Sunday, October 6, 2013
Socially Relevant Coverage in the 1960s
Why did the networks begin to lengthen their news coverage, broadcast presidential debates, and program more socially-relevant documentaries like Crisis during the 1960s? How did this material illuminate civil rights issues and inflect the way that people understood national politics?
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ReplyDeleteThe 1960s were a turning point for the culture of America. After the socially repressed 1950s, underlying tensions regarding race, sex, gender, and class seemed to finally explode. It was finally time for television to become not just a source of entertainment, but the lifeblood of American culture. It became a ubiquitous medium—families relied on it to provide political and social knowledge as well as sitcoms and game shows. Because of the huge presence of television, networks finally realized that it could have tremendous effects on the way our country functions. The presidential debate of Kennedy and Nixon, the first ever to air on broadcast television, was groundbreaking. People could finally connect to their presidential candidates in what seemed like a much more intimate manner, in terms of reading facial expressions and body language. It has been said that people who listened to the debate on radio believed that Nixon won, while those who watched on TV believed Kennedy did. The way television presented our country’s potential leaders to us obviously had a profound effect. Things could have turned out much differently if, say, the debate had aired exclusively on radio. Crisis illuminated the racial discrimination African-Americans were facing to viewers who may not have had a full understanding of its ramifications. The documentary offered the perspective of the battling politicians as well as those most affected-- Vivian Malone and James Hood.
After the 1950s socially relevant issues seemed to be an important topic all around the world. Throughout history, the media has always been used as a source of entertainment. In the 1960s there was a move to promote the media as a source or both entertainment and education. It was important for the country to make civil rights issues and national politics aware to the public in a way that they would want to hear it. Many families would sit around the television and watch many programs together so it made sense to present such important issues to the public in this way. The documentary filmmakers movement was about the truth behind the cinema. They gave a fly on the wall view of what happened therefore giving an objective perspective to the viewers. This was the objective in Crisis. As we discussed in lecture, during the 1963 elections the public wanted to be everywhere with JFK. He was presented as a nice, authentic, handsome guy because they never asked him to pose and they were able to capture him for him. The viewers finally felt as though they could connect with the candidates on a more personal level. Crisis illuminated the civil rights issues against Africans Americans and made it known to the public everything that was going on in the world. Many Americans may not have known the extent to this issue and this show made it fully aware to the public. Crisis was able to give insight into the people impacted by this and the politicians involved. This show and many other documentaries and presidential debates were able to educate the public on ways in which these problems are affecting the nation.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to what Sydney and Cali said above, in terms of the change in social climate, which was undeniably a factor, the television industry was also reacting to the sentiment expressed by Newton Minow in his “Vast Wasteland” speech. Following both the quiz show scandals and Minow’s speech, television networks and content creators felt pressured to change the television landscape for the “better”. This meant, amongst other things, adopting programs like Ernie Covacs’ show, which presented television as art, continuing to broadcast popular serials that were already on the air (westerns, sitcoms, etc) but more importantly, increasing the amount of programming that would be considered as being in the public’s interest. In other words, elongating news shows and showing programs, like Crisis or Meet the Press, for example, which would claim to be unbiased and educate the public, especially as related to politics, political figures and social issues that were relevant at the time.
ReplyDeleteCrisis illuminated a social issue of the time, specifically African-American race politics as related to public education, in a very particular way. Though the aesthetics of the program would suggest an unbiased intent, and there have been many discussions in class about Kennedy being intentionally framed as a “good guy,” this does not come a surprise, seeing as the full title of the film is in fact “Crisis: Behind a Presidential Commitment.” Based on that title, I would expect that the filmmaker hopes to find the president and those working under him would honor the commitment! What did seem to bother me about this approach, however, was the attempt to address a commitment made to the African-American community, while showing very little of the students’ perspective. If indeed the film hopes to frame Kennedy as a hero while also taking into account other perspectives, such as that of Governor Wallace, the director could (and should) have included more reactions from the students who were being unlawfully discriminated against.
In this sense, it seems as though Crisis, meet the Press, and other programs that sought to illuminate civil rights issues during the 1960s, did so, but from a fairly one-sided perspective (until, perhaps the showing of the police brutality on peaceful protesters).
