Public Press, 1900-1945

Leonard Ray Teel is Professor, Department of Communication and Director, Center for International Media Education, Department of Communication, at Georgia State University.

"Teel offers a useful volume for those interested in how US news organizations affected, interacted with, and were influenced by economic, social, and political events during the first half of the 20th century. Sweeping changes in technology and public attitudes in this period led to rapid developments in the press, and the author covers it all: from muckrakers (a term coined by Teddy Roosevelt) to Murrow's Boys; from a 1901 Ladies' Home Journal poll indicating journalism was no place for women to female correspondents covering WW II; from reporters learning the trade by experience to the establishment of journalism programs and colleges (e.g., Columbia School of Journalism). He looks at how WW I gave rise to higher standards in foreign reporting; how in that war and WW II media personnel struggled with issues of free flow of information (versus voluntary censorship, prior restraint, manipulation, and government propaganda); how journalists responded to public demands for higher levels of professionalism in the media. Students will particularly value biographical sketches of dozens of groundbreaking journalists who helped make US newspapers and radio stations of that era the best in the world. Highly recommended. Lower-/upper-division undergraduates; graduate students; general readers." - Choice

• Series ForewordPrefaceAcknowledgments1 Emergence of a Public Press2 Journalism in Transition3 The War over There4 Mobilizing Public Opinion5 Rise of Professionalism6 Reprogramming the Media Market7 Focus on Big Government8 The Debatable Peace9 News of Total WarAfterwordSelected BibliographyIndex