READINGS IN MEDIA HISTORY
SPRING 2015
Tuesdays, 11 a.m.-1:45 p.m.
CA 340
Instructor: Dr. Barbara Friedman
Office: 357 Carroll Hall
Office Hours: Wednesdays 10:30-11:30
a.m., and by appointment
E-mail: bfriedman@unc.edu
Phone: 919.843.2099
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The fundamental purpose of this course is to familiarize you with the
range of ways that scholars have thought about and studied the history
of our field. The course draws on compelling salient and recent work in
and about media history as a means to encourage historical thinking,
and to enhance students’ research and teaching capabilities across
JOMC emphases. More specifically, you will develop skills in the critical
analysis of historical research; be exposed to different methodological
approaches and evaluate their purposes, strengths and weaknesses; and
explore prevailing critiques of the field. A main source for our work this
semester will be Chronicling America, the website of the National Digital
Newspaper Program, in which UNC is actively engaged. Each student will
conclude the course with a research paper on a selected topic in
journalism/communication history.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
Students in the course will learn to:
 demonstrate an understanding of the history and role of
professionals and institutions in shaping communications (an
ACEJMC value/competency);
 analyze the substantive claims and findings of historical studies;
 examine and assess the value of the methods used to produce a
historical work;
2
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN






examine and assess the shortcomings of the evidentiary and
theoretical bases of such works;
recognize the diversity of approaches to historical research;
understand how the discipline of journalism/mass communication
developed historically and how the study of our field’s history fits
within broader disciplinary conversations;
recognize and understand some of the main issues/concerns in the
field;
think historically; that is, to think in terms of change and
continuity over time while understanding the time-conditioned
beliefs, practices and relationships that shape human experience;
make contributions to the historical knowledge in our field by
conducting original research that uses primary and secondary
sources in a substantive and sound manner.
REQUIRED READING
Article-length readings are available on our course Sakai site. The
following texts are required and to be read as directed on the syllabus.



