Reading into the Book
Class 5: Books and the Power of Print
OUR OLDEST MASS MEDIUM
“Books—the oldest mass medium—survive
because they originate some of the biggest ideas
and stories that resonate through other mass
media.”
OUR OLDEST MASS MEDIUM
1950 | new books
2010 |new books
11,000
315,000
What are books role in
society?
ROLE IN SOCIETY: Primary repository of knowledge
•
•
•
•
Stories
Experiences
Wisdom
History
ROLE IN SOCIETY: Fueled major historical developments
•
Revolutions + Rise and spread of democracy.
Abolition of
slavery
1845
Independence
from Britain
1776
Democracy
in
Taiwan
1985
Materialist
philosophy
critique
1867
Chemical use
in agriculture
1962
ROLE IN SOCIETY: Fueled major historical
developments
●
New art forms (poetry, fiction)
●
Spread of religions + literacy
Name and define one “type”
of contemporary book being
published. OR Name and
define one “editor” involved in
publishing
ECONOMICS OF BOOK PUBLISHING: WHO OWNS
WHAT?
●
5
Penguin Random House (jointly owned by
Bertelsmann and Pearson since 2013)
●
largest publishers.
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With ties to international
media conglomerates.
Simon & Schuster (CBS)
Hachette Book Group (Lagardère, based in France)
HarperCollins (News Corp., owners of 21st Century
Fox)
●
Macmillan (Holtzbrinck)
ECONOMICS OF BOOK PUBLISHING: WHO OWNS
WHAT?
5
largest publishers.
With ties to international
media conglomerates.
ECONOMICS OF BOOK PUBLISHING: WHO OWNS
WHAT?
5
#1. Penguin Random
House
large publishers.
With ties to international
media conglomerates.
ECONOMICS OF BOOK PUBLISHING: WHO OWNS
WHAT?
5
#2. Simon &
Schuster
large publishers.
With ties to international
media conglomerates.
ECONOMICS OF BOOK PUBLISHING: WHO OWNS
WHAT?
5
#3. Hachette Book
Group
large publishers.
With ties to international
media conglomerates.
ECONOMICS OF BOOK PUBLISHING: WHO OWNS
WHAT?
5
#4.
HarperCollins
large publishers.
With ties to international
media conglomerates.
ECONOMICS OF BOOK PUBLISHING: WHO OWNS
WHAT?
5
#5.
Macmillan
large publishers.
With ties to international
media conglomerates.
Why does
this matter?
Why this matters beyond effects on democracy
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●
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Eliminates “distinctive style” of older houses.
Able to control production costs.
Huge marketing budgets allow them to
out-promote independent publishers.
STRUCTURE OF THE PUBLISHING: WHO
DOES WHAT?
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Acquisitions Editor
○
○
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Developmental Editor
○
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Fixes problems in writing or length
Design Manager
○
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Handles feedback to author
Coordinates outside judges of the work
Copy Editor
○
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Identifies talent
Handles subsidiary rights
Determines layout and cover design
Marketing and Promotion
BOOK TYPES
●
●
Trade books: Aimed at general readers
○
Fiction and nonfiction
○
Other popular writing, self-help books, etc.
○
Adult and juvenile divisions
Professional books: Target occupational groups
○
Law
○
Business
○
Medicine
○
Technical-scientific
BOOK TYPES
●
Textbooks: Intent to improve literacy rates/education
○
○
○
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Mass market paperbacks
○
○
○
●
Elementary-high school (el-high)
Vocational
College
Smaller & cheaper than trade books
Sold ‘everywhere’
Dime novels in the 1870s.
Instant books
○
Topical books published quickly after an event occurs
BOOK TYPES (cont.)
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●
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Religious titles
Reference books
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Encyclopedias
○
Dictionaries
○
Atlases
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Almanacs
University press titles
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Scholarly works
○
Specialized areas
CONVERGENCE? How?
Electronic and Digital Publishing
Discussion (5 Minutes)
With a partner:
1.
2.
3.
4.
What is the last media you consumed (TV, Movie, etc.) that was based on
a book?
Who published the original book?
a. Did the publisher have any connection to the other media type?
What type of book was it?
Why do you think the book was made into the TV show, movie, etc.
How are different media and media
professions (e.g., radio, TV, advertising,
public relations) associated with books?
●
Relationships beyond Convergence
Relationships beyond convergence…
●
●
●
TV, radio, internet help promote books.
