This is an online bibliography of books, articles, dissertations, and other academic resources in the field of Mass Communication History, mostly in the United States, from the colonial era to the 1980s or so.  Although it is by no means complete or exhaustive, it does contain many of the most frequently cited resources in a variety of research areas as well as many important older texts.  It is regularly updated to include recently published material and older sources that I come across in my research and reading.  It is a work in progress and the goal is to provide, over time, a current and comprehensive listing of the most important and useful works across the breadth of this wide-ranging field of study and to suggest resources for scholars engaging in historical research in journalism and mass communication.  Approximately 5000 titles in about 100 categories are listed at this time and new entries are added on a regular basis.  Please contact the editor with suggestions or to point out errors.

Citations are categorized somewhat idiosyncratically and users should look in multiple sections of this site to find all of the sources relevant to their research projects.

Site updated August 28, 2025. The page on film history is undergoing a substantial redevelopment and only a few of my citations are currently listed there. The sections for Radio, Television, and Magazines are scheduled for reorganization in the near future.

Historiography, Textbooks, and General
Histories of Journalism
Biography and Memoirs of Journalists
and Other Media Figures
Bibliographies and
Reference Books
Women in Mass CommunicationJournalism and PoliticsThe Media and the Presidency
Religion and Mass MediaPrint Culture, Reading, Books,
Libraries, and Literacy
Trans-Atlantic Influences in
Journalism History
Colonial America and the
Revolutionary War
The Early Republic and Rise
of the Party Press
Antebellum Journalism and
the Penny Press
Abolitionist PressThe Civil War and ReconstructionLate 19th-Century Journalism
Literary Journalism/ “New”
Journalism
Ethnic/Language Minority
Broadcasting and Press
Post Office
Regional and Local JournalismProgressive Era America and
the Muckrakers
Propaganda, Public Diplomacy,
and National Security
Labor/Radical/LGBTQ+/
Underground Journalism
Sensationalism, Tabloids, Gossip,
and Celebrity Journalism
Freedom of Expression and
Media Law
News Services and SyndicatesHistories of Individual NewspapersMagazines
The Telegraph and CablesPrinting Technology, Paper,
Layout and Design
Sports Journalism
Sound Technology, the Music
Industry, and Cultural
Studies of Music History
Mass Media and Historical MemoryMass Media in Wartime:
1898 to Present
Press CriticismInternational Reporting/ Coverage
of Foreign News
Early 20th Century Journalism
Trade Associations, Professionalization,
Ethics, Journalism Education
Mass Media and Mass CultureCommunication Technology in History
FilmPhotography and PhotojournalismPrints, Illustrations, Editorial
Cartoons, and Comics
Advertising, Mass Markets,
and Consumer Culture
Collected Columns, Editorials,
and Essays by Journalists
Journalism in the 1940s and 1950s
Government Investigations, Oversight,
and Regulation of Broadcasting
RadioTelevision
Communications and the
Postwar Freedom Struggle
Journalism and the Recent Past:
The 1960s and Beyond
Public Relations

Copyright Robert A. Rabe (2025)