Publication Date

5-1993

Advisor(s) - Committee Chair

Dale Wicklander, Carl Kell, Larry Winn, Loren Ruff

Degree Program

Department of Communication

Degree Type

Master of Arts

Abstract

This thesis chronicles the development of Henderson and its media. Unlike most pioneering towns that sprung up west of the Allegheny and Appalachian Mountains during the 18th century, Henderson assumed a unique position in the development of the Midwest as an important and major tobacco port, as an agricultural conduit to the North and industrial path to the South. and as an outpost of trade to the West. A clearer picture of its aggressive nature becomes evident by tracing the hard-fought beginnings of the region. As Henderson grew in importance, so did its lust grow for excitement and entertainment. Compared to the gleaming major Atlantic seaports of the youthful nation. Henderson sparkled like a diamond amongst the rough and crude Midwest settlements by providing residents and travelers inland entertainment at its Ohio riverport.

Two overlapping questions embrace the focus of the study: what caused the underlying pride of development that Henderson obviously possesses? Why, too, has Henderson had such an extensive amount of media from which to choose?

The questions serve as a blueprint for depicting the cultural growth and the impact of media that has existed in Henderson and for its smaller surrounding communities. Information will come from printed newspaper articles, books of Henderson and Henderson County history, interviews with some of those few remaining theater operators, phonograph operators, and broadcasters. use my twenty-years' experience of working in radio and television production, sales, and management to interpret the jargon of their craft and to make their information more meaningful to the reader.

Disciplines

Arts and Humanities | Broadcast and Video Studies | Communication | Cultural History | History | Mass Communication | Social and Behavioral Sciences | Social History | Social Influence and Political Communication | United States History

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