Books are source of ideas for many TV
shows and films.
Ad, PR, marketing promotes books.
Some
History
Proto-Writing
-
-
-
Stems from painting in early
neolithic man
Generally assumed to be
associated with move to
agrarian society
This goes back about 9,000
years with early forms of
counters.
Even by 6,000 BCE, you have
symbols on shells that are
essentially ideographic
Egyptian Writing
-
-
-
-
Earliest writing was done on stone.
What was the necessary technology
for Egyptian Writing according to
Innis?
Papyrus
Earliest findings go back to around
2700 BCE
Writing in hieratic characters
Who ends up using writing on
papyrus?
Civil Service
Writing first and foremost used to
measure time and predict dates of
floods
Phoenecian Writing
-
Derived from Hieroglyphs
Inspires Hebrew, Arabic and
the Greek Alphabet
Defined by the use of sound
signs or phonograms
22 Characters. Understood as
consonants with syllables.
Needed arrangement to
understand
HISTORY: from papyrus to paperback
1. Ancient Times
●
Papyrus.
○
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Parchment
○
○
●
Plant reeds used for writing
Used in Egypt as circa 2400 B.C.E
Treated animal skin
Gradually replaced papyrus
Codex
○
○
○
First protomodern book
Sheets of parchment sewn together
First used by the Romans in the 4th century
HISTORY (continued)
2. Entrepreneurial Stage
●
Manuscript Culture: Medieval Times
○
●
Block printing invented in China, circa 300 C.E.
○
○
●
Advances in written language and book design
■
Illuminated manuscripts first seen
■
Grammar rules developed
Made mechanical production of book possible
Diamond Sutra oldest dated block-printed book
Chinese invent movable type, 1000 C.E.
○
Major improvement in speed
Before the Printing
Press
-
-
-
Early printing comes from Asia.
Western printing exists before
the “printing press” in the form
of screw presses.
Aside from the printing press,
scribes made copies of texts.
Early scribe material is vellum
Occurred in scriptoria
Early writing material is
vellum
On being a copyist: “...it is a most meritorious work, more beneficial to
the health than working in the fields, which profits only a man’s body,
while the labor of the copyist profits the soul....”
The Christian Church had a
monopoly on literacy; they
preserved not only
philosophical and religious
works, but secular ones as
well.
https://www.history.com/shows/mankind-thestory-of-all-of-us/videos/the-printing-press
From the Video
1.
2.
3.
What was the problem with writing before Gutenberg’s Press
a. In the hands of elites
What was the true achievement of the press?
a. Ushering in an era of manufacturing (standardization)
What was the effect on the European populace?
a. Flourishing of ideas and curiosity
HISTORY (contd.)
3. Books become mass media
●
Gutenberg invents the printing press, 1453
First modern books produced
Printing press spreads across Europe
Literacy increases
Knowledge spreads
Traditions challenged
Rise of democratic society
○
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Movable Type
Johannes Gutenberg (perhaps)
Resume
Born: Mainz, Germany, circa 1395-8
Died: Feb. 3, 1468 (aged 70)
1445: Partnered with lawyer Johann Fust, who supplied Gutenberg with funding
1455: Published Gutenberg Bible (or 42-line Bible); 180 copies were printed.
Before completion, Fust demanded his money back. Gutenberg, broke, was unable to pay. Court awarded
Fust their print shop and printing materials.
Legacy: Gutenberg’s invention of mechanical movable type started the Printing Revolution, which spread
learning to the masses.
One press run could publish 70 to 270 copies. More book at cheaper rates meant that prices fell, and reading
spread!
Gutenberg bible was the first “bestseller” in history
Martin Luther leads Protestant Revolt vs.
Roman Catholic Church
Martin Luther, 1517
95 Theses
Among others, the Theses denounced
the selling of indulgences, or releases
from your sins.
The Word of the Bible Spreads
• Cheap copies and translation into Hebrew and Greek from Latin
provided the foundation for a common language.
• King James Version of the Bible in 1611 contained a prose style
(natural & grammatical vs. rhythmic as in poetry).
• Read by millions, became a basis for religious beliefs, American
culture, ethics, politics, morals and social conscience.
HISTORY (contd.)
