The KDKA Radio Station

Paper Summary:

The paper looks at the beginnings of the KDKA radio broadcasting station and describes the events leading up to the first broadcast in 1920. The paper discusses the KDKA's growth through the years and explains how the station has managed to remain on the air for over 80 years.

From the Paper:

"On November 2nd in 1920, four individuals in Pittsburgh, PA made history when they reported election results over airways, becoming one of the first broadcasting stations in the United States. While their broadcast consisted of only election results, their efforts brought personal, immediate information to listeners in a way that had never before been seen, and is commonly thought to be the birth of radio journalism (Finn, 294). While their original broadcast made history, the events preceding and following the occurrence made what was to become the KDKA radio station a landmark of radio broadcasting over the next 80 years."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Dunning, John M. On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
• Finn, Bernard S. "Electronic Communications." Technology in Western Civilization. Ed. Melvin Kranzberg and Carroll Pursell. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1967. 293-310.
• KDKA. "It All Started in Pittsburgh". KDKA Radio. 2005. 12 June 2007. <http://www.kdkaradio.com/pages/15486.php>.
• Kittross, John M. Stay Tuned: A History of American Broadcasting. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, 2002.
• Rosen, Philip A. The Modern Stentors: Radio Broadcasters and the Federal Government, 1920-1934. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1980.

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