Edward R. Murrow

• war correspondent who helped establish radio as a news medium
• CBS television reporter who confronted McCarthy on demagoguery (stirring up people's concerns for communism through emotions)
• His WWII coverage from Europe, with bombs in the background during his reports, gave CBS listeners the feeling of being there

David Sarnoff

• had the vision for radio as a mass medium
• proposed idea to boss Guglielmo Marconi but he ignored it
• proposed advertising to fund his vision for radio as a mass medium
• Sarnoff rose quickly in a spinoff Marconi company, Radio Corporation of America (RCA)
• redefined radio as a new mass media industry under the banner of RCA subsidary NBC 

Adam Curry

Rise of NBC and CBS broadcasting

• In the mid-1920's the record business began failing
• the Victor Talking Machine Company began courting the fledgling NBC radio network
• Both Victor and NBC became parts of RCA
• Columbia Phonograph Company acquired a radio network which later became CBS

Big Four Recording Companies

• the global recording industry is concentrated in a handful of companies
• the Big Four hold 84% of the US market, 75% of the global market
• the Big Four: 1) Universal Music 2) EMI 3) Waner Music 4) Sony Music (BMG)

Federal Radio Act of 1927

• before 1927 broadcasters made such a mess of the airwaves that they couldn't straighten it out
• went to Congress begging for regulation to assign frequencies and otherwise manage the airwaves
• Congress responded with regulations and a licensing system
• to be on the air stations needed a govt license to comply with technical and other govt regulations
• Federal Regulation Act made govt a stakeholder in the system that the govt itself created
• Federal Radio Commission saw stability as essential to assure the orderly growth of the medium's pontential for public service
• ownership limits: the law allowed stations to be licensed only to a locality
• technical restrictions: stations were assigned frequencies with their signal strength capped so their signals won't overlap
• content requirements: in an attempt to keep favoritism out of the licensing process govt established quality criteria

Trustee Concept

• govt serves as a trustee for the public's interest in regulating broadcasting
• the concept seems to violate the first amendment (freedom of the press) but the premise of the concept is that the airwaves are the public's property and cannot be subject to ownership
• since the airwaves belong to the public, the govt (as trustee for the public) is uniquely qualified to regulate the use of the airwaves for the public's good

Arbitron

• Radio listener survey company 

Frequency Modultation vs. Amplitude Modulation

• frequency modulation (FM): radio technology with superior fidelity. Signals travel in straight lines
• amplitude modulation (AM): radio technology with great range. Signals follow curvature of earth

News Packages

• Carefully produced, long-form radio stories that offer depth; the hallmark of NPR
• typically full of sounds and recorded interviews and are often marked by poignant examples and ancedotes and powerful writing

Corporation for Public Broadcasting and NPR

• Corporation for Public Broadcasting: Quasi-govt agency that administers federal funds for non-commericial radio and television
• National Public Radio was founded in 1970
• NPR created All Things Considered an evening 90-min drivetime show, grew a small popular following
• In 1979 created Morning Edition a morning drivetime show
• no advertising allowed on public radio except for acknowledging supporters of the public radio (usually high end products/services)

Josef Goebbels

• German politician and Reich Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945
• One of Hitler's closest associates and devout followers
• One of his first acts as Minister of Propaganda was the burning of books
• Exerted totalitarian control over the media, arts and information in Germany