The presuperhighway politics of U.S. government printing and publishing, 1917–1960

This article examines the practices of, and the policies governing, U.S. executive agency publishing and printing for the period covering 1919–1950s. Particular attention is paid to the activities of the congressional Joint Committee on Printing (JCP) of the 67th Congress, as well as advancements in the graphic arts. Attention is also paid to the inherent, and sometimes bitter, institutional tensions that resulted from the publishing activities of the executive branch. This article further examines the emergence of the Printing Industries of America (PIA) as a player in the sphere of U.S. government printing.     

The Many Sides of QUBE: Interactive Television and Innovation in Electronic Media, 1977–1983

QUBE was an interactive cable television system that attracted significant attention when it launched in 1977. The service has been deemed a commercial failure, though many of its ideas foreshadowed current television practices. There is however no detailed study of QUBE, and previous scholarship provides limited information. Using Moran’s concept of an “evolution-revolution,” this study analyzes the content offerings of QUBE to reveal how they were similar, and how they differed, from prior practice. This historical inquiry fills a gap in the historical record, while also exploring the complex nature of innovation in the world of electronic media.     

The development of recordkeeping systems in the British Empire and Commonwealth, 1870s–1960s

¹ 1. Use of the term ‘recordkeeping’ should not be taken as an endorsement of the Records Continuum as elaborated by Frank Upward and his collaborators. View all notesThis essay demonstrates that initiatives in the imperial periphery, not least in Western Australia, played a significant role in the development of recordkeeping systems in the British Empire and Commonwealth. Local circumstances, including the adequacy of local revenues and the availability of skilled staff, played their part in shaping the systems. Nonetheless, there are overarching patterns. The need to maintain security provided a potent driver for the creation of confidential registries. The need to carry out basic functions influenced the design of recordkeeping systems far more than any shared ‘imperial imaginary’. The diverging work patterns of colonial capitals and of district administrations tended to produce distinct recordkeeping systems. The development of integrated registry systems may have played a part in the development of the Secretariat as an institution of colonial government.     

National Bibliographic Control of Serials in Australia, 1980–1990

There is a long history of effective co-operation and national initiatives in controlling and sharing serial data in Australia. Prior to the 1980's this largely took the form of manually produced national union catalogues such as Scientific Serials in Australian Libraries: Serials in Australian Libraries, Social Sciences and the Humanities; and Newspapers in Australian Libraries. The commencement of the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN) in 1980 provided the mechanism for both a national shared cataloguing venture and a truly national on-line union catalogue. The National Union Catalogue of Serials produced from ABN was dependent on the addition of holdings by ABN participating libraries. Several factors contributed to the growth of serials data on the national bibliographic database-notably the steady increase in the number of ABN participants undertaking serials cataloguing on ABN, serial conversion work on titles in the National Library card catalogues, and major serial conversion work undertaken by other Australian libraries. Allhough much has been achieved in the 1980's there remains much to be done to enhance the coverage of bibliographic and holdings data for serials on ABN.     

Concerns about the Disproportionate Use of Economic Research in the FCC'S Media Ownership Studies from 2002–2007

An analysis of the studies used by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in its media ownership proceedings from 2002–2007 found a disproportionate use of economic research to support the agency's rule changes. The use of this research in policymaking is important because the FCC's reliance on economic literature may have helped justify a “procedural” definition of what constitutes the public interest, and a “neoliberal” faith in the wisdom of market forces to ensure that the public interest is being served. The findings suggest that the inclusion of a broader range of scholarship, especially media research, would not have supported the FCC's decision to further relax media ownership rules.     

The development of discourse presentation in The Times, 1833–1988

Newspaper preferences for particular formats of speech presentation differ and they change in the course of time. In this contribution we focus on The Times and trace such developments in the formative years of the modern Anglo-American newspapers, from 1833 to 1988. We extracted data from The Times Digital Archive in six samples of roughly 5000 words at intervals of 31 years and analysed the texts manually for instances of reported speech. Our analysis shows that the focus has shifted from the presentation of speech events as coherent wholes in earlier newspapers towards a more selective use of individual statements that summarise an event or characterise it from different angles. And it also shows that the frequency of indirect forms of discourse presentation decreases over the years in favour of direct forms. This gives further support to the claim that in terms of discourse presentation broadsheets slowly develop into the direction spearheaded by tabloids.     

The Diversification of Russian Scholarly Publishing, 1995–2005

SUMMARY

Russian scholarly publication has doubled since 1995, led by private scholarly imprints, which have tripled. The increase in the publication of monographs, in which private publishers now dominate, is particularly noticeable. The majority of private scholarly publication is in history and literary studies, but private presses account for a relatively larger share of publications in philosophy and religion. Scholarly publishing is to a considerable extent funded by a robust network of government and private foundations.     

Network news construction of homelessness: 1980–1993

Through an extensive content analysis of 14 years of television nightly news stories, evidence is presented showing coverage of homelessness corresponded more to seasonal variations than actual changes in the plight of the homeless. In addition, news coverage appeared to reify boundaries between the acceptable and the unacceptable while masking socioeconomic factors central to homelessness during the 1980s and early 1990s. Finally, implications are drawn concerning the likely effects of news portrayal of homelessness as an individual problem requiring individual acts of kindness rather than a systemic problem demanding institutional and societal change.     

US news magazine images of black‐Asian American relationships, 1980–1992

During the past 20 years, primarily Latinos and Asians have immigranted to these shores and settled in urban areas. Media sources assert that this influx created particularly problematic relations between blacks and Asian Americans. Using Frame theory and textual analysis, we explored the images newsmagazines produced of this relationship. We found that one frame predominated: the nature of group relations had to do with each group's “essential”; qualities. Within this frame there also appeared four media packages: 1) the nature of the urban space, 2) the role of culture in the quality of relationships, 3) the essential qualities of urban residents and 4) the preeminence of class over race. Analysis of black‐Asian American relationships, while not strictly hegemonic, rarely deviated from accepted critiques. The nature of the coverage constrained understanding to personal shortcomings, while poverty and racial strife were rarely associated with historical and structural factors.     

The Beginnings of Radio Communication in Germany, 1897–1918

This article surveys the prehistory of broadcasting in the German Reich. It focuses on wireless telegraphy, where the Telefunken Company succeeded internationally with its quenched spark system on the eve of the war. Telefunken's system was developed as an efficient military technology between 1905 and 1908, and it soon became the core of Telefunken's successful attempt to break Marconi's monopoly in maritime radio communication. Encouraged by this success, Telefunken started to establish wireless transoceanic connections to build a global German radio network. The properties of radio broadcasting as a possible new mass medium only gradually became evident before 1918.