Why the South Prevailed: Civil Rights, Anticommunism, and the Origins of the “Liberal Media”

ABSTRACT

Contrary to conventional wisdom, Donald Trump’s public loathing toward the press is not an outlier in conservative political development; rather, he is part of a understudied tradition of conservative animosity toward the press. I examine aggression toward the news media in a broader historical context of the conservative movement by analyzing the origins of the idea of the “liberal media.” I argue that this idea develops in the “conservative countersphere,”a partisan discursive space that developed in the 1950s and 1960s. Based on a content analysis of Human Events between 1955 and 1970, the origins of the “liberal media” emerge during the civil rights movement. I focus on the role of racism, white supremacy, and resentment toward Black liberation and civil rights in the development of conservative critiques of the press, shining light on the past to illuminate the present state of partisan vitriol towards the media.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

¹ Julie Hirschfeld Davis, “Trump Says Hispanic-American Border Patrol Agent ‘Speaks Perfect English,’” The New York Times (August 20, 2018), available online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/20/us/politics/trump-ice-immigration.html.

² Alexander Burns and Nick Corasaniti, “Donald Trump’s Other Campaign Foe: The ‘Lowest Form of Life’ News Media,” The New York Times (August 12, 2016), available online at: https://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/13/us/politics/donald-trump-obama-isis.html.

³ David Remnick, “Trump and the Enemies of the People,” The New Yorker (August 15, 2018), available online at: https://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/trump-and-the-enemies-of-the-people.

⁴ Kirk quoted in Alan Brinkley, “The Problem of American Conservatism,” American Historical Review 99:2 (1994), p. 420.

⁵ Corey Robin, The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism from Edmund Burke to Donald Trump, 2^nd ed. (New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 2018).

⁶ Heather Hendershot, What’s Fair on the Air? Cold War Right-Wing Broadcasting and the Public Interest (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 2011), p. 5.

⁷ Jeff Woods, Black Struggle, Red Scare: Segregation and Anti-Communism in the South, 1948–1968 (Baton Rouge, LA: Louisiana State University Press, 2004); Allan J. Lichtman, White Protestant Nation: The Rise of the American Conservative Movement (New York, NY: Grove Press, 2008).

⁸ Nancy Fraser, “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy,” Social Text 25/26 (1990), pp. 56–80. On the nature and contours of publics and counterpublics, see Michael Warner, “Publics and Counterpublics,” Public Culture 14:1 (2002), pp. 49–90.

⁹ Fraser, “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy,” p. 67.

¹⁰ Ibid., 68, 79 n.25.

¹¹ In addition, Warner (2002) has shifted the way some scholars use “counterpublic” away from one reserved only for objectively marginalized populations.

¹² Robin, The Reactionary Mind; As Phillip-Fein puts it, “In many ways, despite their deeply felt sense of themselves as outsiders on the defensive, they were never the excluded figures they believed themselves to be” (p. 739), Kim Phillips-Fein, “Conservatism: A State of the Field,” Journal of American History 98:3 (2011), p. 723–43.

¹³ On the activists and thinkers that constructed the conservative countersphere, see Nicole Hemmer’s magisterial Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics (Pennsylvania, PA: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2016).

¹⁴ Rick Perlstein, Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America (New York, NY: Scribner, 2008), p. 130.

¹⁵ Fraser, “Rethinking the Public Sphere: A Contribution to the Critique of Actually Existing Democracy,” p. 68.

¹⁶ Ibid., 67.

¹⁷ See also Hemmer, Messengers of the Right: Conservative Media and the Transformation of American Politics; and Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph N. Cappella, Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment (Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 2010).

¹⁸ Jeffrey M. Berry and and Sarah Sobieraj, The Outrage Industry: Political Opinion Media and the New Incivility (New York, NY: Oxord University Press, 2014).

¹⁹ Vivien A. Schmidt, “Discursive Institutionalism: The Explanatory Power of Ideas and Discourse,” Annual Review of Political Science 11 (2008), pp. 303–26; Vivien A. Schmidt, “Taking Ideas and Discourse Seriously: Explaining Change through Discursive Institutionalism as the Fourth ‘New Institutionalism,’” European Political Science Review 2:1 (2010), pp. 1–25; Vivian A. Schmidt, “Speaking of Change: Why Discourse is Key to the Dynamics of Policy Transformation,” Critical Policy Studies 5:2 (2011), pp. 106–26; Vivian A. Schmidt, “A Curious Constructivism: A Response to Professor Bell,” British Journal of Political Science 42:3 (2012) pp. 705–13; Vivian A. Schmidt, “Britain-out and Trump-in: A Discursive Institutionalist Analysis of the British Referendum on the EU and the US Presidential Election,” Review of International Political Economy 24:2 (2017), pp. 248–69.

