The Press-Radio War, 1924-1937: A battle to defend the professional, institutional and political power of the press

When radio first began broadcasting news in the 1920\u27s, it was met with great resistance from the print journalism industry. Thus began the Press-Radio War, a battle lasting over ten years, waged on the part of the press, to prevent radio from entering the field of journalism. This dissertation investigates the hostility with which print journalists greeted the advent of radio news, in an attempt to ellucidate the nature of social responses to new communication technologies. Using the Press-Radio War as a case study, it explores some of the social concerns that arise with technological changes in the communicative environment. The study employs textual analysis of the discourse that took place in the professional trade press of the journalism industry about the \u27dangers of radio\u27, as a means of exploring the kinds of concerns that print journalists had about the commencement of broadcast journalism. Recurring themes are examined as a key to the underlying issues at stake in this inter-industry conflict. Traditional interpretations offer an economic explanation for this war between radio and the press, arguing that the newspapers were trying to protect their advertising and circulation revenues. The findings of this study suggest that in fact this war was not just fought over money, it was also fought over power. This dissertation argues that the Press-Radio War was more than just an economic conflict, it was an attempt on the part of print journalists to retain control over the process of news gathering and dissemination in order to protect (1) their professional identity, (2) the institutional structure of the journalism industry and (3) the role of the press in the democratic political process