as Not Man Apart and the Earth Island Journal.
2) Whole Earth Catalog (began 1966)-The one-of-a-kind journal of the back-to-the-land movement which provided its readers with untold practical "how-to" advice for getting back in touch with Mother Earth. Focused not on changing environmental policy, but on how people lived their lives, and its purpose was to connect people and information.
3) RAIN (1975-mid 80's)-Similar in scope to the Whole Earth Catalog, but with less of its eccentricities. Like w.e.c., provided an outlet of information for those who desired to connect more closely with the land; originated in the Northwest.
4) Orion (1982)- More of a literary journal than other e.m. journals, with a focus on good writing.
5) Earth First! Journal (1980)-The monkeywrenchers guide to eco-sabotage, with a focus on how-to action against the infrastructure deemed harmful to the environment.
6) Regional publications, focusing on the sense of place that makes each region unique, including Cascadia West, the Northern Forest Forum, the Adirondack Explorer and High Country News.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
the underground GI press and Vietnam
This chapter deals with the role of the underground GI press in opposing the Vietnam War. Awareness of the underground GI press and the extent of its anti-war opposition was largely non-existent in the public mind (due to reasons that are obvious, i.e. no representation in the mainstream media), and as such was seperate from the civilian anti-war movement that holds a much more prominent place in our collective memory, again largely due to the influence of mainstream media. As such, the GI anti-war movement was essentially disconnected from the civilian anti-war movement. As sad as this reality is, it would be much worse if it were not for the existence of the GI press, for it allowed those who participated in real history (not the fabricated version we get on TV and in print) to tell their own stories...
Important note: The opposition amongst those in the military to America's involvement in Vietnam sprouted with its involvement there (early 60's), pre-dating the civilian anti-war movement by several years. The activists of the underground GI press were predominantly white.
Role of technology: The introduction of offset printing made it much easier to produce a newspaper than before.
Examples of dissidence within the military during the Vietnam era:
Notable underground GI press:
1) Andy Stapp's The Bond (1967)
2) Resistance Inside the Military (RITA)'s journal ACT (1967), which encouraged active resistance from within the military.
3) Jeff Sharlet's Vietnam GI (1968), whose target audience was soldiers in Vietnam, not at home. Featured stories/interviews from those in the field, of the atrocities, the realities, the insanities of the war. Most of the content of the paper was letters from soldiers, and views from all sides were published. Sharlet died from mysterious causes at the age of 27 (agent orange?) and the paper died with him in the summer of 1970. Circulation at peak-10,000.
Note: The Tet Offensive occured on January 30th, 1968, and the GI anti-war movement soon exploded...(by 1972 an estimated 245 underground GI papers had been published)
4) Roger Priest's OM...An outrageous newsletter whose goal was to pick a free speech fight with the Pentagon. (Priest worked for the Pentagon and purposefully made his identity explicit...)
Priest's actions highlighted the fine line between the first amendment right to free speech and military prohibitions against insubordination...
5) Paul Cox's Rage was published during the peak of the GI anti-war movement. The journal, among other things, documented cases of dissent throughout the military.
6) Fatigue Press, published at a coffee house (Oleo Strut) at Fort Hood, Texas, where half the troops were returning from, and the other half getting ready to leave for, Vietnam. Documenting, among other things, opposition to riot-control duty among soldiers (e.g. 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.).
The other side: Black involvement in the underground GI movement
For a long time, the Black Panther Party largely ignored the black GI's who were involved in the anti-war movement. (For example, black GI's sent letters to the BPP press, but simply published them with no editorial response or comment....) The BPP did come around to acknowledging their voice, by late 1969. Point: there were a large number of black GI's who were looking to the BPP for leadership, but it was hard to come by.
Effects of the 60's: On changing the nature of our political institutions? Practically nothing. On changing the social consciousness of the country? A lot. But the voices that contributed to that change would be cast aside by the hard swing of the political pendulum back to the right in the 70's when the stage for increased American imperial power was set, the effects of which are still very much with us to this day.
Important note: The opposition amongst those in the military to America's involvement in Vietnam sprouted with its involvement there (early 60's), pre-dating the civilian anti-war movement by several years. The activists of the underground GI press were predominantly white.
