Craig Allen

Exploring newsroom views about consultants in local TV: The effect of work roles and socialization

This exploratory study investigates how the newsroom impact of news consultants’ recommendations is affected by both a television journalists work role and a journalists experiences in the profession. The focus here was on news managers (producers, assignment editors, and news directors), with data coming from a survey of 16 news departments in small, medium and large markets. Results found that although a news managers work role was somewhat related to views about consultants, a stronger relationship existed between views of consultants and a news managers experiences in television news. In particular, a news managers stake in the news process was tied to views of consultants, with a clear split between orientations toward business and journalistic aspects of television news.

News directors and consultants: RTNDA's endorsement of TV journalism's "greatest tool"

This historical account ties to modern studies by showing that TV news was not recently corporatized. Records of the Radio-Television News Directors Association explore the arrival of news consultants in the 1970s. News professionals welcomed consultants and through the RTNDA endorsed consulting as one of journalisms “greatest tools.” While many recallanews profession that had battled news consultants, this is a false impression.

Television broadcast records

Contents: Preface. Part I: Traditional Historiography. D.G. Godfrey, Researching Electronic Media History. L.M. Benjamin, Historical Evidence: Facts, Proof, and Probability. M.D. Murray, Oral History Records. M.E. Beadle, Visual Evidence. Part II: Eclectic Methods in History. K.H. Youm, Legal Methods in History of Electronic Media. J. Armstrong, Applying Critical Theory to Electronic Media History. R.K. Avery, Quantitative Methods in Broadcast History. Part III: A New Look at Electronic Media. M.C. Keith, A Survey of Cultural Studies in Radio. C. Allen, Television Broadcast Records. M.R. Bensman, New Media and Technical Records. Part IV: New Perspectives in Topical Issues. R.A. Lind, Understanding the Historical Context of Race and Gender in Electronic Media. T. Larson, Local Broadcasting History Research Methods. D. Cressman, Exploring Biography. Part V: For the Record... C. Howell, Dealing With the Archive Records. C.H. Sterling, Assessing the Record: A Century of Historical Research. Appendix: Adapting Historical Citations to APA Style.

News Conferences on TV: Ike-Age Politics Revisited

Televised presidential news conferences marked an advancement in media history; for the first time, tools of electronic journalism were used in covering them. Yet as early as 1955, when the first TV news conference was held under Dwight Eisenhower, it was also known that these events could benefit a president at least as much as the journalistic community. In opening news conferences to cameras and microphones, Eisenhower sought a means of channeling information directly to millions of home viewers in a way that could not be mediated by skeptical reporters, particularly those who wrote for newspapers and magazines. Despite complaints by print reporters, Eisenhower took steps to make TV news conferences a fixture, his press secretary conceiving them as a “very potent way of getting the presidents personality and viewpoints” across to the American public.

Robert Montgomery presents: Hollywood debut in the Eisenhower white house

Although presidential television consulting has drawn much attention, little is known about its origins. The first White House television consultant was actor Robert Montgomery, who initiated concepts in television image–building during 7 years (1954–1961) in the Eisenhower administration. Montgomery felt the public reacted to visual elements in television communication, not strictly the scripted materials. Historical sources indicate that Montgomery brought a perspective on television to the White House at a time when few paid attention to his activities.

Our First “Television” Candidate: Eisenhower over Stevenson in 1956

,The 1956 presidential election has not received widespread historical examination. It was one of landslide rather than landmark, possibly the reason many political historians have virtually passed it by. Yet, mass media historians who do likewise are neglecting an important topic. Occurring during a key period in the growth of TV, the 1956 campaign offers signifcant insights into political television. This study examines key aspects of televisions role in the 1956 presidential campaign, with findings derived from a review of the New York Times, Time. Newsweek, U.S. News and World Report and other periodicals, as well as correspondence and interviews with those involved in the campaign, including former President Richard Nixon. The study also draws upon the writings and memoirs of Dwight Eisenhower, Adlai Stevenson, Nixon and John Kennedy. Findings indicate that TV was important in Eisenhowers decision to seek reelection in 1956, and that he subsequently executed a campaign oriented around television. In addition, findings suggest broad dimensions to the troubled TV campaign of Stevenson. Questions are raised about the