The twentieth century brought about important advances in mass media with the development and improvements of both the radio and the television. Although both are significant in the history of mass communications in the United States, the television dramatically influenced how Americans viewed the world, especially war and political activities, after mid-century. Innovations in televised programming changed daily family life, encouraging gatherings around television sets. World crises were no long thousands of miles away. For many, the Vietnam War felt like it was being fought in their living room. As televisions increased in popularity and became commonplace, the experience of world events changed greatly. From the simulcast of combat to man landing on the moon, televised events brought life into living rooms around the country and altered public understanding of the world around us.
A photograph of Albert Einstein and Charles Steinmetz with other scientists, April 23, 1921.
A photograph of the president of RCA, David Sarnoff, dedicating the RCA building at the 1939 World’s Fair.
An excerpt from a 1960 book by television broadcasters and news executives on the impact of television and radio news.
An excerpt from an interview with John Chancellor, White House correspondent, October, 1982.
A recording of a talk by the journalist David Halberstam explaining the increasing power of television network news, October 10, 1975.- A clip from a broadcast in which John F. Kennedy urges reporters to use discretion when covering news events, April 28, 1961.
- In a brief, unedited 1962 newsclip, Robert Sarnoff discusses the purpose of television.
The text of a speech delivered by Barbara C. Jordan about reliance on television for information, November 2, 1975.
A photograph of Ted Turner speaking at the launch of CNN at Turner Studios in Atlanta, Georgia, June 1, 1980.
A replica of the black-and-white camera that transmitted images of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the first mission to the moon.
A photograph of a display of televisions in the 1960s at Beech Adams Furniture Store.
A photograph of an American family watching television in 1962.
A photograph of a nineteen-inch Hoffman television set, model 897, in a living room with a baseball game on the screen.
