The Civil Rights Movement in the United States of America and the Impact of Media in the 1960s and 1970s

Abstract

The twentieth century in the United States of America witnessed the rise of the Civil Rights Movement. The 1960s and 1970s brought the climax of African American demands struggle into papers and screens. The present dissertation explores the role of newspapers and media in 0disseminating the messages of Civil Rights Movement. Through a chronological presentation of the major events happened during the 1960s and 1970s till the decision of the Voting Rights Act in 1965, the research attempts to highlight the forms of news coverage, activists’ opinions and the aftermaths of some turning points in the history of the Movement. The work consists of two chapters. The first chapter provides a historical overview of the African American background in the US from Post-Reconstruction till the 1960s. The second chapter focuses on the events widely covered by newspapers and television during the 1960s and the1970s, and shows the contribution of journalism to spreading the voice of the oppressed community nationally and internationally.