From shu.edu:

Matthew Pressman, Ph.D., assistant professor of journalism within the College of Communication and the Arts, has been awarded a Summer Stipend by the National Endowment for the Humanities for his project “A History of the New York Daily News and its Populist Politics.”

The grant will enable Pressman to continue his archival research for this, his latest book project… [read full article]

From the early 20^th century until its demise in 1969, the Saturday Evening Post was one of the most popular general-interest magazines in the United States. It helped construct the worldview of middle America on everything from politics to culture to domestic life. The goal of its most famous editor, George Horace Lorimer, was “to interpret and reflect America to itself,” and thus to produce a magazine that “the entire nation had in common.” This goal of binding the nation together was especially important in wartime. From World War I to the Vietnam era, the magazine’s stories, photographs, cartoons, and editorials helped shape the wartime experience of civilians at home.

The Saturday Evening Post Goes to War will feature the contributions of multiple scholars from such disciplines as journalism, literature, history, rhetorical studies, American studies, and visual studies. Their analyses will use a variety of methodologies and perspectives to investigate the Post’s role on the 20^th century home front. Proposals for chapters involving numerous subjects and angles are welcome, including:

• the Post’s role in the lead-up to conflicts, such as isolationist, jingoistic, or anti-war messaging;
• the relationship between the Post and government mobilization and propaganda agencies;
• the Post’s perspective on matters involving race and ethnicity, such as military desegregation, internment of minority populations, or the Americanization of immigrants in the context of wartime;
• the Post’s perspective on gender in wartime, including ideas about masculinity, the role of women, and the work of female journalists;
• the motivation and ideology of the Post’s editorial teams and contributors in wartime;
• the role of the magazine in mobilizing or inspiring the American home front;
• the Post’s contributions to depictions of the military;
• the Post’s construction of images of U.S. enemies and their motivations;
• the Post’s visual contributions to home front culture and context;
• the role of the Post in the resolution of conflict and postwar transitions;
• any of these topic areas in relation to specific conflicts from World War I to the Vietnam conflict.

The completed volume, to be published by a university press, will represent a careful examination of the journalistic ethos, political outlook, and ramifications of the Post’s approach to war in the 20^th century. It will appeal to university library collections, larger libraries, and, given the magazine’s cherished role in popular memory, to historically minded readers.

To propose a chapter for this project, please email your proposal to both project editors: Matthew Pressman (matthew.pressman@shu.edu) and Jim Kimble (james.kimble@shu.edu). Proposals must include:

• Suggested chapter title
• Abstract of 700-800 words, describing the proposed topic, sources, and methodology
• Brief bio of the author(s)

The deadline to submit a proposal is February 14, 2022. The editors will notify all correspondents of the status of their submission by March 14, 2022. Completed draft manuscripts will be due by August 31, 2022, with final publication projected to be in early 2024.

About the co-editors:

Matthew Pressman is an assistant professor of journalism at Seton Hall University and the author of On Press: The Liberal Values That Shaped the News (Harvard University Press, 2018). A former editor at Vanity Fair, he has written extensively about the history of the U.S. news media in the 20^th century.

 James J. Kimble, a professor of communication & the arts at Seton Hall University, is the founding editor of the journal Home Front Studies. His scholarship focuses on propaganda appeals and domestic mobilization on the U.S. home front during World War II.

My review of The Columnist: Leaks, Lies, and Libel in Drew Pearson’s Washington, a new biography by Donald A. Ritchie, was published today by the Washington Post. Pearson, whose syndicated column “Washington Merry-Go-Round” appeared in over 600 newspapers at its height in the mid-20th century, was one the most influential political journalists in U.S. history. The review is to appear in the print edition of the Washington Post on July 11. Read the review here.

I am pleased to be joining the editorial team of American Journalism: A Journal of Media History, the flagship publication of the American Journalism Historians Association (AJHA)! My position as Book Review Editor begins with the Spring 2021 edition of the journal. You can read more about the new editorial team in the press release from AJHA.

From the American Journalism Historians Association’s press release:

Seton Hall’s Pressman named 2020 AJHA Rising Scholar

The editors of American Journalism, the peer-reviewed quarterly journal of the American Journalism Historians Association, have announced Matthew Pressman of Seton Hall University’s College of Communication and the Arts as the winner of the 2020 Rising Scholar Award.

Pressman received this honor and $2,000 award in recognition of his ongoing research titled “A History of the New York Daily News and its Populist Politics.” 

“I’m greatly honored to receive the 2020 Rising Scholar Award from the AJHA,” Pressman said. “Funding from this award will allow me to chase down the scattered archival collections that shed light on the history of the New York Daily News. That archival research will be the foundation of my next book, a history of the Daily News—the highest-circulation newspaper in U.S. history and one whose influence has been underappreciated.”

Pressman also expressed thanks to the “supportive scholars” who make up the AJHA. He described the organization as “one of the best parts of being a journalism historian.”

Pressman’s research will examine not only the impact of the Daily News on journalism history but will also address how the paper influenced American politics and culture.

Vanessa Murphree, associate editor of American Journalism and professor at The University of Southern Mississippi, said, “Dr. Pressman has developed an important and timely research agenda that helps us better understand the broad-based impact of the Daily News. The research is especially significant because it will help us better understand the origins of the ‘New Right’ in the mid-20^th century and how this movement has influenced today’s political landscape.”

The Rising Scholar Award winner is chosen annually by the editors of American Journalism. The award is designed for scholars who show promise in extending their research agendas.

Founded in 1981, the American Journalism Historians Association seeks to advance education and research in mass communication history. Members work to raise historical standards and ensure that all scholars and students recognize the vast importance of media history and apply this knowledge to the advancement of society. 

For more information on AJHA, visit http://www.ajhaonline.org.

Professors Matthew Pressman and James J. Kimble of the College of Communication and the Arts co-wrote an essay on the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising photo from World War II. 

The essay commemorates the 75th anniversary of what the authors note “is arguably the most famous news photo of all time.”

The article, “The Famous Iwo Jima Flag-Raising Photo Captured an Authentic Moment—But Gave Many Americans a False Impression,” was also syndicated by TIME magazine and ran in Yahoo News among other media outlets… (READ MORE)