COM 340: History of Mass Communication: Background & Context

Before you research media coverage of the student movement in the late 1960s, it's going to be helpful to know a bit background info. The wikipedia article is a good start, but you should know a bit more about the period.

• What else was happening in 1967? A chronology such as American Decades might help.
  
  
• Through the chronology you discover that the Vietnam War was happening. A look at the Encyclopedia of media and propaganda in wartime America will give you information about media reporting and propaganda about the war.
  
  
• Encyclopedias can help you to identify key people, terms and organizations that you can use to find relevant secondary texts (using the sources listed under the tab "Secondary Texts"). They will give you a jump start on your research by listing important books in the bibliography at the end of the encyclopedia entry.
  
  
• What was life like in 1967? You will get a feel for the period by browsing through magazines and newspapers from the time or looking at old photos. See the sources under the tab "Primary Texts."

Photo from AP Images

The encyclopedias listed on this page are just a small selection from the hundreds that are available online and in print at the UW Libraries. Search UW WorldCat to find additional ones.  Try searches like:

• journalism AND encyclopedia
  
• vietnam AND encyclopedia