Topic: Communications
![](https://s30471.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/BroadcastingApparatusWIXALNY_RAC_001-500x500.jpg)
![](https://s30471.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2021/11/2c92b3d09e3e3b7f0ada110084967a62_Display-500x500.jpg)
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.
![](https://s30471.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/004_Ford-photos_B83_F1370_Midwest-Airborne-Educational-Television-3_Display-500x500.jpg)
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.
![](https://s30471.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/VRF_105_70_5-13_Display-500x500.jpg)
1920s
1930s
Rebuilding a Cathedral: The Media, American Money, and French Heritage
Stepping in to save French monuments without stepping on French pride.
![](https://s30471.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Letter-1stConferenceAgenda_RF_RG1.9_A83_FA479_S200.R_B_R2068_F_UCSB-PHC-1976_78-79_081_Display-500x500.jpg)
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.
![](https://s30471.pcdn.co/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/000_Hero_Ford-photos_B83_F1371_ETV-Public-Broadcasting-Laboratory-Series-1-500x500.jpg)
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.