"Educate, Enlighten, Entertain: Educational Broadcasting and the Development of Radio in the U.S. and Europe During the Interwar Period"

Abstract: November 2, 1920 marked the start of the first commercial radio broadcast in the United States. Europe quickly followed, with Great Britain (1922), Germany (1923), and Austria (1924) establishing their own broadcasting stations. The history of broadcasting begins here—with radio—a global phenomenon that reaches into our present day. It introduced electronic mass communication through the airwaves, enabling the near-instantaneous dissemination of information to a general public, the provision of large-scale entertainment, and the unprecedented expansion of educational opportunities. However, radio was also instrumentalized as a tool of propaganda, entangled in political turmoil, functioning as a “transmission belt” for societal change.

In his presentation, Max Brockhaus will examine the introduction of broadcasting in the United States and Europe, particularly Austria, and explore how a new, emerging medium, inspired hopes, fears and expectations in a world amidst profound cultural and political transformation. A special focus will be placed on the role of broadcasting as an educational tool and, from a transnational perspective, the various approaches taken to realize its potential. After all, the development of radio broadcasting was never a national, isolated process—international exchanges of personnel, programs or ideas shaped ist trajectory. Already in 1925 with the first annual report of the “Radio-Verkehrs-AG” (Ravag), the predecessor of Austria’s modern public broadcasting station (ORF), comparisons were drawn between different national models. The report observed that, while broadcasting in the United States was used “primarily for entertainment and advertising”, Germany had “correctly grasped the cultural significance of the new technology and put it at the service of national/popular education”. 

Following a chronological framework, Brockhaus’ presentation will highlight key milestones in interwar broadcasting, illustrating the complex interplay of educational ambitions, technological advancements, and the influence of specific actors and political changes in the formative years of broadcasting in the U.S. and Europe. Through this lens, Brockhaus will also demonstrate how radio not only mirrored but actively influenced the cultural and political landscapes of its time.

About the Speaker: Maximilian Brockhaus is a university assistant (pre-doc) at the Institute of Contemporary History at the University of Vienna. Building on his bachelor's degree in Journalism and Communication Sciences and a master's degree in the interdisciplinary program, "Contemporary History and Media" (both at the University of Vienna), his research interests focus on the theoretical and practical examination of the communication of (contemporary) history as well as a multi-perspective, interdisciplinary view of history in the public sphere. His dissertation project is dedicated to school radio and school television in Austria and Europe between 1924 and 1993 from a media-historical perspective, using institutional, programmatic, and transnational considerations to illustrate the expectations of and developments in educational programs for children and young people, using the example of Austrian school radio (1932-1984) and school television (1959-1993) on a national and European level. A special focus of his research and teaching activities concerns the area of democracy and the digital revolution, whereby the historical genesis of media and digital developments, the interaction between media education and society, and the classification of current developments from the fields of AI on our democratic coexistence are in the foreground.

The Marietta-Blau Fellowship is made possible with generous support from the Austrian Federal Ministry of Education, Science, and Research, as well as the OeAD, Austria's Agency for Education and Internationalisation.