Role of technology: The introduction of offset printing made it much easier to produce a newspaper than before.
Examples of dissidence within the military during the Vietnam era:
- refusing orders, going AWOL, drug use
- fragging
- combat refusal
- breakdowns in troop discipline, such that troops had to police their own soldiers
- mutiny
- sabotage
- riots
Notable underground GI press:
1) Andy Stapp's The Bond (1967)
2) Resistance Inside the Military (RITA)'s journal ACT (1967), which encouraged active resistance from within the military.
3) Jeff Sharlet's Vietnam GI (1968), whose target audience was soldiers in Vietnam, not at home. Featured stories/interviews from those in the field, of the atrocities, the realities, the insanities of the war. Most of the content of the paper was letters from soldiers, and views from all sides were published. Sharlet died from mysterious causes at the age of 27 (agent orange?) and the paper died with him in the summer of 1970. Circulation at peak-10,000.
Note: The Tet Offensive occured on January 30th, 1968, and the GI anti-war movement soon exploded...(by 1972 an estimated 245 underground GI papers had been published)
4) Roger Priest's OM...An outrageous newsletter whose goal was to pick a free speech fight with the Pentagon. (Priest worked for the Pentagon and purposefully made his identity explicit...)
Priest's actions highlighted the fine line between the first amendment right to free speech and military prohibitions against insubordination...
5) Paul Cox's Rage was published during the peak of the GI anti-war movement. The journal, among other things, documented cases of dissent throughout the military.
6) Fatigue Press, published at a coffee house (Oleo Strut) at Fort Hood, Texas, where half the troops were returning from, and the other half getting ready to leave for, Vietnam. Documenting, among other things, opposition to riot-control duty among soldiers (e.g. 1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago, assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.).
The other side: Black involvement in the underground GI movement
For a long time, the Black Panther Party largely ignored the black GI's who were involved in the anti-war movement. (For example, black GI's sent letters to the BPP press, but simply published them with no editorial response or comment....) The BPP did come around to acknowledging their voice, by late 1969. Point: there were a large number of black GI's who were looking to the BPP for leadership, but it was hard to come by.
Effects of the 60's: On changing the nature of our political institutions? Practically nothing. On changing the social consciousness of the country? A lot. But the voices that contributed to that change would be cast aside by the hard swing of the political pendulum back to the right in the 70's when the stage for increased American imperial power was set, the effects of which are still very much with us to this day.
Saturday, January 20, 2007
the abolitionist & women's suffrage press
In this chapter, two social movements and their presses are discussed--abolotionism and women's suffrage.
The Abolitionist Press
Effects of technology: The invention of machine-made paper and more durable iron presses made it much easier for a journal to be produced and to reach a far wider swath of the population.
During the abolitionist movement, it can be said that both a "white abolitionist press" and "black press" emerged, but they did not emerge independently of one another. Rather, it was a syngergistic, action, re-action kind of relationship that developed. There were several significant papers during this era:
1) Benjamin Lundy's The Genuis of Universal Emancipation (1820's)
A Quaker who carried his printing tools with him as he traveled around the country, involving himself at the grassroots level wherever he went.
2) Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm's Freedom's Journal (circa 1827)
Started in Boston by two free-born African Americans, this journal had an impressive distribution network throughout many major U.S. cities (predominantly northern), and even spread to other countries. Was against the American Colonization Society (ACS) which proposed sending American blacks to occupy the newly established colony of Liberia. Length of publication...2 years.
3) David Walker's Walker's Appeal (circa 1830)
Previously involved with Freedoms' Journal, Walker appealed to both the South and the North, was an advocate of armed rebellion, and wrote of the importance of education (including literacy) to heed change. Wanted to use his journal to connect the distribution networks of the North with clandestine groups in the South to further his appeals. When the effects of such actions were discovered (in the South), it often resulted in violence and a backlash against the black population.
4) William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator (circa 1830 - 1865)
White abolitionist who whole-heartedly embraced the movement and viewed slavery as a sin. His journal recieved more support (subscription, advertising, fundraising, etc.) from blacks than whites. Unlike Walker, Garrison was a pacifist. Would reprint editorials from pro-slavery papers as a technique to engage in debate.
