1960s American media upheaval
1960s broadcast journalism history
A01=Mike Conway
Author_Mike Conway
award-winning but disputed documentaries
Berlin Wall
Berlin Wall documentary backlash
Berlin Wall escape reporting
Berlin Wall human rights narratives
Category=ATJ
Category=JBCT
Category=NHK
Category=NHTW
censorship versus journalistic freedom
challenges to press freedom
Cold War
Cold War communications revolution
Cold War era television history
Cold War escape dramatizations
Cold War journalism ethics
Cold War media coverage
Cold War propaganda battles
documentary history
documentary impact on public opinion
early television news milestones
Emmy-winning documentary scandals
eq_art-fashion-photography
eq_bestseller
eq_history
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_society-politics
ethics of covering escape attempts
evolution of American news media
government pressure on news networks
historical television ethics
historical tensions between print and broadcast journalism
history of American broadcast ethics
investigative reporting under government scrutiny
investigative television reporting
Iron Curtain escape stories
journalism history
journalistic integrity debates
media history
media-government relationships in the 1960s
NBC
NBC television controversy
news documentary controversies
political influence on broadcasters
public perception of television credibility
Reuven Frank
Reuven Frank television producer
rise of network news dominance
role of television in shaping Cold War narratives
sensationalism in early television
shift from print to television news
television news history
tunnel escape broadcast legacy
U.S. media landscape transformation
U.S. State Department censorship
underground tunnel rescues
visual communication
Product details
- ISBN 9781625344519
- Weight: 463g
- Dimensions: 157 x 226mm
- Publication Date: 13 Sep 2019
- Publisher: University of Massachusetts Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
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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.
Mike Conway is associate professor of journalism at Indiana University Bloomington.
