Journal of Radio Studies

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Radio magazines and the development of

broadcasting: Radio broadcast and radio news,
1922–1930

Michael Brown

To cite this article: Michael Brown (1998) Radio magazines and the development of broadcasting:
Radio�broadcast and radio�news, 1922–1930, Journal of Radio Studies, 5:1, 68-81, DOI:
10.1080/19376529809384530

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 Journal of Radio Studies/Volume 5, No. 1,1998

Radio Magazines
and the Development of Broadcasting:
Radio Broadcast and Radio News, 1922-1930
Michael Brown

This paper explores the development of two early popular radio maga-
zines: Radio Broadcast and Radio News. The two magazines developed
along with the emerging broadcast industry during the 1920s. The histori-
cal review and content analysis of the magazines revealed that they
enjoyed a great deal of success in the early 1920s by appealing to amateur
radio enthusiasts. Both started as general literary magazines and pre-
sented a diversity of content including technical training, literature, forums
for exchange, contests, and descriptions of the varied uses of radio. As the
broadcasting industry became more clearly defined, the two magazines
narrowed their appeal to a technical audience rather than broadcasters. As
a result, neither magazine emerged as a significant voice for broadcasting.

"First, last, and always we are for 'Better Radio.'" Radio Broadcast
(May 1923, p. 3)

"Only radio—100% of it—nothing else." Radio News (July 1919,

p.1)

The electronic media that emerged in the early 1900s helped build and main-
tain communities of people with shared interests in the new media (Susman,
1984). American magazines followed this interest by serving new institutions
and new "little publics" with trade or fan magazines. The magazines intro-
duced new ideas, presented critical discussions, interpreted events, brought
buyers and sellers together, and maintained a membership's ideological course
(Dahlgren & Sparks, 1992; G. Douglas, 1987; Peterson, 1968; Tebbel &
Zuckerman, 1991). Magazines provided one site where groups of people
could be entertained, could be educated about their common heritage and

Michael Brown (Ph.D., University of Utah, 1994) is Assistant Professor in the

Department of Communication and Mass Media at The University of Wyoming.
His primary area of research is media history.
 Brown/RADIO MAGAZINES 69

activities, and could build a sense of community (Peterson, 1968). Broad-

casting was one of the new institutions that created special interest audi-
ences for the early trade and fan magazines during the 1920s.
Prior to the rise in broadcasting, magazines such as Electrical World
regularly provided technical and theoretical information about wireless com-
munication to a scientific audience (S. Douglas, 1988; Mott, 1957), while
amateur experimenters read popular publications such as Modern Electrics.
The popular magazines promoted wireless technology and provided techni-
cal information, partly to promote sales of radio apparatus (S. Douglas, 1988).
Most of the early popular wireless magazines contained technical informa-
tion written for amateurs and hobbyists. That changed in the early 1920s as
the emerging broadcasting industry and the popularity of radio provided an
expanding market. Radio News, one of the earliest successful radio maga-
zines, reported that more than 40 "good, bad and indifferent" radio maga-
zines had been started in 1922 to serve the booming radio market (Septem-
ber 1922, p. 426). These magazines, including Radio Broadcast, signaled
the arrival of a new kind of general-interest magazine that presented a mix
of fanfare and technical information (Sterling & Kittross, 1978). By 1924,
more than 30 radio magazines were supported by a large number of adver-
tisers and a combined circulation of more than 1 million readers (G. Douglas,
1987). A Printer's Ink survey of radio magazine advertising, reprinted in
Radio Broadcast for several months in 1925 and 1926, identified Radio
Broadcast and Radio News as the two leaders in advertising among radio
magazines. Other popular radio magazines included Modern Wireless, Popu-
lar Radio, QST, Radio, Radio Age, Radio in the Home, Radio Review, Wire-
less Constructor, Wireless Magazine, and Wireless World.
Print journalism helped define the patterns of ideas and beliefs about
early radio in American society (S. Douglas, 1988) and, as radio broad-
casting developed through the 1920s, magazines helped amateurs, fans,
broadcasters, manufacturers, sales and service workers, and engineers to
find their place in the new radio industry. Radio magazines proved valu-
able to both the broadcasting industry and amateur enthusiasts. According
to H. P. Davis (1930), the vice president of Westinghouse, KDKA's initial
broadcasts were successful enough that Westinghouse began publishing a
small magazine called Radio Broadcasting News as a way to distribute
program content to newspapers. Eventually Radio Broadcasting News was
distributed to more than 2,000 newspapers and, according to Davis,
accounted for much of the initial success of KDKA. Hiram Maxim (1930),
president of the American Radio Relay League, believed that QST, a maga-
zine for radio amateurs, served a vital function by providing a place to
gather, share experiences, and build a sense of community. As a conse-
quence, amateurs improved their technical competence and gained more
political influence.
70 Journal of Radio StudiesAfol 5, No. 1, 1998