5) Fredrick Douglass's The North Star (circa 1847)
Ex-slave who fled to England for a while. Upon his return, he began his own journal, despite the objections of Garrison (reasons? competition...) Douglass wanted to create a high-quality black abolitionist paper. Abandoned pacifism with Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which put him at even more odds with Garrison. Douglass's position seemed to carry the day, however, as the country approached the Civil War. Had more white subscribers than black (peak of 3,000 total subscribers).
The Woman Suffrage Press
Important point: Women played essential roles in the abolitionist movement, gaining a political/social voice whose outgrowth contributed significantly to the women's suffrage movement.
The idea of feminism did not yet exist, which means the concepts and ideas associated with it did not yet exist either. Thus, the movement did not yet have the language to define itself. The constraints at the time were such that women lacked both a public voice and a private community. Suffrage gradually emerged as the concrete goal for the movement.
Tension emerged in the movement between those who believed that black suffrage should come first, then to be followed by women's suffrage, and those who believed that suffrage should apply to all adult citizens, regardless of race or gender.
1) Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis's Una (circa 1853)
Created as an alternative to the 'ladies journals' of the day, Una, while keeping the standard format of those journals, also published articles dealing with women's rights. Folded after 2 years.
2) Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony's Revolution (circa 1869)
In a controversial move, Stanton and Anthony endorsed the help of a racist Democrat (George Francis Train) to get the paper started. Revolution was a raw, hard-core, unrelentingly feminist paper that even on occasion expressed racist views. Very influential for the feminist cause and "consciousness-raising". Roughly 3,000 subscribers at its peak. Folded soon after the appearance of the Women's Journal.
3) AWSA's Women's Journal (circa 1870)
The alter-ego to the Revolution, created by the American Women Suffrage Association (AWSA).
More focused than the Revolution, specifically on women's suffrage. Became widely distributed and the longest-running women's suffrage paper ( nearly 5 decades).
The market soon became saturated, with an estimated 33 women's suffrage papers emerging in the decades after 1870. However, women's suffrage made little progress during that time.
4) Women's Column (circa 1890)
Even more conservative than Women's Journal, it functioned as a kind of woman suffrage news service, providing material about women's suffrage for the mainstream press. Very large distribution.
Note: After women's suffrage was achieved in 1920, the journals/press that dealt with this issue dissappeared.
The Abolitionist Press
Effects of technology: The invention of machine-made paper and more durable iron presses made it much easier for a journal to be produced and to reach a far wider swath of the population.
During the abolitionist movement, it can be said that both a "white abolitionist press" and "black press" emerged, but they did not emerge independently of one another. Rather, it was a syngergistic, action, re-action kind of relationship that developed. There were several significant papers during this era:
1) Benjamin Lundy's The Genuis of Universal Emancipation (1820's)
A Quaker who carried his printing tools with him as he traveled around the country, involving himself at the grassroots level wherever he went.
2) Samuel E. Cornish and John B. Russwurm's Freedom's Journal (circa 1827)
Started in Boston by two free-born African Americans, this journal had an impressive distribution network throughout many major U.S. cities (predominantly northern), and even spread to other countries. Was against the American Colonization Society (ACS) which proposed sending American blacks to occupy the newly established colony of Liberia. Length of publication...2 years.
3) David Walker's Walker's Appeal (circa 1830)
Previously involved with Freedoms' Journal, Walker appealed to both the South and the North, was an advocate of armed rebellion, and wrote of the importance of education (including literacy) to heed change. Wanted to use his journal to connect the distribution networks of the North with clandestine groups in the South to further his appeals. When the effects of such actions were discovered (in the South), it often resulted in violence and a backlash against the black population.
4) William Lloyd Garrison's The Liberator (circa 1830 - 1865)
White abolitionist who whole-heartedly embraced the movement and viewed slavery as a sin. His journal recieved more support (subscription, advertising, fundraising, etc.) from blacks than whites. Unlike Walker, Garrison was a pacifist. Would reprint editorials from pro-slavery papers as a technique to engage in debate.
