Showing papers in "Journal of Radio & Audio Media in 2016"
TL;DR: The authors investigated the online comments of news items posted on the Facebook pages of two popular Arabic-language radio channels: Radio Monte Carlo (Radio Monte Carlo) and Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW).
Abstract: This article investigates the online comments of news items posted on the Facebook pages of two popular Arabic-language radio channels: Radio Monte Carlo—France24 and Radio Netherlands Worldwide (RNW). This study examines over 184,000 comments with a special focus on the most liked posts in order to understand how audiences of regular radio interact on social media. The results indicate that audiences seem to be more engaged with posts that encourage participating in broad issues, interacting with clever quotes, and entering contests and less so with reading breaking news. With regards to news events and serious issues, this study also examined how social media users of these two Facebook “radio” sites responded to postings that differed from their own opinions, and seemingly actively engaged with contrasting or oppositional views or sentiments.
13 citations
TL;DR: In an effort to explore the tensions between old and new media, the authors examines promotional Web sites for 12 streaming music companies. The goal of the project is to better understand how streaming music services create and embrace opportunities to fit themselves into the lives of music fans.
Abstract: In an effort to explore the tensions between old and new media, this article examines promotional Web sites for 12 streaming music companies. The goal of the project is to better understand how streaming music services create and embrace opportunities to fit themselves into the lives of music fans. Qualitative data collection revealed 7 interrelated themes. The promotional efforts analyzed here emphasized: (a) an anchor in radio, (b) personalizability, (c) music discovery, (d) music for any occasion, (e) sharing, (f) love, and (g) mobility.
13 citations
TL;DR: The Radio Preservation Task Force (RPTF) as discussed by the authors was created by the Library of Congress's National Recording Preservation Board (NRCP Board) to support the preservation of and educational access to radio broadcasting materials.
Abstract: This article considers the Radio Preservation Task Force’s (RPTF) recruitment efforts and current list of member archives, assessing its success in fulfilling its mandate from the Library of Congress’s National Recording Preservation Board to adequately inventory archival collections throughout the country and facilitate preservation of and educational access to materials within these collections The RPTF’s membership, it argues, represents significant progress in overcoming initial favoritism toward collections of network broadcasting materials, enabling the creation of alternative forms of cultural memory and production of new histories that can speak to issues and constituencies neglected in traditional histories of radio broadcasting At the same time, it proposes further attention to nonconventional archives that may not take radio or media as their focus, warns against privileging sound recordings at the expense of contextualizing paper documentation, and stresses the need to consider forms of radi
12 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors conducted an experiment in which 236 German radio listeners aged 14 to 49 were asked to listen to the same radio show, but with varying presenters, and found notable effects of presenters' personalities on listeners' behavioral intentions.
Abstract: Radio personalities or presenters are important to music radio stations, as their individual personalities influence if, how, and to what extent listeners want to interact with radio stations and presenters during programs. Both parasocial interaction with the presenter and flow experiences are believed to mediate the listener–presenter relationship. With this in mind, we conducted an experiment in which 236 German radio listeners aged 14 to 49 were asked to listen to the same radio show, but with varying presenters. Mediation analysis revealed notable effects of presenters’ personalities on listeners’ behavioral intentions. Both parasocial interaction and flow were found to be important mediators of the discovered effects.
12 citations
10 citations
TL;DR: The authors provide a brief overview of major tobacco, food, soap, and automobile sponsors and discuss the challenges of researching the role of corporations in American cultural history. But they also suggest that analyzing radio sponsors could produce work on a variety of topics of broad interest, from the cultural history of cigarettes, promoted on dozens of tobacco-sponsored programs, to the representation of gender through sound on the Betty Crocker radio shows.
Abstract: Research into the roles, perspectives, and strategies of specific radio-era sponsors could provide new insights into the history of radio and American culture I provide a brief overview of major tobacco, food, soap, and automobile sponsors and discuss the challenges of researching the role of corporations in American cultural history With the aim of encouraging more scholarship, I suggest that analyzing radio sponsors could produce work on a variety of topics of broad interest, from the cultural history of cigarettes, promoted on dozens of tobacco-sponsored programs, to the representation of gender through sound on the Betty Crocker radio shows (1924–53)
10 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explore how reading the program as part of the radical Cultural Front of the 1930s, may be a very different thing than hearing it that way, and explore the challenges to understanding serial dramas historically and in the contemporary context of their discovery.
