Contested Ground: The Tunnel and the Struggle over Television News in Cold War America (Culture and Politics in the Cold War and Beyond)

Conway, Mike

ISBN 10: 1625344511 / ISBN 13: 9781625344519

Editore: University of Massachusetts Press, 2019

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pp. 280.

Codice articolo 26383411637

Dati bibliografici

• Titolo: Contested Ground: The Tunnel and the Struggle over Television News in Cold War America (Culture and Politics in the Cold War and Beyond)
• Editore: University of Massachusetts Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2019
• Lingua: Inglese
• ISBN 10: 1625344511
• ISBN 13: 9781625344519
• Rilegatura: Brossura
• Condizione: New

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Riassunto

In 1962, an innovative documentary on a Berlin Wall tunnel escape brought condemnation from both sides of the Iron Curtain during one of the most volatile periods of the Cold War. The Tunnel, produced by NBC's Reuven Frank, clocked in at ninety minutes and prompted a range of strong reactions. While the television industry ultimately awarded the program three Emmys, the U.S. Department of State pressured NBC to cancel the program, and print journalists criticized the network for what they considered to be a blatant disregard of journalistic ethics.

It was not just The Tunnel's subject matter that sparked controversy, but the medium itself. The surprisingly fast ascendance of television news as the country's top choice for information threatened the self-defined supremacy of print journalism and the de facto cooperation of government officials and reporters on Cold War issues. In Contested Ground, Mike Conway argues that the production and reception of television news and documentaries during this period reveals a major upheaval in American news communications.

Informazioni sugli autori

MIKE CONWAY is associate professor of journalism at Indiana University Bloomington.

MIKE CONWAY is associate professor of journalism at Indiana University Bloomington.