Populist Conservatism on the Air: The Dies Committee and Network Radio

ABSTRACT

This study traces the history of conservative media to the late 1930s and the radio broadcasting activities of Representative Martin Dies Jr., who chaired the House Special Committee on Un-American Activities 1938–1944. Using archival research and critical discourse analysis, this inquiry shows how Dies wielded his congressional position to build an anti-New Deal media apparatus. It analyzes how his national network radio speeches engaged audiences and associated New Deal liberalism with communism and “un-American” activities. Dies positioned himself as a mainstream mediator for populist conservative beliefs and established an enduring model of how to shape and drive media coverage.

Acknowledgments

The author recognizes valuable contributions made by research assistants Tyler Stone and Valerie Kunkel.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Joy Elizabeth Hayes

Joy Elizabeth Hayes (Ph.D. University of California, San Diego) is associate professor of communication studies at the University of Iowa. Her scholarship examines the cultural history of broadcasting in the US and Mexico, government-network cooperation during the New Deal, community radio in Mexico, and radio and sound theory.