John Tosh, The Pursuit of History, 5th edition (New York: Routledge,
2013).
Barbie Zelizer, ed., Explorations in Communication and History (New
York: Routledge, 2008).
Andie Tucher, Froth & Scum: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and Murder
in America’s First Mass Medium (Chapel Hill: University of North
Carolina Press, 1994).
Recommended: The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed. (Chicago:
University of Chicago Press, 2010).
You are required to have read all of the week’s assigned material before
arriving to class – this will give us a common frame of reference for
discussion, as it will be specifically related to the week’s themes or
issues. So that your participation will be productive and substantive, you
should bring your reading to class with you.
Coursework and Important Deadlines
Assignment
Online commentary
Research paper topic
NC newspaper essay
Research paper proposal
Research paper
Due date
Weekly
Feb. 3
Feb. 10
March 3
April 24
% of final grade
15
N/A
15
20
50
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN
3
Online commentary: While each student must complete all of the
assigned readings each week, you must also post comments about one of
the readings to our Sakai site each week. Before you come to class
Tuesday, you must have read your classmates’ comments and be
prepared to engage with their ideas/observations. Each week I will assign
you a particular reading and role -- either questioner or responder.
 The questioner will post a commentary and discussion question for
the assigned reading no later than Friday at 4 p.m.
 Responders will post commentary no later than Monday at 5 p.m.
These comments should highlight important ideas, issues, or approaches
raised in or by the reading. Tell us what you found
compelling/engaging/problematic/perplexing in the reading, paying
some attention to the focus of our course (historical methods in media
history). No need to consult with others before you comment; a degree of
overlap is unavoidable and expected. The questioner will then help to
facilitate the in-class discussion for that class period.
Important: Keep in mind that while a description of the reading can be
useful when done concisely, your aim should be evaluation and analysis.
NC newspaper essay: Using primary and secondary sources, each
student will be responsible for writing “title scope notes” for one North
Carolina newspaper earmarked for the National Digital Newspaper
Program (Chronicling America). NDNP guidelines and essay examples
(250- to 500-words maximum) will be provided in class and via Sakai.
Research paper topic: Each student should provide a ½- to 2-page
statement indicating the research topic, justification, tentative research
question(s) and potential primary and secondary sources. Your project
should make use of the holdings in Chronicling America, which span
1836-1922. This assignment is a draft and will not be graded; however, it
is an important step toward your final paper.
Research paper proposal: Your 5- to 7-page research proposal should
include a clear statement of your topic and purpose; a persuasive
justification of the study’s significance and originality, a
background/literature review that places your topic in historical
perspective and situates it among the existing relevant literature; a
method section identifying the kind of history you’re writing (cultural,
social, political, intellectual, etc.) and your approach; and a description
of the primary sources you will investigate. All citations must conform to
Chicago Manual of Style, 16th ed., available in UNC libraries and via
online subscription.
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN
4
Research paper: The course will culminate in the research and writing of
a scholarly manuscript on the topic of your choosing (with instructor
approval) in the field of media history (approximately 5,000 words
excluding notes). The majority of your primary sources should be drawn
from Chronicling America holdings. You should write toward
presentation at an academic conference and publication in a scholarly
journal. Your manuscript should contribute something original and
meaningful to collective knowledge about media history. For best results,
begin work immediately on your paper and work consistently throughout
the semester. As a reminder, citations must conform to Chicago Manual
of Style, 16th ed. – no exceptions.
Note: Papers will be evaluated according to
standards established by national conventions
at which history papers are presented and, to
a degree, scholarly journals in which historical
research is published. These standards
include: 1) originality and importance of the
topic; 2) conceptualization and
familiarity/engagement with relevant
secondary literature; 3) clarity of research
purpose and focus; 4) research methods and
use of original, primary sources; 5) evidence
supports the manuscript’s stated purpose,
focus and conclusions; 6) quality of writing,
organization and presentation; and 7) degree
to which this work contributes to the
understanding of media history. We will apply
these standards as we read through various
articles during the semester, so that you will
become accustomed to the conventions of
historical research.
I strongly encourage you to submit your paper to one of the following
conferences: American Journalism Historians Association or AJHA (May
deadline); the AEJMC history division (April deadline); ICA
Communication History Interest Group (November deadline); AEJMC
Southeast Colloquium (December deadline); Organization of American
Historians (January deadline); International History of Public Relations
Conference or IHPRC (December deadline); Joint Journalism Historians
Conference (January deadline). Do keep in mind that submitting your
paper is a promise to attend if it is accepted. Submission to an academic
conference is not a requirement of the source, but if you are planning a
career in academia, demonstrating your ability to historicize our field via
paper submission will hold you in good stead with potential employers.
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN
5
Grading Policy
The course will operate on several levels, and as with most graduate-level
courses, its success will depend greatly on your engagement with the
material. Unless otherwise indicated, written work is due at the beginning
of class. Barring extreme circumstances, I do not accept late papers.
Per UNC policy for graduate courses, your final grade will be expressed
as an H (high pass), P (pass), L (low pass), or F (fail).
Attendance Policy
Students are expected to
attend all sessions of
JOMC 742, and
excessive tardiness will
certainly not endear you
to the instructor. UNC
policy states, “Regular
class attendance is a
student obligation, and a
student is responsible for
all the work, including
tests and written work,
of all class meetings. No
right or privilege exists
that permits a student to be absent from any class meetings except for
[compelling academic conflict] or religious observance. Attendance and
participation is a consideration for your final grade.
Important Notes About This Course
Disability Accommodations. Students in this course seeking
accommodations to disabilities must first consult with the Office of
Accessibility Resources & Service and follow the instructions of that
office for obtaining accommodations. For more information, contact
919.962.8300 or accessibility@unc.edu.
Safe@UNC. The University’s Policy on Prohibited Discrimination,
Harassment and Other Misconduct states that violence and harassment
based on sex and gender are Civil Rights offenses subject by federal law
to the same kinds of accountability and the same kinds of support
applied to offenses against other protected categories. If you or someone
you know has been harassed or assaulted, you can find the appropriate
resources here.
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN
6
UNC Honor Code. “Graduate students are responsible for conducting
themselves in conformity with the moral and legal restraints found in
any law-abiding community. They are, moreover, subject to the
regulations of the Honor Code. In brief, the Honor Code states that all
students shall ‘refrain from lying, cheating, or stealing,’ but the Honor
Code imparts much more. It is the guiding force behind the responsible
exercise of freedom, the foundation of student self-governance at UNCChapel Hill. By abiding by the Honor Code, students can be assured that
their individual rights and academic work will be respected.” For more,
see http://www.unc.edu/gradrecord/front/univregulations.html#honor.
JOMC 742 TENTATIVE WEEKLY SCHEDULE
Week 1/Jan. 13
The Place of History in Media & Journalism
 David Paul Nord, “The Practice of Historical Research,” in Mass
Communication Research and Theory, ed. Guido Stempel III, David
Weaver, and G. Cleveland Wilhoit (Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 20013):
362-385, Sakai;
 Kevin Mumford, "The Ferguson Crisis in Historical Perspective,"
American Historian, November 2014, 20-22, Sakai;
 John Tosh, The Pursuit of History, 5th ed., chapters 1-3, pp. 1-87;
 Barbie Zelizer, “Introduction: When Disciplines Engage,” in
Explorations, 1-12.
 John Durham Peters, “History as a Communication Problem,” in
Explorations, 19-34.
7
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN
Week 2/Jan. 20
The Past as Readable Artifact