Abstract: Reading transcripts of Judy and Jane, an obscure radio soap opera with a short network run and only midwestern distribution, has a lot to tell us about the challenges to understanding serial dramas historically and in the contemporary context of their discovery The scripts tell the story of Judy and Jane, two domestic, political, and business partners, who struggled against a host of threats to their unorthodox family This article explores how reading the program as part of the radical Cultural Front of the 1930s, may be a very different thing than hearing it that way
9 citations
TL;DR: The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) emerged in the late 1920s as the only sustainable competitor to the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in American network radio But scholars know far less about CBS than NBC because the CBS corporation failed to retain, and make accessible to media historians, internal archival and documentary materials from its developmental era as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: The Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) emerged in the late 1920s as the only sustainable competitor to the National Broadcasting Company (NBC) in American network radio But scholars know far less about CBS than NBC because the CBS corporation failed to retain, and make accessible to media historians, internal archival and documentary materials from its developmental era This article examines the historical void created by America’s second network while offering two specific historical case studies to establish how the loss of CBS materials continues to hinder knowledge about America’s second network, the American system of broadcasting, and the political economy of the commercial mass media in the United States
9 citations
TL;DR: Smith's radio reports emphasize the centrality of localism for remote communities, and they provide competing narratives about the region's modern identity and its Mexican roots as discussed by the authors, and provide an entryway for Valley radio to become part of the larger body of rural and farm radio scholarship.
Abstract: The southernmost area of Texas, known as the Rio Grande Valley, is largely absent from histories of early radio The social, political, and economic history of the Valley from 1848 to the 1950s prompts the authors to approach the region’s broadcast history from the context of rural and farm radio The papers of broadcaster Bradford Smith, housed at the Margaret H McAllen Memorial Archives at the Museum of South Texas History, provide an entryway for Valley radio to become part of the larger body of rural and farm radio scholarship Smith’s radio reports emphasize the centrality of localism for remote communities, and they provide competing narratives about the region’s modern identity and its Mexican roots
8 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, a case study of KVOS in Bellingham, WA is presented, showing how radio was always bound up with the production of locality and how local identity was constituted in and through its relation to broader collective sensibilities taking shape at the time.
Abstract: This article contributes to scholarly literature on local stations in early radio broadcasting history. Taking KVOS in Bellingham, WA as a case study, it attends to how regional geography in conjunction with station operators, broadcasting policy, and audiences helped to define localism in relation to broader national, regional, and international identities forming at the beginnings of early radio and between 1930–1953. KVOS’ history demonstrates how radio was always bound up with the production of locality and how local identity was constituted in and through its relation to broader collective sensibilities taking shape at the time.
7 citations
TL;DR: In this article, a qualitative study analyzes Irish radio broadcasting in the United States, based upon an open-ended survey of U.S. broadcasters of Irish music programs in the top 10 markets and provides a summary of their recent playlists.
Abstract: Ethnic music of all kinds has had a powerful influence on American popular music throughout history, and this is certainly true of Irish music. For nearly 100 years, radio has been a vital conduit for conveying musical influences of all kinds to listeners and musicians alike. This qualitative study analyzes Irish radio broadcasting in the United States The article is based upon an open-ended survey of U.S. broadcasters of Irish music programs in the top 10 markets and provides a summary of their recent playlists.
TL;DR: The JRAM email symposium as mentioned in this paper is structured in the same way as a convention symposium, where a group is empaneled to discuss an issue, a moderator asks the panel to address a series of questions while one or more discussants are tasked with responding to the panelists and acting as a surrogate for the audience in the understanding and the interrogation of the ideas presented.
Abstract: Editor’s Note: A JRAM email symposium is structured in the same way of a convention symposium. A group is empaneled to discuss an issue, a moderator asks the panel to address a series of questions while one or more discussants are tasked with responding to the panelists and acting as a surrogate for the audience in the understanding and the interrogation of the ideas presented. In this symposium, panelists were emailed a list of identical questions by the moderator. Panelists and discussants were selected for their knowledge, experience, and the diversity of ideas they bring to the symposium. The answers were then collated, lightly edited for spelling or syntax, arranged in a readable order, and then emailed to the discussants for their feedback. Follow-up questions were only asked for the purpose of clarity with regard to a definition or a convoluted sentence. Both panelists and discussants were encouraged to respond conversationally to the issues.
TL;DR: The history and present practices of Radio FreeDom in the French Overseas Department of Reunion are explored in terms of their relevance to the concept of a democratic public sphere.
Abstract: The history and present practices of talk station Radio FreeDom in the French Overseas Department of Reunion are explored in terms of their relevance to the concept of a democratic public sphere. The station uses a listener centered, call in format to aggregate rather than segment demographic groups and to offer non-hierarchical (lateral) communication among common people. The station’s success in achieving ratings dominance and financial sustainability in a competitive market is presented, as well as discussion of the potential for similar practices to work elsewhere.
