ABSTRACT
You might think critical, scholarly concerns began in the 1800s. But in those days there were no scholars of mass communication, and few attributed powerful effects to the daily press. True, Kennedy’s adroit use of television, especially in the presidential debates, was much discussed. And, yes, The Simpsons was an iconic television program that spawned imitators and led researchers to speculate about the role it played in political socialization. But scholarly concerns about political media effects began in earnest in the 1920s, in the wake of criticism of a U.S. communication campaign to mobilize support for America’s participation in World War I and the development of a powerful mass media.