Tosh, The Pursuit of History, 5th ed., chapters 4-5, pp. 88-146;
David Greenberg, “Do Historians Watch Enough TV? Broadcast
News as a Primary Source,” in Doing Recent History, ed. Claire
Bond Potter and Renee C. Romano (Athens: University of Georgia
Press, 2012), pp. 185-200, Sakai.
Frank E. Fee Jr., “Breaking Bread, Not Bones: Printers’ Festivals in
Antebellum America,” American Journalism 30, no. 3 (2013): 308335, Sakai.
Alan Trachtenberg, “Albums of War,” in Reading American
Photographs: Images as History, Mathew Brady to Walker Evans
(New York: Hill & Wang, 1989), pp. 71-118, Sakai.
Week 3/Jan. 27
Working in the Archives
Meet in Wilson Library (room TBA) for
presentation by John Blythe, Special
Projects and Outreach Coordinator; and
Barbara Ilie, NC Historic Newspapers
Project Librarian.
Week 4/Feb. 3
Form & Authority in the Nineteenth-Century Press
* Research paper topic due today *




Andie Tucher, “Prologue,” Froth & Scum, pp. 1-4.
Andie Tucher, “Fighting for the Truth,” Part 1, Froth & Scum, pp. 596.
Gretchen Soderlund, “Covering Urban Vice: The New York Times,
‘White Slavery,’ and the Construction of Journalistic Knowledge,”
Critical Studies in Media Communication 19, no. 4 (2002), pp. 438460, Sakai.
Kathy Roberts Forde & Katherine A. Foss, “‘The Facts—the Color!
—the Facts’: The Idea of a Report in American Print Culture, 18851910,” Book History 15, (2012): 123-151, Sakai.
Week 5/Feb. 10
Some Predilections of the Nineteenth-Century Press
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN
8
* NC title scope notes due today *




Patricia Cline Cohen, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, & Helen Lefkowitz
Horowitz, “Sexual Politics,” in The Flash Press: Sporting Male
Weeklies in 1840s New York (Chicago: University of Chicago Press,
2008), 55-76 and excerpts, Sakai.
Andie Tucher, “From Humbug to Authority,” Part 2, Froth & Scum,
pp. 97-209.
David Dowling, “Davis Inc.: The Business of Asylum Reform in the
Periodical Press,” American Periodicals 20, no. 1 (2010): 23-45.
Lucy Shelton Caswell, “Drawing Swords: War in American Editorial
Cartoons,” American Journalism 21, no. 2 (2004): 13-45, Sakai.
Week 6/Feb. 17
Concepts & Theories in JMC History
 Tosh, The Pursuit of History, chaps. 7-8, pp. 175-245.
 Tim Vos, et al., “Theorizing in Time: A Special Section,” American
Journalism 30, no. 1 (2013): 3-43, Sakai.
 Kathy Roberts Forde, “What We Talk About When We Talk About
Theory,” Clio, Autumn 2013, p. 1, 3-4, Sakai.
Week 7/Feb. 24
Nineteenth-Century News Workers



Ted Curtis Smythe, “The Reporter, 1880-1900: Working Conditions
and Their Influence on the News,” Journalism History 7, no. 1
(1980): 1-10, Sakai.
Agnes Hooper Gottlieb, “Networking in the Nineteenth Century:
Founding of the Woman’s Press Club of New York City,” Journalism
History 21, no. 4 (1995): 156-163, Sakai.
Jon Bekken, “Newsboys: The Exploitation of ‘Little Merchants’ by
the Newspaper Industry,” in Newsworkers: Toward a History of the
Rank and File, ed. Hanno Hardt & Bonnie Brennen (Minneapolis:
University of Minnesota Press, 1995), 190-226, Sakai.
Week 8/March 3
‘Outsiders’ in the Nineteenth-Century Press
* Research Paper Proposal Due Today *

P. Joy Rouse, “‘We Can Never Remain Silent’: The Public Discourse
of the Nineteenth-Century African-American Press,” in Popular
Literacy: Studies in Cultural Practices and Poetics, ed. John
Trimbur (Pittsburgh: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2001), 128142, Sakai.
9
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN

Hanno Hardt, “The Foreign-Language Press in American Press
History,” Journal of Communication 39, no. 2 (1989): 114-131,
Sakai.
SPRING BREAK
Starts 5 p.m.
Friday, March 6;
Classes resume
8 a.m. Monday,
March 16
Week 9/March 17
The Historical Audience




Susan Douglas, “Does Textual Analysis Tell Us Anything About
Past Audiences?,” in Explorations, pp. 66-76.
Richard Butsch, “The Citizen Audience,” in Explorations, pp. 7789.
Elizabeth Bird, “Seeking the Historical Audience: Interdisciplinary
Lessons in the Recovery of Media Practices,” in Explorations, pp.
90-106.
David Paul Nord, “Working-Class Readers: Family, Community,
and Reading in Late Nineteenth-Century America,” in Communities
of Journalism: A History of American Newspapers and Their
Readers (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2001), 225-245,
Sakai.
Week 10/March 24
Technology & Commercialization


John Nerone, “Newswork, Technology, and the Cultural Form,
1837-1920,” in Explorations, pp. 136-156.
Kevin G. Barnhurst and John Nerone, “Civic Picturing vs. Realist
Photojournalism: The Regime of Illustrated News, 1856-1901,”
Design Issues 16, no. 1 (2000): 56-79, Sakai.
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN

10
Douglas Craig, “Radio, Modern Communication Media, and the
Technological Sublime,” The Radio Journal-International Studies in
Broadcast and Audio Media 6, nos. 2-3 (2008): 129-143, Sakai.
Week 11/March 31
Commercialization & Industrialization


Richard K. Popp, “Information, Industrialization, and the Business
of Press Clippings, 1880-1925, Journal of American History 101,
no. 2 (September 2014): 427-453, Sakai.
Gerald J. Baldasty, “The Business of News,” in The
Commercialization of News in the Nineteenth Century (Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), 81-112, Sakai.
Week 12/April 7
The Rise of Advertising
 Gerald J. Baldasty, “Advertising and the Press,” in The
Commercialization of News in the Nineteenth Century (Madison:
University of Wisconsin Press, 1992), 59-80, Sakai.
 Marvin J. Olasky, “Advertising Abortion During the 1830s and
1840s: Madame Resell Builds a Business,” Journalism History 13,
no. 2 (1986): 49-55, Sakai.
 “Madame Restell Advertisements, 1842,” in Attitudes Toward Sex in
Antebellum America: A Brief History with Documents,” Helen
Lefkowitz Horowitz (New York: St. Martin’s, 2006), pp. 124-125,
Sakai.
 Ellen Gruber Garvey, “Reframing the Bicycle: Magazines and
Scorching Women,” in The Adman in the Parlor: Magazines and the
Gendering of Consumer Culture, 1880s to 1910s (New York: Oxford
University Press, 1996), 106-134, Sakai.
Week 13/April 14
Oral History & Memory
 Tosh, The Pursuit of History, chap. 11, pp. 303-329.
 David W. Blight, “‘For Something Beyond the Battlefield’: Frederick
Douglass and the Struggle for the Memory of the Civil War,”
Journal of American History 75, no. 4 (1989): 1156-1178, Sakai.
 Janice Hume, “Memory Matters: The Evolution of Scholarship in
Collective Memory and Mass Communication,” Review of
Communication 10, no. 3 (2010): 181-196, Sakai.
Week 14/April 21
Problems & Opportunities for JMC History
11
J742/SP 15/FRIEDMAN





John Nerone, “Does Journalism History Matter?,” American
Journalism 28, no. 3 (2013): 7-27, Sakai.
Giovanna Dell’Orto, “Why Journalism Historians Matter to
Understanding International Affairs,” American Journalism 30, no.
3 (2013): 301-307, Sakai.
Amy Aronson, “Everything Old is New Again: How the ‘New’ UserGenerated Women’s Magazine Takes Us Back to the Future,”
American Journalism 31, no. 3 (2014): 312-328, Sakai.
Andie Tucher, “The Gaffe, ‘the Stuff,’ and the Historical
Imagination,” American Journalism 31, no. 4 (2014): 432-444,
Sakai.
Barbara Friedman, “Is That a Thing? The Twitching Document and
the Talking Object,” American Journalism 31, no. 3 (2014): 307311, Sakai (NOTE: This reading will be replaced by a forthcoming
series of essays on materiality in JMC history, depending on
availability).
FINAL PAPERS DUE
FRIDAY, APRIL 24
by 4 P.M.
Provide to instructor
via e-mail and hard copy.