TL;DR: From 1948 to 1950, NBC's Chicago affiliate, WMAQ, aired a unique, half-hour long weekly drama series Destination Freedom featuring tales of contemporary and historic black leaders representing a wide range of careers and accomplishments as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: From 1948 to 1950, NBC’s Chicago affiliate, WMAQ, aired a unique, half-hour long weekly drama series Destination Freedom featured tales of contemporary and historic black leaders representing a wide range of careers and accomplishments The series’ creator and sole scriptwriter, Richard Durham (1917–1984), lyrically demonstrated how each of his subjects, in their own way, advocated for freedom, justice, and equality Durham earned numerous awards for his series, including posthumous induction into the National Radio Hall of Fame (2007) After Destination Freedom’s demise, Durham worked as a labor organizer, newspaper editor, television scriptwriter, credited ghostwriter for boxer Muhammad Ali, and speechwriter/campaign strategist for Harold Washington, Chicago’s first black mayorThe following article examines the creative energy and political struggles Durham navigated to bring his more than 90 Destination Freedom radio dramas to life This essay is excerpted from Word Warrior: Richard Durham, Radio, an
TL;DR: The case of Radio Alice as discussed by the authors illustrates how radio can be understood as a modality of social interaction in its own right, rather than a mere distributor/amplifier of messages.
Abstract: This article illustrates the case Radio Alice, a “free radio” active in late 1970s Italy, which challenged traditional forms of thinking and doing broadcasting The author discusses how the station utilized the airwaves first to constitute an alternative arena in which different voices, experiences, and social groups utilized radio as a 2-way communication device; second, to convey a new political sensibility and sense of sociability resembling a contemporary social network site Ultimately, this case illustrates how radio can be understood as a modality of social interaction in its own right, rather than a mere distributor/amplifier of messages
TL;DR: Early educational broadcast pioneers impacted their listeners and viewers in profound ways Dr Clarence M Morgan went from amateur ham radio operation to permanent status as the Hoosier Schoolmaster of the Air as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Early educational broadcast pioneers impacted their listeners and viewers in profound ways Dr Clarence M Morgan went from amateur ham radio operation to permanent status as the Hoosier Schoolmaster of the Air Morgan involved his students in the creation of the Radio/Television program at Indiana State University (ISU), implemented Entertainment-Education programming for all ages, researched audience reaction and media effects, and assisted his son with doing the same at Murray State University (MSU) and the University of Central Florida (UCF) Morgan broadcast thousands of live radio and television programs, yet his name and voice were never heard on the air
TL;DR: The authors examines the educational and social impact of an instructional radio program, called the Music Appreciation Hour (MAH), broadcast on the NBC network from the 1920s to the 1940s.
Abstract: This article examines the educational and social impact of an instructional radio program, called the Music Appreciation Hour (MAH), broadcast on the NBC network from the 1920s to the 1940s Walter Damrosch, who came from a musical family and had previously conducted the New York Symphony, envisioned the possibility to use radio to teach music to American schoolchildren by tapping into its aural and emotional qualities Through archival materials, including correspondence, teachers’ manuals, student notebooks, and program evaluations, it is argued that while Damrosch positioned himself with a new progressive movement that espoused student-centered education, he instead became an appealing on-air “personality” to student listeners and the network This research serves as an important example of some of the ongoing tensions between education, entertainment, and the mass media
TL;DR: In this article, the authors examined a BBC Trust Service Review in relation to culture and diversity in the context of radio in Northern Ireland, and outlined how BBC policy serves to deliver this performance.
Abstract: BBC radio has been broadcast in Northern Ireland since shortly after the establishment of the country in the early 1920s. Throughout this period it has been faced by the challenge of how to deliver public service radio in a divided society, one that has for many years experienced violent conflict. Today as BBC Radio Ulster, the station has the highest audience reach of any BBC network radio service or those nations services in Scotland and Wales. This article outlines how BBC policy serves to deliver this performance, by examining a BBC Trust Service Review in relation to culture and diversity.
TL;DR: In this article, the authors sketch the history and the factors which have allowed pirate radio to flourish, and argue that radio scholars should engage more closely with the phenomenon in order to learn more about public aspirations regarding access to the airwaves.
Abstract: Unlicensed broadcasting has been a surprisingly consistent phenomenon throughout the history of radio in the United States This article sketches this history and the factors which have allowed pirate radio to flourish, and argues that radio scholars should engage more closely with the phenomenon in order to learn more about public aspirations regarding access to the airwaves It is also incumbent on radio historians to preserve the legacy of stations that have risked persecution in order to manifest the “public airwaves” and “the public interest” as meaningful and tangible elements of radio history and contemporary practice
TL;DR: In this paper, a comparative case study provides a contrast in the business models used by two former broadcasters who are using streams in lieu of terrestrial radio signals to compete in two Kansas markets.