5) Fredrick Douglass's The North Star (circa 1847)
Ex-slave who fled to England for a while. Upon his return, he began his own journal, despite the objections of Garrison (reasons? competition...) Douglass wanted to create a high-quality black abolitionist paper. Abandoned pacifism with Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which put him at even more odds with Garrison. Douglass's position seemed to carry the day, however, as the country approached the Civil War. Had more white subscribers than black (peak of 3,000 total subscribers).
The Woman Suffrage Press
Important point: Women played essential roles in the abolitionist movement, gaining a political/social voice whose outgrowth contributed significantly to the women's suffrage movement.
The idea of feminism did not yet exist, which means the concepts and ideas associated with it did not yet exist either. Thus, the movement did not yet have the language to define itself. The constraints at the time were such that women lacked both a public voice and a private community. Suffrage gradually emerged as the concrete goal for the movement.
Tension emerged in the movement between those who believed that black suffrage should come first, then to be followed by women's suffrage, and those who believed that suffrage should apply to all adult citizens, regardless of race or gender.
1) Paulina Kellogg Wright Davis's Una (circa 1853)
Created as an alternative to the 'ladies journals' of the day, Una, while keeping the standard format of those journals, also published articles dealing with women's rights. Folded after 2 years.
2) Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony's Revolution (circa 1869)
In a controversial move, Stanton and Anthony endorsed the help of a racist Democrat (George Francis Train) to get the paper started. Revolution was a raw, hard-core, unrelentingly feminist paper that even on occasion expressed racist views. Very influential for the feminist cause and "consciousness-raising". Roughly 3,000 subscribers at its peak. Folded soon after the appearance of the Women's Journal.
3) AWSA's Women's Journal (circa 1870)
The alter-ego to the Revolution, created by the American Women Suffrage Association (AWSA).
More focused than the Revolution, specifically on women's suffrage. Became widely distributed and the longest-running women's suffrage paper ( nearly 5 decades).
The market soon became saturated, with an estimated 33 women's suffrage papers emerging in the decades after 1870. However, women's suffrage made little progress during that time.
4) Women's Column (circa 1890)
Even more conservative than Women's Journal, it functioned as a kind of woman suffrage news service, providing material about women's suffrage for the mainstream press. Very large distribution.
Note: After women's suffrage was achieved in 1920, the journals/press that dealt with this issue dissappeared.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
introduction
While the social movements that have changed the course of history in this country have been well documented and studied, the history of the social movement press, the voice that transmits a movement's ideals, has, surprisingly, received little attention.
The thesis of this book is that the history of social movement journalism can be understood only in the context of the particular movements of which each journal was a part. The book looks at the press/media of five social movements:
- the abolitionist movement
- woman's suffrage
- the gay/lesbian movement
- GI press anitwar movement in Vietnam
- the enviromental movement
In addition, the book looks at the interplay between the journals, the social movements that produced them, and the social and political conditions the movements sought to address.
Key points:
- that the birth of a journal often coincided with the birth of a social movement, not vice versa
- that when the goals of a movement are achieved, the associated journal(s) usually collapse(s)
- that conventional/traditional measures such as objectivity, circulation, longevity, geographic distribution, and advertising revenue, do not necessarily reflect the significance, influence, or impact of a particular s.m. press on society
- that the notions of "objective" and "unbiased" are a recent emergence, coinciding with the increased corporate conglomeration/monopilization of recent decades. Before the emergence of this construct (which only further contributes to the framing of the public mind), it was held that those who produced media had a point of view to present, that that was inherent in the nature of the endeavor.
- that there is no reliable correlation between a journal's longevity and its contribution to a movement's goals
- that there is often an inverse relationship between the quality of a journal and its profitability
- that a journal can become an institution in and of itself, subject to the contraints inherent in an institution (rigidity, resistance to change) which can inhibit its ability to respond to new changes
- that new technologies have affected/framed the emergence/growth of journals: the printing press, the iron press/machine-made paper, offset printing, desktop publishing, the Internet.
- that "accidental journalists", those without professional training (indoctrination?) in the field of journalism itself, have made significant contributions to social movements in the past.