²⁰ Schmidt, “Discursive Institutionalism: The Explanatory Power of Ideas and Discourse,” p. 305.

²¹ Ibid., 306.

²² Ibid., 310.

²³ Schmidt, “Taking Ideas and Discourse Seriously: Explaining Change through Discursive Institutionalism as the Fourth ‘New Institutionalism,’” p. 3. To link this back to Fraser (“Rethinking the Public Sphere”), coordinative discourse operates largely at the level of a “subaltern counterpublic” whereas communicative discourse is found in wider public spheres.

²⁴ Mark Major, “Objective but Not Impartial: Human Events, Barry Goldwater, and the Development of the ‘Liberal Media’ in the Conservative Counter-Sphere,” New Political Science 34:4 (2012), p. 459.

²⁵ Thomas J. Ferris, “Human Events,” in Ronald Lora and William Henry Longton (eds), The Conservative Press in Twentieth-Century America (Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999), p. 453.

²⁶ Ferris, “Human Events,” p. 450.

²⁷ David Greenberg, “The Idea of ‘The Liberal Media’ and its Roots in the Civil Rights Movement,” The Sixties: A Journal of History, Politics and Culture 1:2 (2008), pp. 167–86.

²⁸ George H. Nash, The Conservative Intellectual Movement in American since 1945, 30^th ed. (Wilmington, DE: ISI Books, 2006), p. 202.

²⁹ Donald T. Critchlow and Nancy MacLean, Debating the American Conservative Movement 1945 to the Present (Lanham, MD: Roman & Littlefield, 2009), p. 27.

³⁰ Period of analysis between 1955 and 1970. N = 396 news items in 252 issues of Human Events. All Human Events items were accessed through ProQuest. Search terms included “Little Rock” or “Faubus” (period of analysis 8/1957 – 1/1958), “NAACP” (8/1957 – 12/1970), “Ole Miss” or “Meredith” (1/1961 – 8/1963), “Civil Rights” (1/1960 – 12/1963), “Sit-ins” (1/1960 – 12/1960), “Freedom Rides” or “Freedom Bus” (4/1961 – 8/1961), “March on Washington” or “Martin Luther King” (8/1963 – 11/1963), “Birmingham” or “Alabama” or “bombing” (3/1963 – 12/1963), “Selma” or “Martin Luther King” (3/1965 – 5/1965). A note on the content analysis search: Many of these events did not result in a large number of items. Birmingham, for example, was difficult to find any items. Between March 1963 and December 1963 “Birmingham” or “Alabama” yielded only five relevant items (“bombing” resulted in zero items). “George Wallace” was not a popular figure during this period, too, as none of the results were connected to the events in Birmingham. As an alternative, these search terms were supplemented with “civil rights,” “Martin Luther King,” “integration,” and “segregation” as a way to find more news items that came closer to discussing the issues.

³¹ Woods, Black Struggle, Red Scare: Segregation and Anti-Communism in the South, 1948–1968.

³² Ibid., 3.

³³ Carol Anderson, White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide (New York, NY: Bloomsbury, 2016), p. 87.

³⁴ Coverage of Little Rock, period of analysis: 9/7/1957 – 1/7/1960, n = 42, search terms “Little Rock” or “Faubus.” By negative context, I am referring to frames that included integration as disrupting the social order, provoking a constitutional crisis, communist subversion was looming, and so on. References to integration as a positive step toward advancing racial equality would be coded as positive. Neutral frames were a balance between negative and positive frames or if the item could be read like an Associated Press report. Few Human Events items, despite their declaration of objectivity and demand that the establishment press act objectively, were neutral.

³⁵ “Little Rock,” Human Events (September 28, 1957), p. 1.

³⁶ Ibid., 2.

³⁷ NAACP refers to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, n = 148, period of analysis 8/1957 – 12/1970, search term “NAACP.”

³⁸ “Between Covers,” Human Events (June 9, 1958). On J.B. Matthews, see “NAACP,” Human Events (January 28, 1959).

³⁹ Woods, Black Struggle, Red Scare: Segregation and Anti-Communism in the South, 1948–1968.

⁴⁰ “Arkansas Story – Uncensored,” Human Events (September 21, 1957), p. 1.

⁴¹ “Private Schools,” Human Events (November 3, 1958), p. 3.

⁴² Alice N. Furlaud, “Will New York’s Melting Pot Boil Over?” Human Events (July 14, 1958), p. 4.

⁴³ “Communism and Desegregation,” Human Events (September 29, 1958), p. 3.

⁴⁴ “What Happened in Tennessee,” Human Events (August 18, 1958), p. 2.

