Michael C. Keith
Encyclopedia
Michael C. Keith is an American media historian. He has served as a member of the Boston College
communications faculty since 1993 and is the author of some two-dozen books on media. He is one of the country's foremost authorities on the social impact and role of radio
in American culture. He has lectured in Russia, Spain, Tanzania, and at several institutions in the U.S. and Canada.
Keith served as a visiting professor at George Washington University
and Marquette University
and Director of Telecommunications at Dean College
. He frequently appears in both American and foreign media as an authority on electronic media. Prior to becoming a full-time academic in the late 1970s, he worked as a broadcast professional for more than a decade.
Keith's substantial published output melds his own experience, an excellent network of contacts in and beyond the radio business, and careful research to produce solid analysis of what a growing number in and out of the industry see as the growing crisis of broadcast radio. A number of his books have been co-authored with Robert Hilliard, now retired from Emerson College
. The team usually works this way--with Keith conceiving the topic and doing much of the initial legwork research and Hilliard taking on the initial book manuscript draft. They both work on the final version. Their co-authored works, and those of Keith alone, often tackle controversial topics such as the demise of local radio programming (2005); the legal intricacies of indecent or even obscene programming (2003); the use of radio by extreme hate groups (1999), a title on President's Clinton's summer reading list one year; and the use of radio by Native Americans
(1995), the first monograph to appear on that topic. Keith has been a Stanton Fellow of the International Radio & Television Society and received the Distinguished Scholar Award given by the Broadcast Education Association and the Achievement Award in the Humanities by the University of Rhode Island.
In addition to his many media books and academic articles, Keith has written a well-reviewed memoir of his unconventional childhood years--The Next Better Place (Algonquin Books, 2003) -- as well as a coming of age novel--Life is Falling Sideways (Parlance, 2009). Recently, he has written a growing number of short stories, which have appeared in numerous webzines and literary journals. Collections of his stories––"Hoag's Object" (Whiskey Creek Press) and "And Through the Trembling Air" (Blue Mustang Press) are available in paperback editions. His fiction stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Pen/O.Henry Award.
Boston College
Boston College is a private Jesuit research university located in the village of Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, USA. The main campus is bisected by the border between the cities of Boston and Newton. It has 9,200 full-time undergraduates and 4,000 graduate students. Its name reflects its early...
communications faculty since 1993 and is the author of some two-dozen books on media. He is one of the country's foremost authorities on the social impact and role of radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
in American culture. He has lectured in Russia, Spain, Tanzania, and at several institutions in the U.S. and Canada.
Keith served as a visiting professor at George Washington University
George Washington University
The George Washington University is a private, coeducational comprehensive university located in Washington, D.C. in the United States...
and Marquette University
Marquette University
Marquette University is a private, coeducational, Jesuit, Roman Catholic university located in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Founded by the Society of Jesus in 1881, the school is one of 28 member institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities...
and Director of Telecommunications at Dean College
Dean College
Dean College is a private college granting both associate degrees in 15 majors, and baccalaureate degrees in 5 majors. The College is located in Franklin, Massachusetts. Students can earn a bachelor's degree from Dean in Business, Arts and Entertainment Management, Dance, Liberal Arts and Studies...
. He frequently appears in both American and foreign media as an authority on electronic media. Prior to becoming a full-time academic in the late 1970s, he worked as a broadcast professional for more than a decade.
Keith's substantial published output melds his own experience, an excellent network of contacts in and beyond the radio business, and careful research to produce solid analysis of what a growing number in and out of the industry see as the growing crisis of broadcast radio. A number of his books have been co-authored with Robert Hilliard, now retired from Emerson College
Emerson College
Emerson College is a private coeducational university located in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1880 by Charles Wesley Emerson as a "school of oratory," Emerson is "the only comprehensive college or university in America dedicated exclusively to communication and the arts in a liberal arts...
. The team usually works this way--with Keith conceiving the topic and doing much of the initial legwork research and Hilliard taking on the initial book manuscript draft. They both work on the final version. Their co-authored works, and those of Keith alone, often tackle controversial topics such as the demise of local radio programming (2005); the legal intricacies of indecent or even obscene programming (2003); the use of radio by extreme hate groups (1999), a title on President's Clinton's summer reading list one year; and the use of radio by Native Americans
Indigenous peoples of the Americas
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North and South America, their descendants and other ethnic groups who are identified with those peoples. Indigenous peoples are known in Canada as Aboriginal peoples, and in the United States as Native Americans...
(1995), the first monograph to appear on that topic. Keith has been a Stanton Fellow of the International Radio & Television Society and received the Distinguished Scholar Award given by the Broadcast Education Association and the Achievement Award in the Humanities by the University of Rhode Island.
In addition to his many media books and academic articles, Keith has written a well-reviewed memoir of his unconventional childhood years--The Next Better Place (Algonquin Books, 2003) -- as well as a coming of age novel--Life is Falling Sideways (Parlance, 2009). Recently, he has written a growing number of short stories, which have appeared in numerous webzines and literary journals. Collections of his stories––"Hoag's Object" (Whiskey Creek Press) and "And Through the Trembling Air" (Blue Mustang Press) are available in paperback editions. His fiction stories have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Pen/O.Henry Award.
Work
- Norman CorwinNorman CorwinNorman Lewis Corwin was an American writer, screenwriter, producer, essayist and teacher of journalism and writing...
’s ‘One World Flight:’ The Lost Journal of Radio’s Greatest Writer, (with Mary Ann Watson) Continuum, 2009. - The Radio Station, 8th ed. Boston: Focal Press, 2009.
- Sounds of Change: FM Broadcasting in America, (with Christopher H. Sterling) University of North Carolina Press, 2008
- Radio Cultures: The Sound Medium in American Life, (editor) Peter Lang, 2008.
- The Quieted Voice: The Rise and Demise of Localism in American Radio, (with Robert Hilliard) Southern Illinois University Press, 2005.
- The Broadcast Century and Beyond: A Biography of American Broadcasting, 4th ed. (with Robert Hilliard) Focal Press, 2005.
- Dirty Discourse: Sex and Indecency in American Radio, (with Robert Hilliard) Blackwell Publishing, 2003.
- Sounds In the Dark: All Night Radio in American Life, Iowa State University Press, 2001.
- Queer Airwaves: Gay and Lesbian Broadcasting in America, (with Phylis Johnson) M.E. Sharpe, 2001.
- Talking Radio: An Oral History of American Radio in the Television Age, M.E. Sharpe, 2000.
- Waves of Rancor: Tuning in the Radical Right, (with Robert Hilliard) M.E. Sharpe, 1999
- The Hidden Screen, (with Robert Hilliard) Focal, 1999
- Voices In the Purple Haze: Underground Radio and the Sixties, Praeger, 1997
- Global Broadcasting Systems, (with Robert Hilliard) Focal, 1996
- Signals In the Air: Native Broadcasting In America, Praeger, 1995.
- Selling Radio Direct, (with Robert Hilliard) Broadcasting, 1992
- Radio Production: Art and Science, Focal, 1990.
- Broadcast Voice Performance, Focal, 1989.
- Radio Programming: Consultancy and Formatics, Focal, 1987
- Production in Format Radio Handbook, University Press of America, 1984.