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LOCALISM IN AMERICAN MEDIA, 1920-1934

Acknowledgements -- iv

Introduction – Localism as Myth and Reality in American Political Thought and Media Policy -- 1

      

Localism in Media Scholarship                                                    7

Contributions of this Study                 13

Literature Review                  20

Theory and Methodology                  26

Chapter Organization                  38

Conclusion                  42

Chapter One – Localism and the National Class, 1900-1934: 
Democratic Ideals, Cultural Distinction -- 44

Part I:  Pre-Twentieth-Century Localism                  47

Ia.  Localism and Nationalism in the Early Republic                  53

Ib.  Localism and Nationalism After the Civil War                  62

Part II:  The Twentieth Century—The National Class Emerges          66

IIa.  Localism and Distinction I:  Positive Localism                  73

IIb.  Localism and Distinction II:  Negative Localism                  80

Part III:  Positive and Negative Localism in the Modernizing Project 104

IIIa.  Radio in the National-Class Project                  112

IIIb.  The National Class and its Discontents                  123

Conclusion                  130

Chapter Two – Establishing the Regulatory Context:
Politics, Economics, and the Local-National Divide -- 134

Part I:  Tensions Shaping Radio Policy in the 1920s and 1930s          136

Ia.  Content Control, Private Control                  137

Ib.  Economic Viability and the Radio Trust                  148

Ic.  National Desires, Regional Differences                  155

Part II:  Localist Discourses, National Radio                  161

IIa.  The Emergence of "Local" and "National" Stations                  161

IIb.  "Local' and "National" Become Official Policy Categories          175

IIc.  Coda:  A Note on Regionalism                  187

Conclusion                  195

Chapter Three – Localism in American Media Policy, 1920-1934:
Modernizing the Local Through Media Regulation -- 197

Part I:  Modernization Through Content Control                  201

Ia.  Controlling Content Through the Trusteeship Model                  202

Ib.  Controlling Content Through Program Standards                  211

Ic.  Controlling Content Through "Community"                  218

Part II:  Modernization Through Economic Management                  224

IIa.  Local-National Tensions in Industry Economics                  225

IIb.  Modernization and Professionalization                  230

IIc.  Regulating Competition                  236

Conclusion                  246

Chapter Four – National Radio and Local Resistance:
The Networks and Localism -- 248

Part I:  The Struggle to Make "National" Radio National                  251

Ia.  Using Localism to Defend Chain Broadcasting                  253

Ib.  National-Local Tensions Within the Networks                  263

Part II:  The Struggle to Make "Local" Culture National                  279

IIa.  Localizing the National and Nationalizing the Local                  285

IIb.  Aesthetic Localism, Translocal Localism                  289

Conclusion                  302

Chapter Five – The Traditional Local Middle Class and Local Radio, Or:  How the Local Became an -Ism -- 304

Part I:  Audiences, Citizens, and Local Radio                  305

Ia.  Localism, Nationalism, and Listener Desire                  305

Ib.  Civic Radio, Civic Boosterism                  310

Part II:  Local Stations and the Uses of Localism                  322

IIa.  Local Radio and the Politics of Localism                  322

IIb.  Local Radio and the Economics of Localism                  335

IIc.  Affirmative Localism, Market Localism, and the Depression 343

Conclusion                  348

Conclusion         354

Bibliography                 367

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