⁴⁵ Greenberg “The Idea of ‘The Liberal Media’ and its Roots in the Civil Rights Movement,” p. 177.

⁴⁶ Woods, Black Struggle, Red Scare: Segregation and Anti-Communism in the South, 1948–1968.

⁴⁷ Period of analysis 1/1961 – 8/1963, n = 20, search terms “Georgia” “University of Georgia” “Ole Miss” “Meredith” “Mississippi” “Alabama” “University of Alabama” “Malone” “Hood” “integration” “Foster Auditorium” “Wallace” (but these terms had to be explicitly linked to Ole Miss, University of Georgia, or University of Alabama). All but two items focused on Ole Miss. One item each for the University of Georgia and University of Alabama (both reprinted editorials from Southern papers). The only item in Human Events on integrating the University of Georgia was an editorial accusing CBS for “rigging the news” by giving cues to the protestors. The “’rigging’ of news is reprehensible … It’s not very comforting to learn that you have been duped, for those reacting to the cameraman’s directions were compounding the ‘crime’” [“Rigging the News,” Human Events (February 10, 1961), p. 90].

⁴⁸ “Capitol Camera,” Human Events (October 13, 1962).

⁴⁹ “Number 1 Issue – Cuba,” Human Events (October 20, 1962).

⁵⁰ “Mississippi and Cuba,” Human Events (October 20, 1962), p. 771.

⁵¹ “Capitol Camera,” Human Events (October 20, 1962), p. 794.

⁵² “Mississippi and Cuba.”

⁵³ Holmes Alexander, “A Needed Evaluation of the Congo,” Human Events (August 4, 1962), p. 581.

⁵⁴ Greenberg, “The Idea of ‘The Liberal Media’ and its Roots in the Civil Rights Movement,” pp. 176–77.

⁵⁵ Barnett quoted in Rodger Streitmatter, Mightier Than The Sword: How the News Media Have Shaped American History, 2^nd ed. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2008), p. 186.

⁵⁶ “Goldwater Takes His Stand,” Human Events (June 15, 1963), p. 164.

⁵⁷ Greenberg, “The Idea of ‘The Liberal Media’ and its Roots in the Civil Rights Movement,” p. 176.

⁵⁸ Morley Cassidy, “The Most Explosive Race Problem is in the North: Tyrannosaurus Stalks in the City of Brotherly Love,” Human Events (November 9, 1957).

⁵⁹ Ibid.

⁶⁰ Ibid.

⁶¹ Workman did not identify Birth of a Nation in the column; this is merely speculative on my part. Human Events would later call out the NAACP for their intolerance by having the audacity to boycott the showing of Birth of a Nation [“Intolerance-Liberal Style,” Human Events (February 20, 1965)]. The NAACP was also accused of reverse racism for supporting the independence of colonized African nations [“Minority Extremism,” Human Events (December 22, 1962)].

⁶² “Just Good Clean Reprisals,” Human Events (January 20, 1961). Human Events contributing editor, Frank Chodorov, celebrated the prospect of the public school “monopoly” being smashed by racists establishing privatized, segregated schools. (see Frank Chodorov, “Undermining the Monopoly School System,” Human Events (August 4, 1958), p. 1–4.

⁶³ Morrie Ryskind, “But Which are the Bigots?” Human Events (August 15, 1964), p. 2.

⁶⁴ Morrie Ryskind, “Where are the Liberal Voices for Law and Order?” Human Events (July 29, 1967).

⁶⁵ Edwin McDowell, “Press Silent on Black Extremists,” Human Events (August 24, 1963), p. 10.

⁶⁶ “How ‘Inevitable’ is Southern Integration?” Human Events (September 21, 1957), p. 4.

⁶⁷ “Little Rock,” Human Events (March 31, 1958), p. 3.

⁶⁸ Jim Wright, “Aim of ‘Direct Action’: To Persuade or to Coerce?” Human Events (May 1, 1965), p. 9.

⁶⁹ Ryskind, “But Which are the Bigots?” p. 2.

⁷⁰ “Little Rock,” p. 3.

⁷¹ No blame was assigned in 12 of the 42 items.

⁷² “Arkansas Story – Uncensored.”

⁷³ “Faubus,” Human Events (November 16, 1957).

⁷⁴ “How ‘Inevitable’ is Southern Integration?” (1957), p. 4.

⁷⁵ “The Conflict Within,” Human Events (November 30, 1957).

⁷⁶ “Integration,” Human Events (November 30, 1957).

⁷⁷ “The Meaning of the Crisis,” Human Events (October 5, 1957), p. 1.

⁷⁸ “Red Front,” Human Events (October 26, 1957).

⁷⁹ “Capitol Camera,” Human Events (March 27, 1965), p. 4.