Radio magazines have also proven useful to broadcast historians as

historical resources (Barnouw, 1966; G. Douglas, 1987; Smulyan, 1994).
Although magazines have been an important part of radio history, little
research has explored their content. This paper analyzes the content of two
popular radio magazines, Radio Broadcast and Radio News, to identify their
audience and the service they provided during the development of broad-
casting. Several steps were used to complete the content analysis: First, a
contextual base was built by describing the organizational history of the two
magazines; second, a method for the content analysis was developed; and
third, the content was analyzed and discussed.

HISTORICAL CONTEXT

Radio Broadcast was first published in May 1922 by Doubleday, Page, and
Company, an established magazine publisher. It was edited by Arthur Lynch,
published monthly, and sold for $.25 per copy or $3 per year subscription.
The content and look of the magazine was similar to other general-interest
magazines of the early 1920s. The cover featured a work of art determined
by a contest held once a year, and every issue started with a frontispiece that
featured significant people, activities, or technology. The first issue's frontis-
piece was a portrait of Marconi. The body of the magazine included a diver-
sity of articles, photographs, and illustrations, a number of regular features,
and a section of advertising, all targeting radio enthusiasts.
Radio Broadcast went through several changes between 1922 and 1930.
In 1924, the price was raised to $.35 per issue, $4 per year for a subscription.
It remained at this price for the life of the magazine. In 1926, Arthur Lynch
was replaced by Willis Wing, and a laboratory director (Keith Henney) and a
technical editor (John Brennan) were added. On its anniversary in 1927,
Radio Broadcast claimed it continued to provide a good service: It operated
two laboratories for technical support, and its content targeted a broad range
of radio interests (October 1927).
The magazine was quite successful through the mid-1920s, but by the
late 1920s, it struggled to find a market. In a rather vague statement, Wing
attempted to clarify Radio Broadcast's position: This magazine is edited for
the reader and what he finds in Radio Broadcast is information—lots of it,
as interestingly, as completely, as accurately presented as we know how.
This magazine will neither be full of inconsequential and slightly sensa-
tional articles about the marvelous potentialities of radio nor will it overflow
with constructional articles on every possible subject having the apparent
purpose of merely using the products of a selected group of radio manufac-
turers" (June 1928, p. 62). In 1929, the frontispiece was eliminated, the cover
art was replaced with an industrial-looking design, and the content was nar-
rowed to appeal to manufacturing, sales, and service. Early in 1929,
 Brown/RADIO MAGAZINES 71