4. Books become mass media
● Publishing industry develops, 1800s
○
○
First American book, Bay of Psalms, 1640 by Stephen Daye
Paperbacks, mid-1800s
■
○
Offset Printing (lithography), early 1900s
■
●
Led to dime novels, pulp fiction
Reduces cost, speeds production, satisfied growing demands
Publishing Industry declines in early 1900s
○
○
Depression
World wars
Censorship
Index of Prohibited Books
1954, Catholic Church, responded to common people having access to
the Bible & Protestant works that challenged their doctrines.
Index prohibited pornography, books on magic and demonology, and
certain political works. It was updated every 50 years.
Now, most have access to information—via free libraries, the Internet,
etc...
Pamphlet – Intro to the Sensational
Visual (bias)
Dramatic
4-pg. publication
on a single news
event
CENSORSHIP AND BANNING
Books cannot be BANNED or ‘CENSORED’ in the U.S.
But a book removal is possible if enough people file a
“challenge.”
CENSORSHIP AND BANNING
●
●
●
Book challenge — a formal complaint about objectionable
subject matter.
Often to “protect children in the name of community values.”
Reasons for attempting to remove books from schools and
libraries:
○
○
○
○
○
sexually explicit passages
occult themes
violence
‘homosexual’ themes
racism
Censorship (cont’d)
Framing Persepolis
●
●
●
●
●
●
Persepolis is written by Marjane Satrapi and released in
English in 2003.
It appeared on best book lists that year in The New York
Times and Time magazine among others
In 2007 it was made into a movie (Satrapi was involved).
That film won the Cannes Film Jury Prize.
Starting in 2013 the book was challenged in Chicago Public
Schools due to “graphic language and images that are not
appropriate for general use.”
Since, it has appeared in the American Library
Association’s Top Ten List of Frequently Challenged Books.
Further districts have banned it for similar reasons.
Framing Persepolis
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●
●
●
With a neighbor answer the following:
Think through where you could find media frames.
(Make a list).
With each item on your list state some things you
would look for to identify frames (ex: from previous
slide)You may use your phone to do a brief analysis of
how the issue is framed from this article in The Verge:
https://www.theverge.com/2013/3/25/4144958/chica
go-public-schools-bans-persepolis-graphic-novel-fromschools (or find an article of your own)
What is missing from this frame?
Hollywood and Beyond
Your Questions (Part 1)
Movies, History and Culture
Predecessors to Film
Arrival of a Train at La
Ciotat (1896)
Exiting the Factory (1895)
The Lumiere Brothers
The Kinetoscope
Early Film Consumption
The Nickelodeon
Silent Films
By the middle of the 1910s
most filmmakers move to
Southern California.
Why?
Prewar Hollywood (The Golden Age of Hollywood)
The Studio System
US v Paramount Pictures (1948)
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⬜
Hollywood Ten Imprisoned (Cold War)
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Moving to the Suburbs (50s - 60s)
◻
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As TV Challenged Hollywood
◻
◻
Movies feature more serious content that television
stayed away from at the time.
⬜ Alcoholism: The Lost Weekend
⬜ Sexuality: Peyton Place, Lolita
⬜ Motion Picture Production Code (MPPA) launches
ratings system
Movies develop new technologies
⬜ Technicolor, stereophonic sound, Cinerama,
CinemaScope, VistaVision, etc.
Final Thoughts on Hollywood History
The Film Industry
The way films are made (sort of)
Theater
Directors
Writer
Producer
Actors
Technical
Control all of these?
Vertical Integration
Distributors
Theater
Theater
Production, Distribution and Exhibition Today
◻
◻
Development of
megaplexes in the 1990s
◻
IMAX screens and digital
projectors in the 2000s
◻
Screen non-movie events
⬜
⬜
⬜
⬜
■
⬜
⬜
Live sports,
concerts, etc.
Most Popular Filming Locations?
Source:
Most Popular Movie Genres?
Source:
The
big
Major Players
86% commercial film revenue
|6
◻
Warner Brothers
◻
Paramount
Pictures
◻
20th Century Fox
◻
Universal
◻
Columbia Pictures
◻
Disney
Diversification in the 1980s: heavy promotion + synergy + flood of corporate mergers
“(W)e currently find ourselves enmeshed and implicated in an immense
media economy characterized by consolidation of power and
corporate ownership in just a few hands. This phenomenon,
combined with the advent of the Internet, has made our modern
media world markedly distinct from that of earlier generations—at
least in economic terms.”
Your Questions (Part 2)
How did the MCU come into being?
How did the MCU come into being?
