Elucidates the historical inquiry into Anglo-American mass communication studies. Argues that they can be reduced to three versions: mass communication research, the New Left, and the cultural version. Shows how the field's history writing has been caught in complex ways in its inner developments and paradigmatic struggles. (SR)

Discusses George Gallup's crusade to establish polling's scientific and cultural legitimacy that mythologized its history of "progress"; deflected doubts about its accuracy and technical procedures with a rhetoric of scientific of mystification; and celebrated the collective wisdom of "the people." Shows how Gallup's…

The seeds of mass communication research in broadcasting were extracurricular, not academic, inspired by experimental campus radio stations. Prior to the mid-1930s, radio research was scarce. Until World War II, radio speech was the most important topic, followed by articles on how to use radio for improving instruction. There are three…