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Period: to
Mass Media
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Transoceanic Radio Signal
Guglielmo Marconi sends a transoceanic radio signal from England to Signal Hill, Newfoundland. -
Selective Tuning Device for Receivers.
Marconi patents a selective tuning device for receivers. -
Radio receiver invented
H.C. Dunwoody invents crystal radio receiver. -
International Radiotelegraph Conference.
27 nations adopt wireless (radio) regulations at International Radiotelegraph Conference. -
Media used for leisure
People begin to use leisure time and watch films along with news reels. Going to the movies cost about five cents. -
Wireless Ship Act.
The U.S. issues the Wireless Ship Act. Required certain ocean-going ships, of all nationalities, to carry radio equipment when visiting U.S. ports, and to exchange messages with other vessels. -
Titanic, the "unsinkable"
Radio becomes a household name when it's used to aid rescue efforts as the Titanic, the "unsinkable" luxury cruise liner, sinks. -
World War I
With the entrance of the United States into World War One, most private U.S. radio stations were ordered by the President to either shut down or be taken over by the government, and for the duration of the war it became illegal for private U.S. citizens to even have an operational radio transmitter or receiver -
Black Press
The first issue of Freedom's Journal marked the beginning of black press in America. During the first decade of the twentieth century, black newspapers only appealed to the small percentage of the black elite, educated and sympathetic whites. -
Influenza pandemic
This was one of the nations devastating epidemics in recorded world history. This epidemic killed five hundred thousand Americans and all in all 20-40 million people were killed. -
The radio
During the 1920s, the radio was considered the most powerful way of communication. By the end of the decade, nearly 60% of American homes had a radio to listen in on current events right as they were happening. Americans quickly warmed up to the idea of hearing the president's voice or listening to the World Series while it was on. -
A shift in journalism
The shift from print-based journalism to electronic media began in the 1920s. Competition between newspapers and radio was minimal, because the latter was not yet an effective news medium. People listened to radio bulletins, but to "read all about it" they picked up a tabloid or a broadsheet. -
Expanding News Coverage
The newspaper and magazine became a very popular source of communication for people to stay updated. As writers and editors learned how to hook readers in, creating thrilling stories in the tabloids, more people became interested in what they had to say. Many of the newspapers summarized the week's news, both foreign and domestic. -
Leopold and Loeb
The two teenagers from highly privileged Chicago families, Nathan Leopold and Richard Loeb, kidnapped, killed and mutilated a 14-year-old neighbor. Their attorney, Clarence Darrow, introduced the psychiatric defense into the legal system. The jury and the press accepted Darrow's argument that society, schools and vio -
Federal Radio Commission.
U.S. Radio Act of 1927 is signed forming the Federal Radio Commission. Recognized broadcasters' right to "free speech," meaning those granted licenses to operate AM radio stations could do so free of government censorship or programming. -
Age of the Columnists
The form of the signed, regular editorial spot for writers on social and cultural issues of the day included everyone from comedians to First Ladies. -
World War II
Leni Riefenstahl, German actress-turned-director, captured the 1934 Nazi rally in Nuremberg and the 1936 Olympics in Berlin, among others. -
Hindenberg
The crash of the huge German airship was the first major catastrophe to be covered by on-the-spot broadcast reporting. -
Murrow's broadcast
Murrow and William Shirer reported for CBS on the German annexation of Austria as the Nazi army marched in. The broadcast is significant because it marks both the beginning of the use of broadcast news correspondents ,and the first part of Hitler's plans for world domination. -
The Second World War begins
Following a fabricated report of Polish terrorists crossing the border, Adolf Hitler unleashed German military. -
Pearl Harbor
At 7:55 a.m., Japanese planes began dropping bombs on the U.S. base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The attack was sudden and devastating. More than 2,400 people died. The very next day, all Americans listened to the radio as Roosevelt declared war on Japan. -
Hitler secretly recorded
After Hitler delivered such a speech in Helsinki during 1942, a sound engineer left the recording equipment running and captured a private conversation between the dictator and Finnish leader CGE Mannerheim, a Nazi ally. -
Franklin D. Roosevelt dies
The tragic news of Roosevelt's death was first heard on the radio. Listeners were jolted by broadcast interruptions, and a shocked nation struggled to come to terms with the news. -
Atomic bomb dropped.
Truman interrupted regular programming to announce that the Japanese "had been repaid many-fold" for their attack on Pearl Harbor. -
"Dewey Defeats Truman"
On the morning of November 3, 1948, The Chicago Tribune embarrassingly proclaimed "Dewey Defeats Truman". -
TV is powerful tool
Television became a powerful medium selling everything from headache medicine to a president. -
Changes in radio
Radio changed programming to a mix of music, news, sports and weather. Popular disc jockeys, such as Freed in Cleveland and Dewey Phillips in Memphis, achieved celebrity status by playing rock 'n' roll. -
Nixon talks about his dog
Vice Presidential Candidate Richard Nixon delivers the famous Checkers speech on television. -
Newspapers decline slowly
Newspaper employees strike in New York City over wages. After these strikes many papers have a hard time regaining subscribers and suffer due to competition with television. -
Forced integration
Dwight Eisenhower orders the Arkansas National Guard and the 101st Airborne Division to protect nine black students attempting to enter Little Rock Central High School. -
Bringing reality into your home
During the 1960s, television news broadcasts brought the realities of real-world events into people’s living rooms in vivid detail. The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, which debuted in 1962, quickly became the country’s most popular newscast, and by the end of the decade, journalist Walter Cronkite was known as the most trusted man in America. -
Turning to comfort shows.