Doubleday distributed a survey through Radio Broadcast to help identify its

readers. Doubleday stated that 84 percent of subscribers were profession-
als, primarily radio equipment dealers, but another 30,000 copies were being
sold through newsstands to an unidentified audience (May 1929). The sur-
vey was an attempt to identify the newsstand buyers. The results were never
published, but from August through November 1929, the contents of the
magazine were divided into two distinct sections: "merchandising" and "tech-
nical." Later the two section headings were dropped, but the content contin-
ued to appeal to manufacturing, sales, and service. Wing's editorial in the
April 1930 issue described future articles; however, April was the final issue
of Radio Broadcast.
Experimenter Publishing Co., owned by Hugo Gernsback, began pub-
lishing Radio News in 1919. In addition to being owner and publisher,
Gernsback was also the editor. Gernsback was particularly interested in radio
and was quite active as an editor and publisher. By early 1926, Experimenter
Publishing Company published three radio magazines: Radio News, Radio
Review, and Radio International. Experimenter also published a number of
radio books, including 1001 Radio Questions and Answers, Amateurs' Hand-
book, 500 Radio Wrinkles, and The Superheterodyne Book. The books were
heavily advertised in Radio News and most of the content came from fea-
tures that appeared in Radio News.
Radio News was published monthly, sold for $.25 per issue or $2.50 per
year, and was a general-interest magazine similar to Radio Broadcast. The
cover illustration was new every month and was produced by artist Howard
Brown in a style similar to Norman Rockwell. The covers were frequently
used in contests held by the magazine. Radio News did not use a frontis-
piece but included a substantial number of photographs and illustrations
throughout the magazine; a statement on the cover of every issue declared
"200 Illustrations." The lead article was an editorial by Gernsback, followed
by numerous regular features, several technical and general-interest articles,
and advertisements. In May 1926, Radio News claimed to have more than
250,000 readers while Radio Broadcast had only 66,000. Gernsback said
the figures were "published by the respective publishers themselves" (p. 1525).
Early in 1928, a reader accused Radio News of being "inspired" by
advertisers because manufacturers' names and technical specifications were
appearing "in text pages" of articles rather than in advertisements or equip-
ment reviews. Gernsback apologized for the transgression and, as restitu-
tion, offered free blueprints ($1-2 value each) for two years to anyone who
requested them. Later Gernsback reported he had given away nearly 2,600
sets of blueprints (May 1928).
The magazine remained mostly unchanged in size and format between
1919 and 1928 under the control of Gernsback, but in May 1929, Gernsback
sold Experimenter Publishing. The new publisher added 16 additional pages
72 Journal of Radio StudiesAfoL 5, No. 1, 1998

of text to the magazine, stopped supplying free blueprints, and named Arthur
Lynch as the new editor. Lynch, who had previously edited Radio Broadcast,
stated that Radio News would continue to focus on general technical infor-
mation and not become a trade magazine. The primary goal of the maga-
zine was to provide a forum where new technical developments could be
created and shared (March 1930). By the 1930s Radio News found an audi-
ence of manufacturers, shortwave and amateur operators, servicemen, and
radio engineers.

METHOD

A primary goal of this research was to generate a viable set of content cat-
egories to describe and classify the content of Radio Broadcast and Radio
News (Smith, 1988; Stempel, 1988). The method used to generate the cat-
egories was based on analytic induction (Bulmer, 1984). Analytic induction
uses a two-step process to develop content categories. The first step devel-
ops primary categories from a small sample of content. The sample used in
this study was the editorial policies and goals explicitly stated in the maga-
zines (for example see Radio Broadcast, May 1923, and Radio News, July
1919 and April 1928). An examination of the editorial policies yielded five
primary content categories common to both magazines: technical informa-
tion, consumer information, policy information, reader participation, and
intelligent use of radio. These five broad categories provided the initial group-
ings for the content analysis of the magazines.
The second step in the analytic induction method tests the primary cat-
egories with a broader sample and is used to make adjustments as the final
content categories become more fully described. The content sample for the
second step consisted of six issues per year for eight years (May 1922 to April
1930). Alternate months were selected each year; that is, the first year (also
third, fifth, and seventh years) included the May, July, September, November,
January, and March issues, and the second year (also fourth, sixth, and eighth
years) included the June, August, October, December, February, and April
issues. For each issue, every article, image (such as a frontispiece or portrait
that was not part of an article), contest, and cartoon was counted. A regular
feature was counted once. For example, a feature devoted to letters to the
editor was counted as a single unit rather than counting each individual letter.
Advertising was examined as a whole rather than as individual advertisements.
The content examined during step two was classified into the primary
categories developed in step one. Both magazines presented technical and
scientific information for constructing and using radio technology; this con-
tent was classified as technical information. Both magazines provided a valu-
able consumer service by reviewing products; content that reviewed equip-
ment or discussed consumer issues, excluding advertising, was classified as
 Brown/RADIO MAGAZINES 73

