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Emile Durkheim, 1893, The Division of Labor In Society
We all depend on each other to survive and maintain a high functioning society in which each of us performs different jobs in different fields. We unknowingly strive for social cohesion and solidarity, and seek those who are different than us. -
Emile Durkheim, 1895, The Rules of Sociological Method
Social facts are important and need to be recognized; they are a way of acting impressed or enforced upon an individual, while at the same time it is a norm that can exist outside of the individual and their personality. -
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Specialization topic: Film in the 20th Century
Also including cinematic regulations. -
Director D. W. Griffith films the first movie ever shot in Hollywood
The name of the movie was "In Old Calfiornia," filmed in South Los Angeles. Griffith stayed in California for many years before returning to New York. Many other directors heard of his experience and followed suite; in 1913, they headed west to avoid the fees imposed by Thomas Edison, who owned patents on the movie-making process.
Sigmund Freud, 1922: Freud would argue that this could be interpreted as an example of the horde following the father figure, or Griffith in this case. -
The First Movie Filmed By a Hollywood Studio
The movie was unnamed, but it was shot by Nestor Motion Picture Company on October 26, 1911. -
Griffith's controversial "Birth of a Nation" Premieres
Griffith produces this film, which praises the KKK and demonizes the uniting of blacks and whites in society. This film was groundbreaking and is still historic to this day, even with racist intentions and controversial ideologies.
Again Freud's Primal Horde applies; after this film was released, there were riots in the streets of white men beating up black men, acting out on their id and regressing into angry, violent beings. -
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The First Red Scare
The first Red Scare occurs during the ending stages of World War 1 and afterwards. -
Sigmund Freud, 1922, The Group and the Primal Horde
Society has always enacted being a primal horde, which displays regression into Id desires and the group blindly follows the primal father leader. People secretly take pleasure in putting their free will into other people’s hands, such as with hypnotism. -
Harold Laswell, 1927, The Theory of Political Propaganda
In order to create successful propaganda, the propagandist must read the significant symbols emitted by the population and manipulate those symbols into influencing the people for a common cause. The propagandist must put himself in the shoes of the average person and figure out how to subtly infiltrate their thought process. -
The First Film in Sound is Released
The film, called "The Jazz Singer," was released in 1927, and started the nickname "talkie" as opposed to a silent film. Coincides with Balsamo's Technological Imagination, because the invention of sound in film, many actors and actresses who had made themselves known as silent film actors suddenly couldn't find work, because of the consequences of the talkies. -
Edward Bernays, 1928, History is a Weapon
In order to sell a thing, we must trick man into thinking his desires for that product stemmed from original thought, when in fact the social pressures or subliminal messages forced him into buying that product. The modern propagandist works to subtly inject these thoughts into man’s head. -
Allport and Cantrill, 1935, The Psychology of Radio
Listening to radio allows us to be free of social contract, less emotional or less conforming in what would usually be the presence of others, and lets us remain a passive and indirect listener. At the same time, the radio standardizes and stereotypes the aspects of life, in order to appeal to the biggest amount of people. -
The House Un-American Acts Comittee forms
HUAC is formed and lead by Democrat Martin Dies. This group was initially created to discover Nazi sympathizers, but soon turned solely to potential communist infiltrators once the Cold War began. -
Passing of the Alien Registration Act (Smith Act)
US Congress legislates the Smith Act, which makes it a crime to "knowingly or willfully advocate, abet, advise or teach the duty, necessity, desirability or propriety of overthrowing the Government of the United States or of any State by force or violence, or for anyone to organize any association which teaches, advises or encourages such an overthrow, or for anyone to become a member of or to affiliate with any such association." -
Theodor Adorno, 1941, Theory About the Listener: On Popular Music
All popular music is popular because it contains repetition, and follows a pattern that is easy to remember. In turn, repetition turns into acceptance, and acceptance forms this standardization that every pop song adheres to. However, this popular song or pattern can come under the manipulation of the listener, and popularity increases once they realize they can twist it into their own forms. -
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American Involvement in World War 2
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The "Iron Curtain" Speech is Delivered
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill delivers the famous speech in Great Britain, creating a verbal divide between Eastern Europe and Western Europe/North America. -
The Truman Doctrine
US President Harry Truman releases his rhetoric, defining that any Communist victory anywhere in the world is a threat to United States security. This furthers the tension between communist Soviet Union and America. -
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The Second Red Scare
The Second Red Scare occurs right after World War 2, at the start of the Cold War with Russia, which causes a fear of Russia invading with their communist regime. -
HUAC investigates Hollywood for Potential Communistic Infiltrators
HUAC holds nine days of hearings into alleged communist propaganda and influence in the Hollywood motion picture industry. They accuse several Hollywood stars/directors/persons and put them on a blacklist, to which most never recovered from. At this time, the Hollywood Ten was formed. These were ten producers/screenwriters who were accused of spreading communism via film, but these ten men took a stand against HUAC and were widely praised across America. -
The First Hollywood Blacklist is Distributed
The first systematic Hollywood blacklist was instituted on November 25, 1947, the day after several writers and directors were cited for contempt of Congress for refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee.
