Cynthia B. Meyers, Ph.D.
Professor of Communication
Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin
M.A., Hunter College
B.F.A., Ohio University
B.G.S., Ohio University
cynthia.meyers@mountsaintvincent.edu
Areas of Interest
- Media industries
- History of advertising, radio, and television
- New media
- The culture of advertising
More
- Academia.edu
- A Word from Our Sponsor – Advertising and Media: Past and Present
- Twitter: @AnneHummert
- Tumblr: A Word from Our Sponsor
- Cynthia Meyers is also a dancer and has worked with choreographer and filmmaker Jo Andres. View her in rehearsal for a 1988 performance of Ms. Andres’s work “Lucid Possession.”
Courses
- COMM 120 Introduction to Media Studies
- COMM 328 TV Sitcom Production
- COMM 300 TV Studio Production
- COMM 301 Video Field Production
- COMM 330 Communication and the Law
- COMM 332 Media Programming and Management
- COMM 333 New Media and Society
- COMM 375 Internship
- COMM 475 Internship
- FSEM 118 Advertising, Popular Culture, and Celebrity
- INTG Topics: American Culture in the 30’s and 40’s
Professional Affiliations
Recipient of the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation Historian Award
Peabody Awards, Faculty Screening Committee
Radio Preservation Task Force, Library of Congress, Co-Director Eastern Region
National Endowment for the Humanities, Grant Panelist, 2014
Media Industries Project Research, Editorial Board
Publications
Book
A Word from Our Sponsor: Admen, Advertising, and the Golden Age of Radio (New York: Fordham University Press, 2014).
Recipient of the Library of American Broadcasting Foundation Historian Award, 2016
Book Chapters
“When Worlds Collide: Sharing Historical Advertising Research on Tumblr.” In The Arclight Guide to Media History and the Digital Humanities, eds. Charles Acland and Eric Hoyt (REFRAME Books, University of Sussex, 2016).
“The Best Thing on TV: 1960s US Television Commercials.” In Films that Sell: Moving Pictures and Advertising, eds. Nico de Klerk, Bo Florin & Patrick Vonderau (BFI’s Cultural Histories of Cinema Series, eds. Lee Grieveson and Haidee Wasson, 2016).
“From Sponsorship to Spots: Advertising and the Development of Electronic Media.” In Media Industries: History, Theory, and Method, eds. Jennifer Holt and Alisa Perren (Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009): 69-80.
Journal Articles
“Teaching the Relationship of Ads to Content in Media: A Lesson Plan and Assignment.”Advertising and Society Quarterly Volume 20, Issue 3 (2019).
“Inside a Broadcasting Blacklist: Kraft Television Theatre, 1951-55.” Journal of American History 105, no. 3 (December 2018): 589-616.
“The March of Time Radio Docudrama: Time Magazine, BBDO, and Radio Sponsors, 1931-39.” American Journalism 35, no. 4 (2018): 420-443.
“Teaching about Social Media Influencers: A Lesson Plan for Digital Advertising Media Literacy,” Advertising & Society Quarterly 18, no. 2 (July 2017).
“Commerce and Culture: Histories of Radio Sponsorship Yet to Be Written,” Journal of Radio & Audio Media 23, no. 2 (2016): 1-12.
“Advertising, the Red Scare, and the Blacklist: BBDO, US Steel, and Theatre Guild on the Air, 1945-52.” Cinema Journal 55, no. 4 (2016): 55-83.
“The Problems with Sponsorship in Broadcasting, 1930s-50s: Perspectives from the Advertising Industry.” Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television 31, no. 3 (Sept. 2011): 355-372.
“From Radio Ad Man to Radio Reformer: Senator William Benton’s Broadcasting Career, 1930-60.” Journal of Radio and Audio Media 16, no. 1 (2009): 17-29.
“Psychedelics and the Advertising Man: The 1960s ‘Countercultural Creative’ on Madison Avenue.” Columbia Journal of American Studies 4, no. 1 (2000): 114-127.
“Global Marketing and the New Hollywood: The Making of the ‘Always Coca-Cola’ Campaign.” Media International Australia/Culture & Policy, no. 86 (February 1998): 27-37.
“Frank and Anne Hummert’s Soap Opera Empire: ‘Reason-Why’ Advertising Strategies in Early Radio Programming.” Quarterly Review of Film and Video 16, no. 2 (1997): 113-132.
“Godfrey Flury’s Billboard Advertising Business: An Austin Ad Man in the 1910s and 1920s.” Southwestern Historical Quarterly 98, no. 4 (April 1995): 569-83.
Recent Digital Publications
“Family Influencers: The ACE Family.” In Media Res: A Media Commons Project, 10 January 2019. http://mediacommons.org/imr/content/family-influencers-ace-family
“Author Meets Critics: The Real Mad Men,” Advertising & Society Quarterly 19, no. 3 (2018). http://muse.jhu.edu/article/704489
“Radio Docudrama: The March of Time (1931-45).” In Media Res: A Media Commons Project, 30 May 2018. http://mediacommons.futureofth
“Friction Points in Influencer Marketing.” Flow: A Critical Forum on Media and Culture, 28 January 2018. http://www.flowjournal.org/201
“In TV’s Shifting Landscape, Advertising Scramble to Adapt.” The Conversation, 21 March 2016. https://theconversation.com
“Using the Uncatalogued Archives.” In Media Res: A Media Commons Project, 20 March 2015. http://mediacommons.futureofth
“Radio: Authenticity and Sincerity in Podcast Advertising.” Antenna: Responses to Media and Culture, University of Wisconsin—Madison, 19 February 2015. http://blog.commarts.wisc.edu/
Presentations
“Sponsorship and Blacklisting: Cases from the J. Walter Thompson Files,” accepted for Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Seattle, March 2019.
“Celebrity Association and the Soft Sell: Marketing Gelatin on 1930s Radio,” Researching New York 2018, University at Albany-State University of New York, 16 November 2018.
Advertising & Society Quarterly Colloquium, Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of American History, Washington, DC, 11-12 October 2018.
Discussed her book, A Word from Our Sponsor, at Columbia University, October 2018.
“Television Commercials, Past and Present.” Flow Conference, The University of Texas at Austin, 29 September 2018.
“Stalking the Wild Cranberry: The Making of a TV Commercial (1972).” The Love That Speaks Its Name: Advertising Film, New York University, New York, 11 April 2018.
“The Voices of Time: Authenticity and Impersonation on The March of Time (1931-39).” Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Toronto, Ontario, 15 March 2018.
“Ozzie Nelson, Kodak, and J. Walter Thompson (1956-58): A Case Study of the Decline of Sponsor Program Control.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Chicago, 23 March 2017.
“’The March of Time’ (1931-45): Radio Docudrama, Sponsors, and BBDO.” Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference, New York, 11 March 2017.
“Social Media Influencers: Creators, Celebrity, Content, Audiences, Brands.” Flow Conference, The University of Texas at Austin, 17 September 2016.
“Blacklisting as an Advertising Strategy: J. Walter Thompson, Television Sponsors, and Anticommunist Activists, 1951-55.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Atlanta, GA, 2 April 2016.
“The Struggle over Blacklisting on Kraft Television Theatre: J. Walter Thompson, Kraft, and Anticommunist Activists, 1951-55.” International Association for Media and History, Bloomington, IN, 18 June 2015.
“The Decline of Sponsorship and the Rise of Commercialism on 1960s TV.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Montreal, Quebec, 28 March 2015.
“Making the Past Visible: Best Practices and New Adventures in Digital and Material Archives.” Workshop participant, Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Montreal, Quebec, 26 March 2015.
“Getting Clearance: Suspect Talent and the Blacklists at the J. Walter Thompson Advertising Agency, 1951-55.” Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference, New York, NY, 21 March 2015.
“Sponsors, Past and Present, and the Problem of Cultural Legitimacy.” Flow Conference, University of Texas at Austin, 12 September 2014.
“The Problems of Branded Entertainment: BBDO, Sponsors, and Blacklists on Radio and Early Television.” Society for Cinema and Media Studies, Seattle, WA, 20 March 2014.
“Branded Entertainment during the Golden Age of Radio.” The Joint Journalism and Communication History Conference, New York, NY, 8 March 2014.
“Salesmanship vs. Showmanship: Advertising Agencies in Radio during the 1930s-40s.” Business History Conference, Columbus, OH, 22 March 2013.
“Radio with Pictures: How the Ad Industry in the 1940s Debated the Transition from Radio to TV.” Society of Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Chicago, IL, 9 March 2013.
“Resist the Usual: Young & Rubicam’s Soft Sell Strategies in Radio Comedy Programming.” Society of Cinema and Media Studies Conference, Boston, MA, 22 March 2012.
Faculty Fellowships
International Radio and Television Society, 2011, 2016
Visiting Professor Program, Advertising Educational Foundation, 2013
Time Warner Thought Leadership Seminar, 2012, 2014
National Association of Television Programming Executives, 2011
Academy of Television Arts and Sciences Foundation Faculty Seminar, 2008