consumer information. Both magazines promised to evaluate proposed regu-

lation concerning radio; any content that discussed the standardization or
regulation of radio, including discussions of proposed governmental regula-
tion and standardized procedures and symbols from within the radio indus-
try, was classified as policy information. Both magazines described a com-
mitment to the interests and ideas of their readers; any content that involved
interaction with readers was classified as participation. Both magazines
focused on an "intelligent use" and "nothing else" but radio; any content that
discussed the use and integration of radio into society was classified as intel-
ligent use. This category was also used for any content that did not meet the
criteria of the other four categories.
Once the content was classified into the primary categories, adjustments
were made through a second-level content analysis to organize the informa-
tion within each primary category. The secondary categories grouped con-
tent according to similar themes and topics within each primary category.
For example, technical information (primary category) was further divided
into three subcategories (secondary categories). Advertising was classified
as consumer information but was analyzed separately and was not included
in the content analysis.

RESULTS

Technical Information
One of the goals of Radio Broadcast was to present the best technical infor-
mation available. "Our ideal is the publication of one extremely good 'how to
make it' article a month" (May 1925, p. 1). The technical content represented
44 percent of the total content of the magazine (see Table 1). Fifty-eight
percent of the technical content presented instructions for building and main-
taining a variety of radio apparatus. The articles were directed at radio set
builders and many included "How to" in the title. The regular technical fea-
tures focused exclusively on the exchange of technical information needed
to construct and operate equipment. For example, "Laboratory Information
Sheets" reviewed various apparatus based on experiments conducted by
the magazine, and "In the R-B-Lab" recommended tools and procedures. In
1927, several features were added to instruct and inform service techni-
cians. Thirty-two percent of the technical content described the operation of
receivers, loops, circuits, tubes, coils, condensers, and other apparatus. The
final 10 percent provided broad general education, including articles about
radiation, the development of the superheterodyne, the causes of static, how
tubes are made, and other general topics.
The technical information in Radio News represented 43 percent of the
total content (see Table 1). Fifty-one percent of the technical content was "How-
to" information. There were instructions for building control panels, receivers,
74 Journal of Radio StudiesA/o\. 5, No. 1, 1998

cones, loops, and even a "radio dancer" (a small wooden doll placed on a
diaphragm connected to the speaker outlet of a receiver, when the diaphragm
vibrated, the doll danced). A number of regular features, including "Radio News
Labs," "New Developments and Apparatus," "Radio Wrinkles," and "Radio
Beginner" focused on the use of the technology. In 1929, several new techni-
cal features were added that appealed to shortwave operators and service
technicians. Forty-four percent of the technical content described circuits, tubes,
amps, receivers, loops, horns, and other apparatus. The final 5 percent pro-
vided general education about such topics as wave behavior and wavelengths,
technical progress, and theoretical principles appropriate to radio.

Intelligent Use
Radio Broadcast promoted radio as a force that should be "fairly and intel-
ligently used for the benefit of the greatest number" (May 1923, p. 3). Articles
and features about the intelligent use of radio accounted for 44 percent of
the total content (see Table 1). Thirty-eight percent of this content described
the variety of services radio provided to society. Radio was used by land-
lords as a rent inducement. Boys and girls were sent to radio summer camps.
Radio helped people relax. It brought market reports to isolated farmers
and ranchers. Radio delivered religion, information, education, music, and
entertainment. It served airships, lighthouses, police stations, and other
professions.
Twenty-five percent of the intelligent use content concerned broadcast-
ing. On-air personalities, programming, and radio equipment were featured
in articles about 19 different stations, including WEAF, WHB, WNYC, and
WGY. Two regular features covered broadcasting: "Listener's Point of View"
discussed program developments, musicians, actors, and announcers; and
"As the Broadcaster Sees It" featured an "insider's view" of broadcasting.
Radio Broadcast believed in promoting international relations, and 13
percent of the intelligent use content featured foreign topics. Great Britain
received the most coverage, but 12 different countries were represented in
articles. The magazine's primary contribution to international relations was
a number of tests conducted in 1925 and 1926 that were designed to relay
messages across the globe and inspire international cooperation among
radio operators.
Twelve percent of the intelligent use content was literature. One or two
fiction articles, usually illustrated, appeared in every issue through mid-1924.
Topics included the effects of radio on marriage, becoming a radio junkie,
and using the radio to run rum. In addition to fiction, a number of poems were
published from 1923 to 1924. The last literary article appeared in June 1925.
Eight percent of the intelligent use content targeted the radio industry. Radio
Broadcast gave advice and guidance for sales and service, presented infor-
mation about the manufacturing business, and discussed topics such as
 Brown/RADIO MAGAZINES 75