ReplyDeleteIn the 1960’s, programs began to lengthen their material to inform the public about general events. This was due to the transition from modern television entertainment to current events and political arrangements from a local, regional, and national level. Because television was a medium that broadcasted information and pictures, many households depended on it to receive information about their prospective communities. Around the time of the 1960’s as well, there were many disputes about civil rights and citizens depended on television to stay informed. At the same time, during the bus boycott in Alabama for example, people were able to watch the violence. It surprised most Americans and being able to see this changed the views of the government and initial freedom and civil rights of African Americans and minorities. The shift in what was displayed on television was impacted by documentaries that provided citizens a background look on what happens in politics around the world. Due to the knowledge of what these programs provided, more networks created more programs to appeal to the audience. News programs became extremely popular and the results gave society a reason to tune in. Television programs at first focus was to be on entertainment, but after the 60’s education was included and due to Crisis, more networks could create more programs dedicated to informing the public.
ReplyDeleteMuch of this effort to put better informational and informative content on television came as a response to Newton Minow's "vast wasteland" speech. He ridiculed the content of current television at the time, and criticized it for being uninformative and not helpful to viewers. The influx of informative documentaries and news was prominent. The news went from half an hour to an hour long segment, a drastic change. This led to more coverage of what was going on in the government, which was essentially civil rights. This allowed the audience to see into the actual issues as stake, and what was happening. This is where they were exposed to the brutal water hose assaults on those participating in the non violent protests. It allowed the viewers to feel sympathetic and ultimately aided in the changing of the country. However, there were also programs that led to the worsening of the negative feelings towards civil rights, such as the MLK debate show we watched. On this show many questions were clearly framed in a way such to make him seem contradictory, and hypocritical. They made them very difficult to answer. This shone a negative light on his movement and civil rights, because there were those sectors of television trying to bring the nation down and suppress the imminent change that was coming.
While the 50’s could be considered the “golden era” of television, the 60’s programming definitely altered the types of shows and genres of programs for viewers, illuminating the real world and informing audiences of what was happening at that time. With civil rights issues, John F. Kennedy’s legendary presidency, and the space race at the forefront of everyone’s minds across the United States, viewer’s wanted to know what was going on. In contrast to the 50‘s, which displayed director’s creativity in the form of Westerns and more diverse genres of programming, these new shows were longer, illuminated more socially-relevant issues and explained what was going on within the government.
ReplyDeleteAs we observed in Crisis, viewers were entertained by getting an inside, real-life perspective on the daily life of JFK, a very attractive and popular figure at the time. Further, Crisis illuminated an extremely relevant and pressing social issue of racial inequality and racism happening in the US, allowing viewers to be better informed and up to date on current events. This tool for education was a quality the television was missing in the 1950’s as Newton Minow alludes to in his speech “Vast Wasteland,” which critiqued the television industry’s programs as lacking realism. As the decade wore on and JFK and Martin Luther King Jr were assassinated, the civil rights issues became a topic no one could ignore and everyone knew all the words to The Beatles, “Please Please Me,” the television would play an even more integral role in the daily life of an average American audience.
The networks extended programs that related to politics and news for many reasons in the 1960s. Presidential coverage was lengthened partially because the Kennedy’s were more than just the president and first lady. They were the epitome of the American Dream and were treated like American Royalty. They were a celebrity couple beyond the normal celebrity created by becoming the president. The world was intimately interested in their lives. Television was also the most widespread form of entertainment that could deliver news to the greatest amount of people. This meant that what happened on television would create buzz and cause the most effect. It was a beacon of social and political knowledge that was increasingly accessible to the nation.
ReplyDeleteCrisis brought the social issue of race to the forefront of American media. The federal involvement in a local issue sparked a debate about power play and moral obligation. Though the movie should have been unbiased, it seemingly played toward the side of the federal government. There was extensive footage of the Kennedy Administration, as well as a behind the scenes look at the little tricks that political officials would use to get their way, like bringing the presidents daughter in for a phone call with local government officials. Documentaries like this created a dramatic interest in the narrative and glamorized important political and social issues, making them more interesting for a wider range of audiences.