Presidential campaigns of the twenty-first century were not the first to mobilize an array of new media forms in efforts to gain electoral victory. In Politicking and Emergent Media, distinguished historian Charles Musser looks at four US presidential campaigns during the long 1890s (1888–1900) as Republicans and Democrats deployed a variety of media forms to promote their candidates and platforms. New York—the crucial swing state as well as the home of Wall Street, Tammany Hall, and prominent media industries—became the site of intense struggle as candidates argued over trade issues, currency standards, and a new overseas empire. If the city’s leading daily newspapers were mostly Democratic as the decade began, Republicans eagerly exploited alternative media opportunities. Using the stereopticon (a modernized magic lantern), they developed the first campaign documentaries. Soon they were exploiting motion pictures, the phonograph, and telephone in surprising and often successful ways. Brimming with rich historical details, Musser’s remarkable tale reveals the political forces driving the emergence of modern media.
Tabela de Conteúdo
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. The Stereopticon, The Tariff Illustrated, and the 1892 Election
Political Oratory, Partisan Pageantry, and the Public Sphere
Judge Wheeler, The Tariff Illustrated, and the 1888 Presidential Election
A Tale of Two Screens: The Democratic Party’s Use of the Stereopticon in 1888
The Stereopticon and the 1892 Election
Watching the Election Returns
2. The Stereopticon: Platform or New Media Form?
A Lexicon of the Screen
From Magic Lantern to Stereopticon: A Brief History
The Stereopticon and Presidential Politics, 1872–1884
3. Cinema, Mc Kinley at Home, and the 1896 Election
The Nation’s Media Formation
The Stereopticon and Illustrated Lecture in the 1896 Campaign
The American Mutoscope Company and the Mc Kinley Campaign
Campaign-Related Films at the Edison Manufacturing Company
Phonograph/Telephone/Bicycle
A Celebration of Novelty and Tradition, Spectacle and Power
Watching the Election Returns
An Assessment
4. Cinema as a Media Form
When Did Cinema Become Cinema?
Politicking and the Media After the 1896 Presidential Campaign
The Illustrated Lecture, Imperialism, and the Elections of 1898 and 1900
5. Coda
Electoral Politics and the Media
From Early Cinema to Media Archaeology?
Appendix: Referenced Documents
Abbreviations for Frequently Cited Newspapers
Notes
Bibliography
Index
Sobre o autor
Charles Musser is Professor of American Studies and Film and Media Studies at Yale University. He is the author of The Emergence of Cinema: The American Screen to 1907 and producer of the documentary Errol Morris: A Lightning Sketch.
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