Media Industries
How we got here…
From Industrial to Information Society
THE STRUCTURE OF THE MEDIA
INDUSTRY
More consumer
choice
Less consumer
choice
More competitive More concentrated
Perfect
Competition
Limited
Competition
Oligopoly
Monopoly
1. Monopoly
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2. Oligopoly
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2. Oligopoly
3. Limited competition
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What are the
implications?
○
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Democracy?
Free market?
What are the
remedies?
Government role?
Citizens’ role?
Question: We discussed 4
structures of media industries.
Which one do you think
Hollywood is? Why? It would
make me happy for you to use
MCU in your example.
The Age of Hegemony
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Going Global: Cultural Imperialism
Going Global: Cultural Imperialism
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⬜
Western media as cultural
exports…
⬜
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Defenders say it…
Cultural Imperialism: Some Questions
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David doesn’t always slay
Goliath.
●
Breaking Hollywood’s
Hegemony
Alternatives to Hollywood
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• More than 50% of domestic revenue for Hollywood studios comes from
video/DVD rentals
• DVD sales declining
• Blu-ray has not helped improve video store sales.
• Internet streaming is the future (and present).
• 2012: first year digital outpaced physical DVDs
• Hollywood partners with streaming services (Netflix, Hulu, Amazon)
Let’s Talk about Radio
Midterm
Insights
What is one success you have had in the
course so far:
◍
◍
◍
◍
◍
“so far in this course, I believe I have
been most successful in actually learning
the content and more about media all around
us. even though I didn't do the best on my
digital detox assignment, I feel that I
found a great amount of success out of it.”
Being critical of media
Learning the content (the
history and power of media)
Lectures are connected to the
readings and the assignments
Media Use Journal/Digital
Detoxes
Happy with grades so far
“I have really liked how lecture ties into
our out of class assignments such as the
papers we write.”
“Learning more about media framing and
media literacy!”
3
What is one thing you have struggled with
in the course so far?
◍
◍
◍
◍
“I have struggled with time management.
This course comes fairly easy to me but
planning out my time on when to start
essays have been difficult”
No struggles
Time management/information
overload (general student
issues)
Remembering the history of
media/the different
approaches to media analysis
Identifying what is important
to learn
“Keeping organized of what is useful from
the slides since there is a lot of
information on the slides, but not all of
it is needed for quizzes or essays.”
“One thing I have struggled with is knowing
what is important. It often feels like an
information overload with the lecture and
the readings. It is hard to distinguish
what concepts are most important.”
4
What is one thing you would like to change
in the past assignments, quizzes, and tests?
“I wish there was more time for the
questions for each class because i have
wifi issues which makes it hard for me”
◍
Quizzes, such as:
◌ weighted more, longer
time period, less of
them, no time limit,
consistency with what is
in the quizzes and what
is covered
◍ Nothing so far
◍ Have all assignments open at
the start of the semester
“I don't see any need to change.”
“A friend and I noticed the last
quiz had a question that was not
the book and we didn't get to in
got a point off for that. I like
of the class otherwise.”
weekly
covered in
class so I
the set up
“I want do some quizzes.”
“I would like to change all of my lower
grades to higher ones.”
5
What is one thing you would like to change
in class lectures?
◍
◍
◍
◍
“I really enjoy the lectures, I feel they
are very informative and helpful. I would
not change them.”
Lectures are great!
More group exercises or
interactivity
Slow down
More visuals/videos
“I think that the group/partner exercises
are very helpful and that we should do
more of them. It helps me understand what
we're being taught and shows me how and
why it applies to real life.”
“I wish the lectures were a little slower
and more in depth on certain topics just
because some students, including myself,
may not be journalism majors”
6
Name one media-related topic you would
like to see covered in the rest of the term:
“I would love to see more of how media
affects people in terms of mentality”
◍
◍
◍
◍
Media effects
Video games
International media
Social media (specific
platforms too)
◍ Film history/production and
Television
◍ Copyright/media law
“I'm really interested to learn about
phones and social media and how they are
hijacking our brains!! Love that stuff.”
“I really want to hear about online gaming
and how it relates to society because it
definitely was huge for a lot of people
our age.”
“I would love to talk more
movies and tv shows impact
everyday realities or ways
think that would be really
7
about how
society’s
of thinking. I
interesting:).”
Immediate Changes
1. Shorten Lecture Slides (max at 30, most at
20).
2. Identify at the beginning of every lecture
key terms.
