| Description |
1 online resource (x, 247 pages). |
| Physical Medium |
polychrome |
| Description |
text file |
| Series |
Studies in rhetoric and communication
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Studies in rhetoric and communication.
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| Bibliography |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 231-242) and index. |
| Summary |
In late 1953 and early 1954, Edward R. Murrow and Fred W. Friendly's See It Now television documentary broadcast a series of four programs that dealt with abuses of McCarthyism: "The Case of Milo Radulovich," "An Argument in Indianapolis," "A Report on Senator McCarthy," and "Annie Lee Moss Before the McCarthy Committee." Each program focused upon elements of McCarthyism - the blacklist, the suspicion of anything "liberal," the Congressional hearing and immunity, even the political tactics of Senator Joseph R. McCarthy himself. These justifiably acclaimed telecasts have been credited with forever defining the form of television documentary and with greatly contributing to the "downfall" of the senator and the movement that took his name. Rosteck studies these programs for what they reveal about the rhetoric of television documentary and the ideological representations within. He considers the four programs as artifacts that expose a crucial era in American political life and represent cultural and ideological struggles. Specifically, Rosteck analyzes the programs as instances of public discourse that symbolically reframe McCarthyism, and he provides us with the first sustained exploration and case study of documentary television as a discrete genre. He explores how the programs "work" as public argument in a way that goes beyond an analysis of content or propositional "logic." Indeed it may be, Rosteck says, that See It Now uses the form of the documentary medium and the myth it fosters - that of the open and free exchange of ideas - as "argument" against McCarthyism. Because he sets the programs in their particular situation and historical context, Rosteck also helps us understand a unique era in recent American history what one historian has called "The Decade of Fear" when the national mood was one of mistrust and suspicion. The See It Now programs influenced the development of both the television documentary and the television industry. Rosteck identifies the birth of the documentary form in these famous programs and shows how the content and structure of the programs reflect certain social and cultural assumptions. As cultural exploration, this volume not only shows a history of the era of the programs; it also illuminates a short segment of recent American experience through documentary artifacts from the time. |
| Contents |
McCarthyism, the red scare, and the television industry -- Documentary television and See it now -- See it now, documentary persuasion, and rhetorical analysis -- A little picture of an enormous problem: "The case of Milo Radulovich, a0589839" -- Depiction and the defense of plurality: "An argument in Indianapolis" -- Argument and the news documentary: "A report on Senator Joseph R. McCarthy" -- Naturalism and television documentary: "Annie Lee Moss before the McCarthy Committee" -- Conclusion: documentary as rhetoric? fiction? ideology? |
| Local Note |
eBooks on EBSCOhost EBSCO eBook Subscription Academic Collection - North America |
| Subject |
See it now (Television program)
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See it now (Television program) |
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McCarthy, Joseph, 1908-1957.
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McCarthy, Joseph, 1908-1957. |
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See it now (Television programme) |
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See it now (Television program) |
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Internal security -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Internal security. |
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United States. |
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History. |
| Chronological Term |
20th century |
| Subject |
Documentary television programs -- United States.
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Documentary television programs. |
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Television broadcasting of news -- United States.
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Television broadcasting of news. |
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Subversive activities -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Subversive activities. |
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Anti-communist movements -- United States -- History -- 20th century.
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Anti-communist movements. |
| Chronological Term |
1900 - 1999 |
| Genre/Form |
Electronic books.
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History.
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| Other Form: |
Print version: Rosteck, Thomas, 1951- See it now confronts McCarthyism. Tucaloosa : University of Alabama Press, ©1994 0817307052 (DLC) 93004780 (OCoLC)28293084 |
| ISBN |
0585098158 (electronic book) |
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9780585098159 (electronic book) |
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0817307052 (alkaline paper) |
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