- that the press/journal(s) is one of many resources that are available to a social movement, and the success of that s.m. depends on how well those resources are utilized (other resources include money, guns, land, technical expertise, votes, education, social history, cultural coherence, communication channels, access to means of production, the means of culture and the means to disrupt the peace, among others...)
- that "the media" has undergone massive change since its humble origins at the beginning of the republic to what it has burgeoned into today. A nice line from Bob, "Media images and sounds are as inescapable to use as the natural environment once was to agricultural societies." We live in a media-drenched world, and the reach of that media into our personal lives is cause for alarm...just how much are we influenced by it on a daily basis?
- that advertising has infiltrated almost every conceivable social space in our lives
- that the nature of censorship has undergone a significant change. What once used to be the direct control of information by a government (like WWII-era censorship, for example), has morphed into the framing of the public mind itself, such that the choices that seem available to us are confined to a particular spectrum, a spectrum whose range is defined by the corporate interests that control and direct modern mass media. Example...how are topics/events that do not coincide with corporate interests portrayed in the media controlled by them? (consider no coverage at all, or if covered reduced to a spectacle, with little or no substance present )
-that to call discussions that take place within that corporate-defined spectrum "debate" is akin to calling Pro Wrestling an athletic sporting competition (analogy from Jon Stewart)
The thesis of this book is that the history of social movement journalism can be understood only in the context of the particular movements of which each journal was a part. The book looks at the press/media of five social movements:
- the abolitionist movement
- woman's suffrage
- the gay/lesbian movement
- GI press anitwar movement in Vietnam
- the enviromental movement
In addition, the book looks at the interplay between the journals, the social movements that produced them, and the social and political conditions the movements sought to address.
Key points:
- that the birth of a journal often coincided with the birth of a social movement, not vice versa
- that when the goals of a movement are achieved, the associated journal(s) usually collapse(s)
- that conventional/traditional measures such as objectivity, circulation, longevity, geographic distribution, and advertising revenue, do not necessarily reflect the significance, influence, or impact of a particular s.m. press on society
- that the notions of "objective" and "unbiased" are a recent emergence, coinciding with the increased corporate conglomeration/monopilization of recent decades. Before the emergence of this construct (which only further contributes to the framing of the public mind), it was held that those who produced media had a point of view to present, that that was inherent in the nature of the endeavor.
- that there is no reliable correlation between a journal's longevity and its contribution to a movement's goals
- that there is often an inverse relationship between the quality of a journal and its profitability
- that a journal can become an institution in and of itself, subject to the contraints inherent in an institution (rigidity, resistance to change) which can inhibit its ability to respond to new changes
- that new technologies have affected/framed the emergence/growth of journals: the printing press, the iron press/machine-made paper, offset printing, desktop publishing, the Internet.
- that "accidental journalists", those without professional training (indoctrination?) in the field of journalism itself, have made significant contributions to social movements in the past.
- that the press/journal(s) is one of many resources that are available to a social movement, and the success of that s.m. depends on how well those resources are utilized (other resources include money, guns, land, technical expertise, votes, education, social history, cultural coherence, communication channels, access to means of production, the means of culture and the means to disrupt the peace, among others...)
- that "the media" has undergone massive change since its humble origins at the beginning of the republic to what it has burgeoned into today. A nice line from Bob, "Media images and sounds are as inescapable to use as the natural environment once was to agricultural societies." We live in a media-drenched world, and the reach of that media into our personal lives is cause for alarm...just how much are we influenced by it on a daily basis?
- that advertising has infiltrated almost every conceivable social space in our lives
- that the nature of censorship has undergone a significant change. What once used to be the direct control of information by a government (like WWII-era censorship, for example), has morphed into the framing of the public mind itself, such that the choices that seem available to us are confined to a particular spectrum, a spectrum whose range is defined by the corporate interests that control and direct modern mass media. Example...how are topics/events that do not coincide with corporate interests portrayed in the media controlled by them? (consider no coverage at all, or if covered reduced to a spectacle, with little or no substance present )
-that to call discussions that take place within that corporate-defined spectrum "debate" is akin to calling Pro Wrestling an athletic sporting competition (analogy from Jon Stewart)
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