Topic: Communications
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1930s
War of the Worlds: Rockefeller Philanthropies, Disinformation, and Media Literacy in the 1930s
Orson Welles’s 1938 radio performance of The War of the Worlds prompted a foundation to explore issues of media literacy and fake news.
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1950s
1960s
Early Experiments in Public Broadcasting
The American public broadcast system as it exists today came out of years of work by organized philanthropy.
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1920s
1930s
Rebuilding a Cathedral: The Media, American Money, and French Heritage
Stepping in to save French monuments without stepping on French pride.
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1970s
How Philanthropy Helped History Go Public
What began as an attempt to find more job opportunities for historians went further and launched a new field.
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1960s
1970s
Programming for the People: Diversity in Early Public Television
Philanthropy helped carve out a public space for the expression of race, culture, and critical perspectives.