mergers, manufacturing processes, and new merchandise. Most of the

industrial content appeared between 1928 and 1930. The final 4 percent of
the intelligent use content provided historical information about radio, including
a series of articles about the work of DeForest.
The intelligent use of radio was important to Radio News, and 39 per-
cent of the magazine's total content was about intelligent use (see Table 1).
Thirty-seven percent of the content in this category discussed the wide range
of services provided by radio. Radio was a vital tool for the transportation
industry. Diverse groups of people such as surgeons, correspondents, fire
fighters, police, and even the blind and deaf, used radio. Radio was used to
forecast weather, cure cancer, find hidden treasure, operate equipment,
deliver education, and make life in factories and prisons more bearable.
Twenty-five percent of the intelligent use content was literature. Gernsback
believed literature was an important part of radio culture and included a
number of literary works in Radio News. Several poems were published and
every issue included one or two fictional articles.. Most of the articles were
humorous, but others involved drama, mystery, and science fiction. Radio
News published the entries of the winner and finalists of a "radio play" con-
test. There were numerous cartoons called "Radio Terms Illustrated" that
provided humorous visual examples of the terminology used in radio. Fiction
appeared in the magazine until it was sold in 1929.
Thirteen percent of the intelligent use content in Radio News concerned
broadcasting. There were discussions of amateur stations and a few articles
about celebrities and programming, but the majority of articles covered WRNY
in New York City. Every Tuesday night, Gernsback delivered a "talk" over
WRNY. "Broadcastatics," a regular feature, presented jokes and cartoons
about broadcasting. Eleven percent of the intelligent use content discussed
the history of radio. Series of articles chronicled the life and work of DeForest
and Fessenden. An article by Marconi titled "A Dream Come True" described
his early success (March 1930). Seven percent of the intelligent use content
discussed the radio industry, including articles about set manufacturing,
financing, and advertising. The number of features and articles about the
radio industry increased after Radio News was sold in 1929. The final 6
percent of the intelligent use content concerned the international use of ra-
dio. Thirteen different countries were represented in articles. Most of the
articles discussed the growth and development of radio in European coun-
tries, but Russia, Iraq, Australia, Canada, and Japan were also covered. By
1928, international articles no longer appeared in Radio News.

Reader Participation
Radio Broadcast maintained contact with its readers through regular features
and contests. Eight percent of the total content invited reader participation
(see Table 1). Several regular features served as forums for reader interac-
76 Journal of Radio StudiesMol. 5, No. 1,1998

tion: "What Our Readers Write," "Our Readers Suggest," and "Now I Have
Found" provided an exchange of ideas and technical information. Every issue
featured some form of letters from readers. Contests were another way the
magazine invited reader participation. Many contests involved constructing
equipment or tuning in the most distant or largest number of stations. The
cover art on the magazine was decided by contest and was selected for "origi-
nality and general attractiveness." One contest asked, "Who Is to Pay for Broad-
casting and How?" (February 1923). More than 1,000 plans were submitted,
and the winning essay, published in March 1925, advocated a tax of $2 per
tube and $.50 per crystal to be managed by a Federal Bureau of Broadcasting.
After 1926, Radio Broadcast stopped using contests.
Radio News encouraged a great deal of participation by their readers;
11 percent of the total content was participation (see Table 1). There were
frequent contests with broad appeal. One contest asked readers to draw
their ideal radio set, and both men and women winners were recognized.
Several contests asked readers to identify technical errors or name scenes
depicted on the cover. There was a contest for the best radio play and a
contest for creative ways to use old tubes. Participation was encouraged in a
variety of other ways. At least three radio crossword puzzles appeared be-
fore 1924, and several radio "parlour games" were described. "Radio Jingles"
(1926-1927) invited readers to submit four- or five-line stanzas that included
standard circuit symbols in the verse, and "Radiotics" published errors and
oddities found by readers in local radio advertisements. Radio News pub-
lished several regular features with letters from readers, including "Corre-
spondence from Readers" and "Letters from the Home Set Constructor."
Readers shared innovations in "Radio Wrinkles," and "I Want to Know" an-
swered technological questions.

