The purpose of this paper is to provide a short but comprehensive overview of the new types of media – tabloids, magazines, radio, and motion pictures – that originated in the United States in the 1920s.
The emergence of those mass media went along with the emergence of a new mass culture. It is therefore necessary to take a look at the social, economic, and political context of the period at first. Then the various forms of media will be considered individually and examined with regard to their impact, both positive and negative, on American society. In doing so, it will become evident that the press, radio, and cinema of the time did not only reflect but also shape American popular culture towards a cosmopolitan, yet increasingly uniform point of view. The 1920s are commonly depicted as a decade of technological and scientific innovations, prosperity and entertainment, bootleggers and flappers, sports heroes and silent movie stars, hot jazz and the Charleston. Today, these keywords have taken on a rather romantic tinge of adventure. However, it must not be forgotten that the developments and achievements respectively which marked the 1920s were preceded and accompanied by profound social, economic, and cultural changes. Immigration and race, organized crime and prohibition, sexual morality and gender were the crucial issues on top of the agenda then. The United States experienced a fundamental shift in moral values and patterns of thought as it was moving from a rural, traditionalist culture to a far more permissive urban culture.
Before 1900, social and moral standards in the United States were based on the traditional Puritan beliefs in “self-help, hard work, thrift, and personal sobriety” (Goldberg 2003, 83). Those principles, which had been introduced by the early immigrants from Northern and Middle Europe, were represented by the majority classes of farmers and merchants. Guidelines on family and community life were set by trustworthy authorities, such as preachers, teachers, mayors, or judges.
At the turn of the century, industrialization brought about a major demographic shift from the country to the city, which was followed by a cultural rural-urban divide, i. e. the rural population lost its dominance to an ever increasing urban majority of industrial workers, non-European immigrants, and big businessmen.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction
2. Modern Times – A New Culture Emerges
3. Print Journalism
3.1 A Press for the Masses
3.2 The Rise and Fall of Tabloids
3.3 Magazines
3.4 Advertising
4. Radio Broadcasting
4.1 Early Broadcasting Experiments
4.2 The First Radio Stations
4.3 Broadcasting Companies and Radio Networks
4.4 Radio Advertising and Federal Regulation
4.5 Radio Program and Radio’s Impact on Society
5. Motion Pictures
5.1 When pictures began to move
5.2 Silent Movies
5.3 Talking Pictures
5.4 Censorship
6. Conclusion
Research Objectives and Core Themes
This paper examines the emergence of new mass media—tabloids, magazines, radio, and motion pictures—in the United States during the 1920s and analyzes their transformative impact on American social, political, and cultural identity.
- The transition of American society from traditional rural values to a modern, urban consumer culture.
- The evolution of print journalism from traditional press to sensationalist "jazz journalism" and magazines of opinion.
- The rise of radio as a unifying household utility and a vehicle for national commercial broadcasting.
- The development of the Hollywood studio system and the impact of cinema on social norms and censorship.
Excerpt from the Book
3.2 The Rise and Fall of Tabloids
In the late 19th century, newspaper tycoons Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst introduced an overtly sensationalist style of reporting in their daily newspapers New York World and New York Journal respectively. In order to gain circulation, coverage concentrated on crime, sports, national disasters, celebrity affairs, and social scandals. Colored comic strips and columns offering advice on housekeeping and marriage became popular supplements. What was then referred to as ‘yellow journalism’, named after a comic strip character from Pulitzer’s New York World, Yellow Kid, came to be known as jazz journalism in the 1920s and was exemplified best by tabloids such as the New York Illustrated Daily News, the Daily Mirror, and the New York Evening Graphic.
Measuring eleven by fourteen inches, the tabloid was about half the size of a regular broadsheet newspaper, and therefore not only lower in price but also “well suited to being read on the buses, streetcars, and subways that many city inhabitants had begun taking to work” (Wallace 2005, 12). By its sensationalist content the tabloid clearly targeted the lower classes. A lowbrow style of writing, screaming headlines, and eyecatching photograph illustrations were to appeal to the large groups of poorly educated workers and immigrants almost illiterate of the English language.
Summary of Chapters
1. Introduction: This chapter outlines the paper's intent to explore the rise of 1920s mass media and its role in shaping a uniform American popular culture.
2. Modern Times – A New Culture Emerges: This section details the demographic and cultural shifts, specifically the migration from rural areas to urban centers, which provided the environment for mass consumption and mass entertainment.
3. Print Journalism: This chapter discusses the evolution of newspapers into mass-market media, the rise of sensationalist tabloids, the role of opinion magazines, and the professionalization of product advertising.
4. Radio Broadcasting: This section analyzes the technological origins of radio, the birth of national networks like NBC and CBS, the implementation of federal regulation, and the influence of radio on everyday social and private life.
5. Motion Pictures: This chapter covers the history of early cinema, the establishment of the Hollywood studio system, the transition to talking pictures, and the eventual implementation of censorship via the Hays Code.
6. Conclusion: The concluding chapter reflects on how the standardization of media during the 1920s created the "mainstream" culture that persists in contemporary society.
Keywords
1920s, Mass Media, Consumerism, Print Journalism, Tabloids, Magazines, Radio Broadcasting, Motion Pictures, Hollywood, Hays Code, Jazz Journalism, Social Change, Urban Culture, Mass Culture, Advertising
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the central focus of this paper?
The paper provides a comprehensive overview of how tabloids, magazines, radio, and motion pictures emerged in 1920s America and how they influenced the development of a shared American popular culture.
What are the key thematic areas addressed in this work?
The core themes include the rise of consumerism, the evolution of media technology, the shift from rural to urban social values, and the role of the media in creating a national identity.
What is the primary objective of this study?
The objective is to examine how the mass media industry expanded and diversified to reach different social classes and how it both reflected and shaped American society during a period of profound cultural transition.
Which research methodology was utilized?
The author employs a historical-analytical approach, synthesizing existing academic literature and contemporary records to investigate the sociopolitical and cultural context of 1920s mass communication.
What does the main body of the work cover?
It provides a detailed breakdown of four media forms: print (tabloids/magazines/advertising), radio (broadcasting/networks), and film (silent/talking movies/censorship), evaluating their societal impact.
What are the primary keywords associated with this document?
Key terms include 1920s, mass media, consumerism, tabloids, radio broadcasting, Hollywood, mass culture, and social change.
How did radio change social interaction in the 1920s?
Radio introduced an unprecedented immediacy to communications, bringing the world into homes and becoming a household utility that provided entertainment, news, and a perceived sense of connection in an increasingly anonymous society.
What was the function of the Hays Code?
The Hays Code was established in 1930 as a moral guideline for the film industry to censor content, ensuring movies avoided depictions of "sex and sin" and adhered to traditionalist, conservative social values.
Why were "magazines of opinion" significant?
Magazines like The New Yorker and The American Mercury provided a satirical, critical, and investigative perspective, appealing to an educated elite and challenging social and political norms of the time.
What was the impact of the 1927 Radio Act?
The Act addressed technical channel interference issues and established a federal commission to grant licenses, which inadvertently favored large, profit-oriented commercial networks over non-profit or minority-focused broadcasting stations.
- Quote paper
- Rebekka Hahn (Author), 2008, Mass media in the 1920s, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/92556
