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Radio news made its appearance in the 1920s. The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) and the Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) began running sponsored news programs and radio dramas. Comedy programs, such as
Amos ’n’ Andy ,
The Adventures of Gracie , and
Easy Aces , also became popular during the 1930s, as listeners were trying to find humor during the Depression (
[link] ). Talk shows, religious shows, and educational programs followed, and by the late 1930s, game shows and quiz shows were added to the airwaves. Almost 83 percent of households had a radio by 1940, and most tuned in regularly.
“1940 Census,” http://www.census.gov/1940census (September 6, 2015).
Not just something to be enjoyed by those in the city, the proliferation of the radio brought communications to rural America as well. News and entertainment programs were also targeted to rural communities. WLS in Chicago provided the
National Farm and Home Hour and the
WLS Barn Dance . WSM in Nashville began to broadcast the live music show called the
Grand Ole Opry , which is still broadcast every week and is the longest live broadcast radio show in U.S. history.
Steve Craig. 2009.
Out of the Dark: A History of Radio and Rural America . Tuscaloosa, AL: University of Alabama Press.
As radio listenership grew, politicians realized that the medium offered a way to reach the public in a personal manner. Warren Harding was the first president to regularly give speeches over the radio. President Herbert Hoover used radio as well, mainly to announce government programs on aid and unemployment relief.
“Herbert Hoover: Radio Address to the Nation on Unemployment Relief,”
The American Presidency Project , 18 October 1931, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=22855. Yet it was Franklin D.
Roosevelt who became famous for harnessing the political power of radio. On entering office in March 1933, President Roosevelt needed to quiet public fears about the economy and prevent people from removing their money from the banks. He delivered his first radio speech eight days after assuming the presidency:
“My friends: I want to talk for a few minutes with the people of the United States about banking—to talk with the comparatively few who understand the mechanics of banking, but more particularly with the overwhelming majority of you who use banks for the making of deposits and the drawing of checks. I want to tell you what has been done in the last few days, and why it was done, and what the next steps are going to be.”“Franklin Delano Roosevelt: First Fireside Chat,” http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/fdrfirstfiresidechat.html (August 20, 2015).
Roosevelt spoke directly to the people and addressed them as equals. One listener described the chats as soothing, with the president acting like a father, sitting in the room with the family, cutting through the political nonsense and describing what help he needed from each family member.
“The Fireside Chats,” https://www.history.com/topics/fireside-chats (November 20, 2015); Fellow.
American Media History , 256. Roosevelt would sit down and explain his ideas and actions directly to the people on a regular basis, confident that he could convince voters of their value.
“FDR: A Voice of Hope,” http://www.history.com/topics/fireside-chats (September 10, 2015). His speeches became known as “
fireside chats ” and formed an important way for him to promote his New Deal agenda (
[link] ). Roosevelt’s combination of persuasive rhetoric and the media allowed him to expand both the government and the presidency beyond their traditional roles.
Mary E. Stuckey. 2012. “FDR, the Rhetoric of Vision, and the Creation of a National Synoptic State.”
Quarterly Journal of Speech 98, No. 3: 297–319.
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