Consumer Information
Two percent of the total content of Radio Broadcast provided consumer
information by reviewing products through articles, pictorials, and features (see
Table 1). The majority of consumer information in Radio Broadcast was pre-
sented as advertising. Because of the large volume of advertised equipment,
Radio Broadcast tested equipment and placed a star in the advertisements of
equipment that proved reliable. The star enabled readers to "buy with confi-
dence" (May 1923, p. 15). In March 1925, a reader accused Radio Broadcast
of recommending construction apparatus that favored certain manufacturers.
Arthur Lynch claimed that product reliability was Radio Broadcast's primary
concern and if an article "happens to stimulate the sale of reliable products, we
believe it does the reader and the manufacturer a service by bringing to the
former a good product and the latter a customer" (March 1925, p. 913).
Radio Broadcast never mixed advertising with the texts of articles. Three
or four ads appeared at the front of each issue and the rest were presented in
 Brown/RADIO MAGAZINES 77

"Radio Broadcast Advertiser," the last section of the magazine. The size of
"Radio Broadcast Advertiser" fluctuated throughout the year with the great-
est number of advertisements appearing in December and January, and the
fewest during the summer months. The number of pages of advertising peaked
in late 1924 and early 1925. The January 1925 issue had 89 pages of text
and 130 pages of advertising. Advertising steadily declined after 1924. By
December 1929, there were only 14 pages of advertising, consisting prima-
rily of tube, condenser, and transformer manufacturers (see Figure 1).

Figure 1.

1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

Average number of pages per year in "Radio Broadcast Advertiser" section of Radio
Broadcast.

Five percent of the total content of Radio News provided consumer

information through articles and equipment reviews (see Table 1). Radio
News, like Radio Broadcast, presented the majority of consumer informa-
tion through advertising. Unlike Radio Broadcast, Radio News permitted
articles from the text section of the magazine "to be continued" among the
ads at the end of the magazine. Radio News included an index of advertisers
with every issue, making it easy for consumers to find advertisers, and regu-
larly provided a section of classified ads called "Opportunity Ad-lets." Like
Radio Broadcast, the greatest number of ads appeared in December and
January and the fewest during the summer months. Advertising peaked in
78 Journal of Radio StudiesAfol 5, No. 1, 1998

Table 1
Content of Radio Broadcast (RB) and Radio News (RN)

Category Articles Features °A>of category % of total

RB RN RB RN RB RN RB RN

Technical information 253 381 109 156 44 43

How to 102 120 109 156 58 51
Descriptions 116 236 0 0 32 44
General education 35 25 0 0 10 5
Intelligent use 228 319 140 179 44 39
Service 68 85 71 99 38 37
Broadcasting 36 50 57 13 25 13
Foreign radio 48 25 0 8 13 6
Literature 39 76 5 51 12 25
Industry 22 29 7 8 8 6
History 15 54 0 0 4 11
Participation 20 45 50 89 8 11
Consumer information* 2 0 15 69 2 5
Policy 17 7 0 23 2 2

Total 520 752 314 516 100

*Advertising not included.
January 1925 with 381 advertisers, many with multiple ads. The January
1925 issue started with 22 pages of advertising, then 57 pages of text, fol-
lowed by another 157 pages of articles mixed with advertising. The number
of advertisers steadily declined after 1925 (see Figure 2).

Policy Information
Only 2 percent of the content of Radio Broadcast addressed policy (see
Table 1). Most policy issues were discussed in "March of Radio," a regular
feature consisting of several pages of brief articles (3—4 paragraphs) about
current events. Most of the coverage concerned Hoover, the Radio Confer-
ences, and various suggestions for governmental control. Topics included
registering and protecting inventions, standardizing codes, and exploring
alternative systems of regulation. Discussions of policy dropped dramati-
cally after 1927.
Radio News claimed to oppose unfair regulation but only 2 percent of
the content covered policy (see Table 1). Between 1924 and 1928 only seven
articles addressed policy; six of them concerned The Commerce Depart-
 Brown/RADIO MAGAZINES 79

Figure 2.

