Peaceful Messages and War of Frequencies - Visions and Realities of Broadcasting as a Means of International Understanding

The invention of broadcasting and the idea of inventing Europe as the "United Nations of Europe" date more or less from the same time. Despite the very nature of radio waves - that is, not to be affected by any political or national boundaries - the concept of broadcasting was the result of a concerted effort on the part of big business and government to create a highly centralized, one-way, restricted-access system that is broadcasting. From a transnational historical perspective, the process of institutionalization of public service radio broadcasting in Europe after the First World War must be interpreted as a process of national appropriation and social shaping of radio as a broadcast medium. Just as radio had done after the Great War, television played a central role in the process of moral recovery in the post-WW2 crisis of national identity of many countries. The historiography of broadcasting has been a favourite object of national historical narratives, emphasising the crucial role of broadcasting in the construction or stabilisation of the nation as an imagined community. On the other hand, the transnational character of radio waves made them an issue of cross-border negotiation and legislation from the very beginning. The transnational character of broadcasting therefore calls for a historical contextualisation, reflecting the dynamics of a communication tool that reshaped time and space.

Hosted By RWTH Aachen  and Maastricht University

Panelists:

Andreas Fickers, Associate professor for comparative media history

Christian Henrich-Franke, Researcher, history of economics 

Christoph Classen, Historian specialised in Media History

Nina Wormbs, Broadcasting researcher

Petra Kohnen, CEO, Euranet

Thursday, 4 June 2009, 4:30 p.m., Annex