USA - 1950s and 1960s - The New Industrial Estate

The New Industrial State was the work of  John Kenneth Galbraith in 1967, it focused on exploring the economics of production and the effect that large corporations had over the state. The Industrial System, according to Galbraith, is controlled by a technostructure (which maintains the organisation and make sure expansion if happening) not shareholders.

The Industrial State has control of its capital supply. But the problems with the New Industrial State are 1. Inflation 2. Increased role of the state 3. destruction of profitability 4. Keynesian military.

 Within the USA the New Industrial State meant that everything was always available all of the time, this could led inevitably to boredom and cultural exhaustion. With everything taken care of our biggests worries are things of little importance as awe take for granted things like water, education and food.
The failure of communism led to capitalism which was believed to be the better and more effective way in order to progress.


Existentialism VS Nihilism

Weber - Bureaucracy - main source of power - legal, routine. The rise of bureaucratic - "finance capital"
Karl Marx - economics

The 1950s was the era of American prosperity - Keynes is the great God. Neo-classical economics is a museum piece, or rhetorical only or a laughing stock - particularly on monetary policy. Keynes discovered Marx was wrong because you can add value through marketing - Marx did not predict that bureaucracy would take over capitalism.

But a critique of the 'managed' society, as a new form of 'soft' totalitarianism. The keynsian consensus is attacked from the left and the right. The far left/far right (including Heidegger, Sartre, Maoism, Franz Fanon etc.) American 'civilisation' is 'bureaucratic technological militaristic nihilism'. It is bound for disintergration, probably violent.

Left --> Maoism, third worldism, ecology, feminism, transvaluation - anti-globalisation as anti-capitalism, green movement.
Right --> racial disintergraation, cultural decadence, economic parasitism, loss of national identity. Globalisation of disintergration, relative and absolute economic decline of the west.

Keynes - print more money - by boosting the economy with more money = government give businesses subsidies to employ. Or create government schemes - pointless jobs like digging a hole and filling it in again.
Keynes 'managed society' was greatly criticized - soft totalitarianism.
Weber - "rise of bureaucracy" - Was interested in power and why people follow rules by certain people.

Jobs are not there during the depression - people are forced to work for less because of surplus in labour.
Everyone needs a job but no one will be able to buy what they are making/selling. People have to settle for unemployment or low wages.

1950's and 1960's was a time of prosperity in America.

Problems with NIS

1. increased role of state
2. inflation
3. keynesian military
4. destruction of profitability 

New Journalism

Journalism has evolved throughout time as society has developed, but it began with old journalism. Within American journalism there were Penny Papers (the first written material for the general public) which were only 1p, were for the less educated and were controlled and funded purely by political parties who put forward a point of view.

Next, in the mid 19th Century, objectivity became a stronger part of writing because of the development of wire services (the Associated Press). Objectivity became particularly important because it was what made journalism profitable and popular.

Furthermore, in the late 19th Century The Yellow Press was the first major change towards new journalism. It was known as journalism without a soul and focused on making newspapers more sensationalised through the use of pictures, interesting and shocking content, emotive headlines, striking imagery and exclusive stories. An example of sensationalised newspapers are tabloids, they are colourful and they often contain heightened stories, as well as this, they are thought of as frozen television. The Yellow Press was named the new journalism without a soul because it constantly contained stories focused on sin, sex and violence.

Journalists record events in a formulaic way and it has been implemented into us also, we have to use the news pyramid and the who, what, when, where, why? The new journalism was an attempt to record events that mirrored the language and style of the events, and then let that real representation bleed into the copy.

During the 1960s and 1970s in America there was political and social upheaval, it was an extremely turbulent time with foreign wars, military threats overseas, the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the wars in Vietnam and huge controversy of the draft. 
The reasons for this turbulence during the 1960s was firstly because of demographics and the post World War 2 baby boom which created a powerful youth culture who became teenagers within the 1960s and would march for civil rights, be the voice of radical political change; it was the youths who were changing society. 
Secondly, sexual revolution became a clear factor; it was now legally acceptable for women to control their reproductive system with the use of the contraceptive pill. This sexual freedom allowed women to take control and have the choice whether to have children or not and allow them to practice sex without the risk of falling pregnant. This refers to an Existential point of view, they believe that we are all defined by our own decisions and that freedom of choice is crucially important - Sartre believed that ignoring the fact that you must choose would be living in bad faith. 
Thirdly, the student movement brought with it great protests for various rights - civil, black power, the use of LSD to access altered thinking of counterculture. LSD was a way of escape from the controlling heirarchy in order to have 'real' experiences. Drugs within this period of time created subcultures - hippies, communes and collectives. 
And finally, music was very central to this time and Sartre Jazz was authentic music of the 1960s - drug fueled, protest, political - in order to feed the student movements.

The key to Existentialism is Sartre's bad faith and Heidegger's authenticity. The main ideas were freedom and choice - for example - Fanon's view of a path of freedom through violence, for Fanon, the act of violence is the extreme expression of own choice. Anti-establishment feeling - the idea that 'there is a policeman inside your head'. 
New forms of journalism began to emerge which focused on setting, plot, direct quotes, feelings, sounds and images and stuck to facts. 
The alternative journalism was personal and expressed as a point of view. There were two types of media (Marshall McLuhan) hot and cold media - hot is explicit and it is telling you how it is, whereas cold is more seeing - it is ambiguous and is there for interpretation. 
Tom Wolfe was an example of an explicit journalist who was influenced by Emeile Zola. Zola painted the scene vividly - a master of natural realism. Wolfe wanted to show how to write features in the new journalism style - first hand data, real involvement, shorthand, recording devices. This would required a great deal of detailed construction with realistic dialogue, third person point of view, recording of every gesture and habits. 
This would allow for a more relatable experience,