Abstract: Among American audio listening options is live streaming, and it is becoming a major component in the competitive local and national marketplace. While “playlist generators” like Spotify and Pandora have been well covered, little attention has been given to individual entrepreneurs who are using streaming as a means of attracting audiences and advertising dollars. This comparative case study provides a contrast in the business models used by two former broadcasters who are using streams in lieu of terrestrial radio signals to compete in two Kansas markets.
TL;DR: The authors examines the attempts by many writers to steer the burgeoning US radio industry towards educational uses and programming in the 1920s and explores the calls for educational programming amid the rapidly expanding and consolidating commercial radio industry.
Abstract: This essay examines the attempts by many writers to steer the burgeoning US radio industry towards educational uses and programming in the 1920s At the same time that commercial radio began to take shape, several competing and seemingly incompatible visions of the airwaves emerged—one of which privileged the use of radio for educational purposes Using discourse from trade journals, general interest magazines, and newspapers, this article explores the calls for educational programming amid the rapidly expanding and consolidating commercial radio industry
TL;DR: A survey of radio preservation and diffusion in Latin America can be found in this article, where the authors survey the efforts at preserving and diffusion of archival radio in the region, including radio preservation in Brazil and Mexico.
Abstract: This article surveys efforts at preservation and diffusion of archival radio in Latin America. The region’s largest radio archives are housed within large sound libraries in Brazil and Mexico. Mexico’s Fonoteca Nacional, for example, houses the archives of XEW/Televisa Radio, the nation’s most important radio network. In countries like Argentina and Chile, radio preservation and diffusion has been a component of efforts to document and preserve the public memory of revolution and dictatorship during the Cold War era. While much remains to be done to secure the region’s radio patrimony, Latin American radio preservation has advanced significantly in recent years.
TL;DR: The history of the Alternative Media Conference (AMC) can be traced from its initial inception in 1970 to the second Alternative Media Conferences in 2013, and its role in shaping not only alternative media across the United States but also Free-Form radio as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In June of 1970, a group of radio station programmers, record company executives, cartoonists, musicians, poets, political activists, and assorted hippie hangers-on gathered at Goddard College in Plainfield, Vermont for the Alternative Media Conference (AMC) In this article, the authors trace the history of the AMC, from its initial inception in 1970 to the second Alternative Media Conference in 2013, and its role in shaping not only alternative media across the United States but also, more specifically, Free-Form radio In shedding light on this history, we seek to open previously neglected scholarly discourse on the history of Free-Form FM radio
TL;DR: This short essay discusses various meanings of “interface,” borrowing from fields such as software design, human/computer interaction, and music technology, and considers ways in which the metaphor of ”interface” could benefit the study of radio.
Abstract: In this short essay, I discuss various meanings of “interface,” borrowing from fields such as software design, human/computer interaction, and music technology, and I consider ways in which the metaphor of “interface” could benefit the study of radio As radio shifts from the one-to-many, temporally dependent medium of terrestrial broadcasting to the many-to-many, play-on-demand media of podcasts, Internet radio, and other emerging forms, considering the variety of interfaces at play in radio will help scholars and archivists to study, preserve, and perhaps recreate the phenomenological experience of radio in its various forms and transmutations
TL;DR: Radio has found itself ushered into a brand new technological world of communications and entertainment, ready or not, and has to reinvent itself to meet the challenges of this brave new world as most businesses are doing.
Abstract: Radio has found itself ushered into a brand new technological world of communications and entertainment, ready or not. It is quite evident that the use and application of technology by all aspects ...
TL;DR: The authors explores the phenomenon of illustrated radio, or radio broadcasts enhanced with accompanying visual media such as lantern slides, museum exhibits, and filmstrips, and highlights the range of uses that were envisioned for radio when it was new.
Abstract: Some of the most ambitious experiments in early radio programming involved the coordination of sounds and visuals This essay explores the phenomenon of “illustrated radio,” or radio broadcasts enhanced with accompanying visual media such as lantern slides, museum exhibits, and filmstrips Newspapers, museums, and schools experimented with this format in the 1920s–40s in an effort to expand their audiences and adapt their informational missions to a changing media environment While relatively short-lived, illustrated radio constituted a significant form of audiovisual broadcasting before television and highlights the range of uses that were envisioned for radio when it was new
TL;DR: In this paper, a restructuring of the British Broadcasting Communications (BBC) is discussed, and it is definitely a historical moment, and such a shift would ultimately transform the British broadcasting system.
Abstract: I open this issue with what many thought would never happen—a restructuring of the British Broadcasting Communications (BBC). It is definitely a historical moment, and such a shift would ultimately...
TL;DR: Student-run radio stations at colleges and universities have thrived for nearly a century, yet their stories have been largely excluded from broadcast histories outside the commonly cited and overl... as mentioned in this paper.
Abstract: Student-run radio stations at colleges and universities have thrived for nearly a century, yet their stories have been largely excluded from broadcast histories outside the commonly cited and overl...