Reading Questions
Susan Douglas, Inventing American Broadcasting,
Chapters 5 & 6

Chapter 5

  1. How did the press shift in its attitude toward wireless between 1906 & 1911 according to Douglas? Does this shift still fit with the bias Douglas noted in Chapter 1?
  2. What were some of the real limitations/weaknesses of wireless technology at the beginning of this period that contributed to or supported the press' biased overage? What about real business/market occurrences that contributed?
  3. Douglas argues that contrary to much of the popular press coverage of the era, significant (and interesting) changes occurred "behind the scenes" (p. 185), that set the stage for the eventual emergence of radio broadcasting. Explain these changes by tracing the business, personal and technological advances and/or setbacks of the four inventor entrepreneurs--Stone, Fessenden, De Forest & Marconi--during this time period.
  4. What is an alternator, and what is an "audion"? Why is each significant? Who is associated with the development of each?
  5. What is the significance of the United Wireless Telegraph Co.? Who founded it, and what happened to it?

    6.  

    Chapter 6

  6. In the period dealt with in this chapter (1906-1912), how did the media characterize amateurs? Why do you think they treated them this way?
  7. What views of the relationship between technological mastery and masculinity permeated popular culture during this era, according to Douglas?
  8. Who was Jack Bins and what did he do that was significant?
  9. What advantages did amateurs have over commercial and military operators?
  10. Why did a struggle for control of the ether begin to take shape in this era?
  11. What were the charges & countercharges issued by the navy and the amateur operators against each other? What were bases of the claims of each group for rights to the "ether"?