⁸⁰ “Situation in Selma,” Human Events (March 27, 1965), p. 5.

⁸¹ “Due Process is the American Way,” Human Events (March 27, 1965), p. 14.

⁸² “King’s Boycott of Alabama Called ‘Alarming’ Proposal,” Human Events (April 17, 1965), p. 8.

⁸³ “Capitol Camera,” Human Events (April 24, 1965), p. 4.

⁸⁴ Ralph de Toledano, “Harry Truman Speaks Out” Human Events (May 8, 1965), p. 14.

⁸⁵ “Southern Conference Education Fund,” Human Events (March 31, 1960).

⁸⁶ “Segregation,” Human Events (August 12, 1959), p. 4.

⁸⁷ Wright, p. 9.

⁸⁸ “Equality and Opportunity,” Human Events (July 17, 1965), p. 11.

⁸⁹ “Goldwater: King Renounces Rational Action,” Human Events (December 30, 1967), p. 8.

⁹⁰ Buckley quoted in Critchlow and MacLean, Debating the American Conservative Movement 1945 to the Present, p. 141.

⁹¹ While his argument does not focus on conservative media, my paper supports Eric Schickler’s important thesis on party realignment. See Eric Schickler, Racial Realignment: The Transformation of American Liberalism, 1932–1965 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2016).

⁹² “The Meaning of the Crisis,” p. 1.

⁹³ “The Eclipse of Eisenhower,” Human Events (October 19, 1957), p. 1.

⁹⁴ “Integration,” Human Events (1957).

⁹⁵ “The Eclipse of Eisenhower,” p. 1.

⁹⁶ See Human Events articles “Civil Rights” (1957); “Arkansas Story – Uncensored” (1957); “The Meaning of the Crisis” (1957); “School Integration – Four Years After” (1958).

⁹⁷ Paul Harvey, “Who will go to bat for General Walker?” Human Events (June 2, 1961), p. 341.

⁹⁸ “The Kennedy’s Double Standard,” Human Events (January 19, 1963), p. 51.

⁹⁹ “Electoral College Reform Needed,” Human Events (August 18, 1960), p. 362.

¹⁰⁰ Raymond Morley, “Civil Rights Overrun Privilege of Privacy,” Human Events (September 1, 1960), p. 389.

¹⁰¹ See John J. Synon, “A Southern President?” Human Events (August 11, 1958), pp. 1–4; “What Happened in Tennessee,” (August 18, 1958), p. 2; John J. Synon, “President from Dixie?” Human Events (April 28, 1960), p. 1–4.

¹⁰² Americans for Democratic Action (ADA) and Community Organization on Political Education (COPE).

¹⁰³ “Electors,” Human Events (August 4, 1960), p. 322.

¹⁰⁴ “Not Merely Gossip,” Human Events (March 31, 1960), p. 1.

¹⁰⁵ “Startling Southern Developments,” Human Events (March 24, 1960), p. 2.

¹⁰⁶ Synon, “A Southern President?” p. 1.

¹⁰⁷ Ibid., 3.

¹⁰⁸ Ibid., 1.

¹⁰⁹ Synon “President from Dixie?” p. 2.

¹¹⁰ Ibid., 4.

¹¹¹ “GOP in Dixie,” Human Events (December 8, 1962), p. 932.

¹¹² “Southern Elections,” Human Events (November 10, 1958), p. 4.

¹¹³ “Democratic Disunity,” Human Events (January 21, 1959), p. 2.

¹¹⁴ William H. Peterson, “Double Talk: Guidepost for the Fall Campaign” Human Events (September 22, 1958), Article Section II.

¹¹⁵ See for example “The Meaning of the Crisis,” (1957), p. 1.

¹¹⁶ “Reuther Unmasked,” Human Events (February 25, 1960), p. 1.

¹¹⁷ “Civil Rights?” Human Events (March 17, 1960), p. 2.

¹¹⁸ Donald I. Rogers, “Where Are Civil Rights For Labor Union Members?” Human Events (August 29), p. 7.

¹¹⁹ Barry Goldwater, “The Forgotten American,” Human Events (January 27, 1961), p. 59.

¹²⁰ “Who Weeps for Glockner?” Human Events (June 22, 1963), p. 178.

¹²¹ “The Ignored Assassination,” Human Events (September 28, 1963), p. 3.

¹²² “Fraud?” Human Events (November 17, 1960), p 562.

¹²³ “Cook County” Human Events (November 24, 1960), p. 577.

¹²⁴ “Vote Fraud Reforms Ignored,” Human Events (August 17, 1963), p. 3.

¹²⁵ Alice Widener, “New York’s Liberal Establishment Faces Credibility Crisis,” Human Events (December 13, 1975), p. 10.