Watching 1968: Turmoil on Television

By Glenn Stewart

1968 was called, among many things, "The Year That Rocked America." It was a tempest of unrest highlighting race and civil rights, feminism and women's liberation, youth angst and counterculture, Vietnam and the anti-war movement, political assassination, and space exploration. Television, the unblinking electronic eye, was the window into what was happening in that turbulent year. More than just reporting, the medium was also reflecting the evolution of social change.

This book situates and explains major social issues of the year 1968 through the scripted and unscripted turmoil that beamed nightly into living rooms on television screens. Considering television as a piece of cultural history itself, it examines a variety of network programs and news broadcasts that were amplified or affected by the presence of television, ranging from shows like The Mod Squad to televised events such as Chicago's Democratic Convention. Presented in a chronological timeline of 1968's critical social issues that transected television, this book highlights how TV played a crucial role in shaping reactions to social upheaval not merely by showing audiences the story, but by actively becoming part of it.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1476659230
• ISBN13: 9781476659237
• Release Date: April 2027
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 225 Pages
• Dimensions: 0.5" x 7.0" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up