As a result of the intense stress faced by many Americans during the 1960s, broadcasters and viewers turned to escapist programs such as I Dream of Jeannie, a fantasy show about a 2,000-year-old genie who marries an astronaut, and Bewitched, a supernatural-themed show about a witch who tries to live as a surburban housewife. -
First televised war.
Around the same time as Kennedy’s assassination, horrific images from Vietnam were streaming into people’s living rooms during the nation’s first televised war. With five camera crews on duty in the Saigon bureau, news crews captured vivid details of the war in progress. -
Assassination of the president.
Shocked viewers tuned into Cronkite’s broadcast on November 22, 1963, to learn about the assassination of their president. During the next few days, viewers followed every aspect of the tragedy on television. -
The British Invasion
Pan Am Yankee Clipper flight 101 from London Heathrow lands at New York’s Kennedy Airport–and “Beatlemania” arrives. It was the first visit to the United States by the Beatles, a British rock-and-roll quartet that had just scored its first No. 1 U.S. hit six days before with “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” -
Four dead in Ohio
Four students were shot and killed by National Guardsman during protests on the Kent State campus. The students were protesting the U.S. invasion of Cambodia which President Nixon had announced the week before.
An audio recording of the protest surfaced 35 years later, reopening a debate regarding whether the guard were ordered to open fire on the students. -
Archie Bunker arrives
All in the Family debuts on CBS, a challenging situation-comedy, or sitcom, that cast a bright light on the social issues of the day. Unlike programs from the 1950s and 1960s, Norman Leer's satirical creation commented on what ailed the nation, refusing to gloss over or ignore the ugly side of American society. -
Pentagon Papers published
The New York Times began publishing excerpts of the 7,000-page government study of the Vietnam War known as the Pentagon Papers. -
Terror at the Olympics
Arab terrorists raid the Olympic Village in Munich and hold Israeli athletes hostage. The events unfolded under the spotlight of the world media, and 11 hostages were killed during a botched rescue attempt at the airport. -
A President Resigns
Richard Nixon resigns in order to avoid impeachment and prosecution for his involvement in the Watergate scandal. This event was covered around the globe. -
Trends in journalism
During the 1980s, media companies merged and increasingly focused on the prices of their stocks on the stock exchange. As these new media mega-companies went public, corporate leaders mandated that news should make money. -
Fundation for the Internet
In the 1980s, when the underlying structure for the Internet was developed, the foundation was laid for one the biggest communication technology advances of the 20th and the following century. -
Personal Computer
The personal computer also became a fixture in middle-class American homes and offices and set the stage forthe growth of the Internet a decade later. -
MTV airs its first music video
MTV aired the first music video, with Video Killed the Radio Star by the Buggles. It was a one-hit wonder for the band, but a multi-billion dollar success for the producers. MTV showed music videos non-stop, 24-hours-a-day, every day, with occasional breaks for rock news, commercials and special programming. -
Berlin wall falls.
Finally the East German government announced the border between East and West Berlin would be opened. Thousands of East Berliners poured into West Berlin, as young people climbed on top of the wall and began chipping away at the monument to Communism. -
300th anniversary
In 1990, the U.S. press celebrated its 300th anniversary as an institution and guardian of democracy. -
Trends in Journalism
CNN's coverage of the Gulf War signaled a watershed moment for television news, as viewers began to turn to CNN's 24-hour news coverage over the traditional network evening newscasts. Falling ratings also indicated the beginning of the end of the iconic news anchor, as well cementing the legitimacy and popularity of cable channels in general. -
Whitehouse goes online
The Whitehouse and the United Nations go online and develop an official internet presence. -
The rise of "infotainment"
A new look in American entertainment, as shows such as Jerry Springer, Jenny Jones, COPS, and MTV's The Real World created stars out of common people and crafted a genre of highly edited "reality" television -
Internet rising.
By the late-1990's, the Internet was becoming a part of many American homes and businesses. Consumers no longer had to get their information on the media's schedule, as the Internet enabled on-demand news, entertainment, and information. -
America Online buys Time Warner
In the biggest merger in the country's history, America Online agrees to buy Time Warner, the nation's largest traditional media company, for $165 billion. -
Florida vote recount
U.S. presidential election closest in decades; Bush's slim lead in Florida leads to automatic recount in that state. -
9/11
The September 11 attacks were a series of four coordinated terrorist attacks by the Islamic terrorist group Al-Qaeda on the United States on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001. -
War in Afghanistan
The War in Afghanistan is the period in which the United States invaded Afghanistan after the September 11 attacks. -
America goes to war
America officially goes to war with Iraq.
