Skip to main content

Making Sense of Television

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
A Post-Nationalist History of Television in Ireland
  • 135 Accesses

Abstract

In the 1950s, newspapers, among other media, helped to create among the public a sense of what television was, and how it would and should be used. These representations were part of a mutually shaping relationship between culture and communication technology. Established media provided the questions, language and associations that were used to understand emerging media forms. Brennan explores the ideas that surrounded television before it became a taken-for-granted part of Irish homes by examining newspaper representations of television. Television was represented within an internationally prominent hopes and fears discourse. The medium was also represented and discussed in relation to gender and social class. Brennan argues that the meanings attached to television were in place before most Irish people encountered their first television set.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • “Any Time’s TV Time.” The Irish Times, February 22, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Barbrook, Richard. Imaginary Futures: From Thinking Machines to the Global Village. London: Pluto Press, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boden, Eric. “Television—A Giant in a Hurry.” Sunday Independent, January 29, 1950.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Boys Accused of Shooting Father as He Dozed.” The Irish Times, March 5, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Britain’s Listeners and Viewers.” Irish Independent, February 3, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • Collie, Hazel, Mary Irwin, Rachel Moseley, Helen Wheatley, and Helen Wood. “Researching the History of Television for Women in Britain, 1947–1989.” Media History 19, no. 1 (2013): 107–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • “Commercial TV Should Be Restricted—Archbishop.” The Irish Times, June 29, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cook, Frederick. “Let’s Face It—This Habit Is Changing a Nation”. The Irish Times, March 5, 1949.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Demand for Receivers Is Soaring: New Era for Television in Ireland.” Irish Independent, October 14, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Dublin Letter.” The Cork Examiner, September 26, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Dublin Letter Hire Purchase.” Strabane Chronicle, February 28, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Encyclical on Films, Radio and Television: Call for More Catholic Programmes.” Irish Independent, September 27, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Falling TV Aerial Smashes Chimneys.” Irish Independent, April 14, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Five-Million TV Licences.” Cork Examiner, November 24, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • Galtung, Johan, and Mari Holmboe Ruge. “The Structure of Foreign News: The Presentation of the Congo, Cuba and Cyprus Crises in Four Norwegian Newspapers.” Journal of Peace Research 2, no. 1 (1965): 64–90.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • “Good Reception Creates Demand for Sets.” Irish Independent, October 3, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Hamilton and Hamilton Ad.” The Irish Times, September 5, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Hire Purchase Dangers of System Outlined.” Irish Independent, November 1, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Hire Purchase in Republic of Ireland.” Strabane Chronicle, February 15, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Hire-Purchase Restrictions Eased.” The Irish Times, February 18, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Housewife Arrested.” The Cork Examiner, December 4, 1967.

    Google Scholar 

  • “HP Controls Lifted in Britain.” Cork Examiner, October 28, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Ideal Homes Exhibition.” Cork Examiner, April 24, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Inquiry into Television.” Irish Independent, April 15, 1952.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Is There TV in the House?” The Irish Times, June 26, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • Irwin, John. “Television Is Coming Nearer.” Sunday Independent, December 28, 1947.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jurca, Catherine. “Hollywood, the Dream House Factory.” Cinema Journal 37, no. 4 (1998): 19–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kelly, Barbara M. Expanding the American Dream: Building and Rebuilding Levittown. Albany: SUNY Press, 1993.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kitch, Carolyn. “‘Useful Memory’ in Time Inc. Magazines: Summary Journalism and the Popular Construction of History.” Journalism Studies 7, no. 1 (2006): 94–110.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mac Loughlin, Adrian. “Like Everything That Comes Out of Tubes the Telly Is Here for Keeps.” Sunday Independent, October 4, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • “‘Master’ TV Aerials for Flats.” The Evening Herald, January 24, 1961.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minow, Newton. “Television and the Public Interest.” May 9, 1961. American Rhetoric: Online Speech Bank. https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/newtonminow.htm.

  • Mitchell, Caroline. “Around the Shops.” The Irish Times, February 21, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Morash, Chris. A History of the Media in Ireland. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Mr Gorham Studies New Ideas.” The Irish Times, January 13, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  • “North’s First View of Television.” The Irish Times, April 23, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  • “North’s New Television Station.” Irish Independent, July 22, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • O’Grady, Denis. “The Lonely World in Front of the Cameras.” Irish Independent, March 3, 1961.

    Google Scholar 

  • Penati, Cecilia. 2013. “’Remembering Our First TV Set’ Personal Memories as a Source for Television Audience History.” VIEW: The Journal of Television History and Culture 2, no. 3: 4–12. Online: http://www.viewjournal.eu/index.php/view/article/view/jethc026/48.

  • “Pim’s Ad.” Irish Independent, May, 13, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Priest on Risks of Excessive Hire Purchase.” Irish Independent, December 9, 1957.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pudney, John. “Television Causes Social Change.” Irish Independent, April 25, 1950.

    Google Scholar 

  • “PYE Rings Up the Curtain on Home Entertainment.” The Irish Press, October 14, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raphael, Tim. “The Body Electric: GE, TV, and the Reagan Brand.” The Drama Review 53, no. 2 (2009): 113–138.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • “Rival TV Makes Debut in Britain.” Cork Examiner, September 23, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Rural Electrification First Phase: 1946–1965.” Online: https://esbarchives.ie/2016/03/21/rural-process/.

  • Savage, Robert. Irish Television: The Political and Social Origins. Cork: Cork University Press, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiller, Herbert. “The International Commercialisation of Broadcasting.” In Approaches to Media: A Reader, edited by Oliver Boyd-Barrett and Chris Newbold, 193–200. London: Arnold, 1995.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Sore Eyes: Is Television Dangerous?” The Irish Times, July 25, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Special Interest for Housewife.” Evening Herald, September 25, 1961.

    Google Scholar 

  • Spigel, Lynn. Make Room for TV: Television and the Family Ideal in Postwar America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1992.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • “Survey of Viewers Reactions in 1958: Spread of TV in Britain and the Six Counties.” The Irish Press, February 11, 1959.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Tailor-Made TV for Ireland? Minister Interested in New Device.” The Irish Times, February 21, 1953.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Television and Delinquency.” Irish Independent, September 5, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Television and Fires.” Cork Examiner, October 7, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Television Era for Ireland ‘Not Far Away’.” The Irish Times, June 25, 1952.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Television in America.” Irish Independent, August 25, 1951.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Television in Britain.” Cork Examiner, March 28, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Television in North.” The Irish Times, March 26, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Television in the Dublin Workers’ Homes.” Connacht Tribune, December 29, 1956.

    Google Scholar 

  • “The Effects of Television.” Irish Independent, October 1, 1952.

    Google Scholar 

  • “The Heart of the Home.” The Irish Times, December 15, 1958.

    Google Scholar 

  • “The T.V. Forest.” Connacht Tribune, February 27, 1960.

    Google Scholar 

  • “T.V. Beats ‘Books’.” Cork Examiner, November 16, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • “T.V. Window.” Cork Examiner, December 23, 1955.

    Google Scholar 

  • “Warns on Dangers of Evil from Television.” Irish Independent, July 21, 1961.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Brennan, E. (2019). Making Sense of Television. In: A Post-Nationalist History of Television in Ireland. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96860-5_4

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics