This book presents a revealing look at our 100-year fascination with the Titanic disaster and the various media that have been involved in reporting, preserving, and immortalizing the event. The Titanic's fate is still very much in our collective consciousness. A catastrophe that was unimaginable at the time, now 100 years later it continues to provide lessons that we have not yet fully absorbed. And the debate continues regarding how the loss of life might have been averted-could, for example, the nearby ship, Californian, have rescued everyone on board Titanic? The book examines the relationship between a momentous historical event, the media that have been involved in reporting and re-presenting it, and the subsequent transformation of the disaster into an enduring myth in contemporary popular culture. The book will also show how the sinking of the Titanic helped make Guglielmo Marconi a household name; set David Sarnoff on the path that led to his becoming head of RCA; raised the stature of The New York Times to the eminence it has today; and helped give film director James Cameron his current notoriety and influence. Illustrated with photographs, a painting, and a movie poster A comprehensive bibliography organized according to each of the three parts of the book A comprehensive index of subjects and names Appendices of several songs and poems pertaining to the Titanic

This is the first book to deal exclusively with the influence and meaning of what media historian Paul Heyer calls our century's first collective nightmare. Using contemporary as well as archival sources, he explores a series of intriguing questions: Why has the TITANIC disaster affected the way we think about ourselves and our technology? How has the media made it into a morality play of mythic dimensions? What impact has that story had on the development of 20th-century communications? This timely and compelling book pays homage to the TITANIC's fateful voyage by attempting to explain not why she struck an iceberg on a cold April night in 1912, but what is surely her greatest enigma: the hold the event still has over us.

Heyer assesses the impact of the TITANIC disaster on the 20th century by exploring the relationship between the event and a variety of media from 1912 to the present. The role of the media in the disaster begins with the TITANIC's distress call. Only a partial success, it resulted in a concerted plea for more wireless regulation. Subsequent newspaper coverage called the sinking the story of the century. The mad scramble for information led to the use of every possible journalistic technique, ethical or otherwise. In his analysis, Heyer puts particular emphasis on the New York Times, which became the paper of record and achieved international prominence for its accurate and sometimes controversial reporting. As soon as press coverage subsided, the TITANIC tragedy resurfaced in literature and film. It has gone on to become one of the most enduring myths in 20th century popular culture. Heyer examines this phenomenon, and shows us how and why, following the discovery of the wreck (1985) and the Challenger disaster (1986), our obsession with the TITANIC has been greater than at any other time since 1912. This is a unique and provocative book that will appeal to readers interested in popular history, media studies, and American studies.

This innovative volume selectively assesses three centuries of inquiry into the role of communications in the history of civilization. It challenges the conventional assumption that inquiry into the human consequences of living in a communications-dominated age began in the middle of the twentieth century as a response to omnipresent technology. Beginning with the eighteenth-century Enlightenment, Heyer shows how scholars as well known as Rousseau and as obscure as Monboddo were concerened with the historical dimension of aspects of social communication. Heyer approaches his subject as a problem in intellectual history and social thought, includes major twentieth-century thinkers who deal with the communications/history question, and concludes his study with an appraisal of the work of several contemporary researchers who have attempted detailed studies of specific media or historical periods.

This updated eighth edition provides a thorough and engaging history of communication and media through a collection of essential, field-defining essays. The collection reveals how media has been influential in both maintaining social order and enabling social change. Contributions from a wide range of voices offer instructors the opportunity to customize their courses while challenging students to build upon their own knowledge and skill sets. From stone-age symbols and early writing to the internet and social media, readers are introduced to an expansive, intellectually enlivening study of the relationship between human history and communication media. New case studies explore the Black Press, the impact of photography on journalism, gender and civil rights discourses in the media, and the effects of algorithmic data on modern social media platforms. This book can be used as a core text or supplemental reader for courses in communication history, communication theory, and introductory courses in communication and media studies.

This updated eighth edition provides a thorough and engaging history of communication and media through a collection of essential, field-defining essays. The collection reveals how media has been influential in both maintaining social order and enabling social change. Contributions from a wide range of voices offer instructors the opportunity to customize their courses while challenging students to build upon their own knowledge and skill sets. From stone-age symbols and early writing to the internet and social media, readers are introduced to an expansive, intellectually enlivening study of the relationship between human history and communication media. New case studies explore the Black Press, the impact of photography on journalism, gender and civil rights discourses in the media, and the effects of algorithmic data on modern social media platforms. This book can be used as a core text or supplemental reader for courses in communication history, communication theory, and introductory courses in communication and media studies.

Offering fresh insight into the early life of Harold Adams Innis (1894-1952), this volume makes available a number of previously unpublished writings from the renowned Canadian economic historian and media scholar. Part I, Innis's autobiographical memoir, chronicles his farm-based family background, early education, military service during World War I, and the beginnings of what would become a distinguished academic career. Part II features a selection of correspondence during his military service, revealing both the pain and perceptions derived from that experience, and other war-related writings. It also includes "The Returned Soldier," a detailed piece of research and a compassionate plea to recognize how the aftermath of the Great War would affect those who served as well as the individuals and institutions on the home front. Years before the term "post-traumatic stress disorder" was coined, Innis was acutely aware of the condition and suggested ways in which it might be treated. Other war-related items included are Innis's first published article (dealing with the economics of the solider) and a draft speech composed in the fall of 1918. All original materials have been extensively annotated to provide context for the contemporary reader and researcher.

For decades, media historians have heard of Harold Innis's unpublished manuscript exploring the history of communications-but very few have had an opportunity to see it. In this volume, editors and Innis scholars William J. Buxton, Michael R. Cheney, and Paul Heyer make widely accessible, for the first time, three core chapters from the legendary Innis manuscript. Here, Innis (1894-1952) examines the development of paper and printing from antiquity in Asia through to 16th century Europe. He demonstrates how the paper/printing nexus intersected with a broad range of other phenomena, including administrative structures, geopolitics, militarism, public opinion, aesthetics, cultural diffusion, religion, education, reception, production processes, technology, labor relations, and commerce, as well as the lives of visionary figures. Buxton, Cheney, and Heyer knit the chapters into a cohesive narrative and help readers navigate Innis's observations by summarizing the heavily detailed factual material that peppered the unpublished manuscript. They provide further context for Innis's arguments by adding annotations, references, and pertinent citations to his other writings. The end result is both a testament to Innis's status as a canonical figure in the study of communication and a surprisingly relevant contribution to how we might think about the current sea change in all aspects of social, cultural, political, and economic life stemming from the global shift to digital communication.

Few twentieth-century artists are renowned in such a variety of media as Orson Welles. Well known for his work in film and theater as director, actor, and writer, Welles's influence in the field of radio has often been overlooked for the more glamorous entertainment of his movies. The Medium and the Magician is a comprehensive review of Welles's radio career, devoted to assessing his radio artistry and influence in the field. Paul Heyer offers a new look at the infamous War of the Worlds panic broadcast and a discussion of how Welles's use of sound in radio influenced his motion pictures.