Professor Victoria Johnson noted that the 2000 election season had so far been characterized by particularly fierce debates regarding the media and American politics—from arguments regarding taste and “morality” in public service, to concerns over free-speech, privacy and the internet, to debates over violence on television and film screens and in popular music. While such concerns may seem particularly contemporary, Johnson's session emphasized and allowed participants to think about present debates regarding the media and American politics through a historical framework. We traced and examined the central, recurring themes that have informed American debates about politics and the popular media (radio, film, television, the internet, popular music). We also discussed ways to encourage today’s students, who are already keenly media savvy, to think critically about the contemporary media environment.
Victoria E. Johnson is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also affiliated with the University Program in Cultural Studies and recently served as a Kenan Fellow with the Institute for Arts and Humanities at UNC. Dr. Johnson teaches courses in media history, criticism, and cultural theory. She has published several articles in journals and anthologies such as Film Quarterly, Continuum, The Velvet Light Trap, Spike Lee’s Do the Right Thing, and The Revolution Wasn’t Televised, concerning American network television and film and the politics of geography and race in popular media.