Dennis, Everette E.; Wartella, Ellen Ann

"Here is an interesting, readable, and personalized history of communication study, written by 14 chapter authors who had direct contact with the founders and forerunners of the field."—Journal of Communication"...(this book) is a more ambitious book, one that collects lectures made over the past decade at the Freedom Forum (formerly Gannett Center) in New York, concerning the development of the field. As a reference book it deserves a place on a scholar's bookshelf."—Journal of Braodcasting & Electronic Media

• Contents: E.E. Dennis, Preface. Part I: The Schools of Thought.K. Lang, The European Roots. J.W. Carey, The Chicago School and Mass Communication Research. W.J. McGuire, The Yale Communication and Attitude-Change Program in the 1950s. E. Katz, Diffusion Research at Columbia. H. Himmelweit, Children and Television. T. Peterson, The Press as a Social Institution. Part II: Eyewitness Accounts.H.M. Beville, Fashioning Audience Ratings -- From Radio to Cable. D.L. Sills, Stanton, Lazarsfeld, and Merton -- Pioneers in Communication Research. R. Bartos, A Conversation With Frank Stanton. W. Schramm, The Master Teachers. L. Bogart, Research as an Instrument of Power. D. Cater, Addressing Public Policy. Part III: Reassessment.G.J. Robinson, Constructing a Historiography for North American Communication Studies. E. Wartella, The History Reconsidered. Appendix: Biographic Sketches of 65 Contributors to the Field of Communication Research.