1923 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929

Average number of advertisers per year listed in the "Index of Advertisers" for Radio
News.

ment, Hoover, or the Radio Conferences, and the seventh was about the
U.S. Bureau of Standards. Radio News published a number of articles that
promoted a standardized use of radio. A series of articles called "Lessons in
Esperanto" promoted "esperanto" as the international language for amateur
radio operators, and lessons were provided with every issue in 1924 and
1925. Several issues of Radio News included a diagram of "Standard Sym-
bols" as a way to standardize the exchange of technical information.

CONCLUSION

The content analysis and historical review of Radio- Broadcast and Radio
News provide a glimpse into the role of magazines in the development of a
community of radio fans and professionals. In the early 1920s, both Radio
Broadcast and Radio News appealed primarily to amateurs who constructed
and used radio. As a result, a substantial percentage of the content of both
magazines was technical. The early articles provided technical information
and training for all levels of skill and interest, promoted a common language
for the standardization and exchange of technical information, and provided
a site where the information could be shared. By the end of the decade, the
general technical information provided by the magazines was no longer evi-
dent. Both magazines continued to appeal to a technical audience but had
shifted from amateur experimenters to service and manufacturing techni-
cians who were already trained and working in the radio industry.
80 Journal of Radio StudiesAfol. 5, No. 1, 1998

Both magazines celebrated the intelligent use of radio. The wide range
of services provided by radio demonstrated its limitless potential. The fic-
tion, poetry, and history articles provided readers with a set of common themes
and stories for understanding radio's place in American culture. The maga-
zines challenged readers to become literate, participating members of the
radio community through crosswords, jingles, puzzles, and contests that tested
their knowledge and skill. As the broad community of amateurs and enthu-
siasts developed into specialized segments of the broadcast industry, the
intelligent use content largely disappeared in favor of more specialized
and targeted content.
Both magazines claimed to be free from commercial pressures yet pub-
lished large volumes of advertising. Radio Broadcast did not mix text and adver-
tising on the same page but used manufacturers' names in the text of articles
and recommended equipment with their "star" rating system. Radiojslews mixed
text with advertising, and most articles were "continued" among the advertise-
ments at the end of the magazine. The use of manufacturers' names in articles,
however, was discontinued as a way to maintain some distance from commer-
cial influences. The dramatic drop in advertising during the late 1920s was related
in part to the coming Depression, but it also reflected the specialized audiences
that were developing within the broadcasting industry and the narrower appeal
of the magazines. Technical items such as tubes, condensers, and power sup-
plies were the primary products advertised in the late 1920s.
Neither magazine provided a significant political voice for radio or dis-
cussed policy in any depth. Both discussed basic issues of regulation and
were generally supportive of governmental regulations.
Overall, both magazines enjoyed their greatest success as general liter-
ary magazines that served a broad community of radio enthusiasts. Radio
News presented a broader range of articles and features, encouraged more
reader participation, and appealed to a broader audience than Radio Broad-
cast. Radio Broadcast focused primarily on an industrial and technical audi-
ence. However, both were full-service magazines, presenting a wide range
of articles and features that provided technical training and cultural integra-
tion for a growing community of radio fans and professionals. Radio Broad-
cast and Radio News interpreted, entertained, educated, and provided a
sense of community for American radio during the early 1920s.
Radio Broadcast and Radio News were most successful when the general
enthusiasm for radio was booming and broadcasting was not fully developed.
Once the broad interest in radio gave way to the specialized needs of broadcast-
ing, and concerns shifted from technological issues to program content (Czitrom,
1982), the magazines struggled to find an audience. Both magazines followed
their technological roots and narrowed their appeal to radio technicians rather
than broadcasters, but there was neither a sufficient audience or sufficient
advertisers to support this narrow appeal. Radio Broadcast stopped publishing
 Brown/RADIO MAGAZINES 81

in 1930. Radio News survived into the early 1970s by targeting shortwave radio
operators as well as radio technicians. Neither Radio Broadcast or Radio News
ever targeted broadcasters. The need for a broadcasting trade magazine was
filled by Broadcasting, started in 1931 (Taishoff, 1982). The continued technical
focus of Radio Broadcast and Radio News precluded them from developing into
significant trade magazines for professional broadcasters.

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