3. Quiz time extended to 30 minutes each week.
Extended time for both tests as well.
4. At least one activity and/or increased
visuals each class.
5. All assignments up on Canvas by this SUNDAY
6. Slides will also include important reading
pages.
8
“
And now for one “midterm” evaluation of
the class from my end.
9
What are the unique
features of Radio as a
medium?
Radio: What You Need to Know
Part 1: The Technology
Technologies Leading to Radio
●
●
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Telegraph: precursor to radio
○ Developed in 1840s
Samuel Morse & the Morse code
○ Developed a system for sending electrical impulse: transmitter à cable à
receiver
○ First telegraph line: linked Baltimore, DC, & Maryland.
○ First transatlantic cable: from Newfoundland to Ireland.
○ Limitations of telegraph?
¨“Telegraph without wires:” Radio waves
○ Theory by Scottish physicist James Maxwell
○ Tested by German physicists Heinrich Hertz.
○ Popov, Tesla work on similar inventions.
Key Inventors
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Part 2: Move to Mass
Medium
Key: Radio becomes a
shared resource for public
good.
Radio Regulated for a Public Good
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What Happened with the Titanic?
Part 3: American Networks
and The Golden Age of
Radio
The Networks
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Regulators Respond
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The Golden Age of Radio: 1920s-1940s
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Golden Age of Radio: War of the Worlds
Part 4: Contemporary Radio
Today’s Question: Name one
of the popular radio format
specializations we spoke
about in class. Do you think
it's still important? Why?
Evolutions to Contemporary Radio
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Format Specializations
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Convergence: Radio Goes Digital
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Traditional Economics
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Contemporary Economics
Contemporary “Radio” Differences
What are Podcasts
“Important” Pages for Next Class
Activity: War of the Worlds Redux
Activity: War of the Worlds Redux
Some Extra Slides
Popular Shows During the
Golden Age of Radio
st
Amos n’ Andy - 1 popular show
On radio
1928 – 1960
On TV
1951- 1953,
Withdrawn 1966
Lowbrow, stereotyped
humor, offensive to African
Americans.
Less controversial at the time
than the present.
Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll, two white actors, gave humorous
portrayals of African Americans around a barber shop and taxi service.
The show was stereotyped and offensive by modern standards.
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●
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Comic strip NY Daily
News 1924
“Gee whiskers”
“Leapin' lizards!”
Ovaltine sponsors
wrote radio scripts
and shunned comic
strip’s original
political messages
Sidekick: Punjab
On Air 1931 – 1942
NBC Blue network
Lone Ranger
●
On Air
1933 –
1956
NBC
●
“Hi-ho Silver,
Away” tagline
was invented
moments from
first airtime
Kimo-Sabe
means Faithful
Scout
Bruce Beemer played the Lone Ranger on
radio in the 1940s and 50s
On Air
1937 –
1940s
CBS
● Radio debut in 1930
as narrator for
Detective Story Hour
● Comics followed
● Shadow program
1937
● Orson Welles
narrated 1937-38
● Batman was a
take-off
NBC Chase & Sanborn Hour
● NBC’s main Sunday night program
● Starred Charlie McCarthy & Edgar Bergen
● Also:
◦ Eddie Cantor
◦ Jimmie Durante
◦ Dorothy Lamour
◦ Bob Hope
◦ Nelson Eddy
◦ Don Ameche
◦ Mae West (banned in 1938)
Mae West in the Garden of Eden
With
“If trouble is something that
makes your blood run like
seltzer water, mmh, Adam, give
me trouble… “
Big trouble from the FCC, Dec.
12, 1937
Radio, News and
Propaganda
FDR’s Fireside Chats
1933 – 1944
30 informal talks
Started as NY
governor 1929
Term coined by CBS
exec, not Roosevelt,
but he adopted it.
Edward R. Murrow, William Shirer
CBS “director
of talks”
Covered
London as war
broke out
Shirer based in
Berlin
Father Charles Coughlin
“Hate speech” on the radio
Weekly broadcasts 1926 – 1940
16 million listeners in mid-1930s
Anti-communist, antisemitic, isolationist, conspiracy theorist
Openly sympathetic to Hitler
Direct paraphrasing Nazi propaganda
Secretly took $ from Nazis
NBC, CBS refused to run program after Kristalnacht comment in
1938:
"Jewish persecution only followed after Christians first were
persecuted.”
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