These screenwriters were also accused of creating communist propaganda, which ties into Laswell's Theory of Political Propaganda. -
Joseph McCarthy Claims to Have List of Targets
Senator Joseph McCarthy gives a speech in Virginia, dramatically claiming, "I have in my hand a list of 205 cases of individuals who appear to be either card-carrying members or certainly loyal to the Communist Party" within the United States State Department. McCarthy furthers the red scare and builds paranoia with his rhetoric. -
North Korea Invades South Korea
Famously communist North Korea invades and starts the Korean War with the South. -
The Rosenbergs are Executed
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, accused of passing atomic secrets to the Soviet Union, had been convicted and found guilty. They are executed in New York, which further spreads the panic and fear among Americans of being accused of communism. -
Senator McCarthy condemned and censured
The US Senate vote to condemn McCarthy due to his controversial and unfavorable investigations of suspected communists. Many people were relieved, as his rhetoric and communication were no longer taken seriously. -
Katz and Lazarsfeld, 1955, The Part Played By the People
Mass media does not directly influence the thoughts and opinions of the masses; it’s the opinion leaders. This is the two-step flow of communication, in which people are more influenced by other people, specifically the opinion leaders, who get their information from the media and “interpret” it to the average person. -
Invasion of the Body Snatchers Released in Theaters
One of the most famous and prominent science fiction movies of the 1950's, this film can be interpreted as a demonstration of the dangers of communist infiltration and brainwashing, or, even more so, an examination of HUAC hysteria and the pressures exerted to bring conformity to American society. -
Theodor Adorno, 1963, The Culture Industry Reconsidered
Cultural entities are no longer also commodities, they are simply commodities through and through. Culture has turned into a profitable concept, where mechanical reproduction takes over any remaining forms of originality or true cultural meaning. The culture industry turns people into consumer masses. -
Noelle-Neumann, 1974, The Spiral of Silence
The spiral of silence occurs when an individual feels that society is increasingly in favor of an opinion that isn’t his, and therefore reacts by no longer expressing his opinion in public, having lost the confidence and assurance to do so. The average person observes which views are declining and which ones are gaining traction, and gauges his public state of mind from there. -
Phillips Davison, 1983, The Third Person Effect in Communication
Many propagandists have manipulated the third person effect in order to influence their desired groups; this effect is that people tend to overestimate the influence of mass communications on other people, but underestimate the influence it will have on themselves. -
Gerda Lerner, 1997, Why History Matters
History matters because mistakes were made in the past and we need to acknowledge them in order to progress towards a better future. Many minority group viewpoints were excluded from written history, which also needs to be acknowledged. -
Maier and Potter, 2001, Public Journalism Through the Lens
Public journalism is a direction taken in order to increase quality over quantity when it comes to informing the mass media about presidential races. In comparison to conventional reporting, it is an attempt to directly involve the masses in distributing and forming media information. Public journalism had different impacts on local television and newspapers. -
Anne Balsamo, Dec. 2005, The Technological Imagination
It is imperative that new technological imaginations must be ethical and consider social, human, and cultural consequences. Collaborations from many different disciplines must take place in order to successfully develop new technologies. -
Fahmy, 2006, Visual Agenda Setting after 9/11
Different pictures/visuals taken during the 9/11 attacks have different impacts on people and their memory depending on what kind of emotion each picture elicited from them. Overall, emotions influence the ability to recall a large number of visual images. -
Scheufele and Tewksbury, 2007, Framing, Agenda Setting, and Priming
Agenda setting determines what the public deems important at the time; a strong correlation has been found between the emphasis that mass media places on certain issues, and how important the public sees those issues. Priming and framing are part of agenda setting; they prepare and shine a light on a certain point of view about that issue. -
Weeks and Southwell, 2010, The Symbiosis of News Coverage and Aggregate Online Search Behavior: Obama, Rumors, and Presidential Politics
Rumors, whether justified or not, have a large impact on technology and information seeking. Depending on how much the media covers a rumor, people will likely internet search for said rumor on the same day, creating an over-anticipated to the rumor, even if it is hardly true. Rumors tend to provide people with a sense of control. -
Christina Peterson, 2012, The Crowd Mind
Film has a great influence in emotional possession and unemotional indifference among children. One must lose themselves and not think critically if one wants to fully enjoy a movie. -
Hyun and Moon, 2016, Agenda Setting in the Partisan TV News Context
Partisan TV news sources tend to have an overwhelming amount of influence on its viewers. However, these viewers eventually become aware of which media outlets will line up with their opinions, and subconsciously or consciously seek those who will give them the information they want to hear. These partisan TV news can only further polarize the masses. -
Niederdeppe, 2016, Meeting the Challenge of Measuring Communication Exposure in the Digital Age
Because of the ever increasing speed and efficiency of which we receive data such as articles, news, videos, and stories, we have a much harder time recalling sources. This effect also creates large and rather short-lived spikes in media attention to particular topics, before they quickly move on to the next one.
