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Media and the Cold War in the 1980sSelling “Star Wars” in American Mass Media

Media and the Cold War in the 1980s: Selling “Star Wars” in American Mass Media [In March of 1983, Ronald Reagan introduced his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a program to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in space. Dubbed “Star Wars” by skeptics, SDI prompted a media battle—in print, television commercials, documentaries, and even a mail-in sweepstakes—between two non-government organizations: High Frontier, which believed missile defense was achievable, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, which criticized Star Wars at every turn. Together, these NGOs shaped public perceptions of Star Wars’ promise before the White House could. Alarmed at this media war, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization had to fight back with its own media campaign to ensure the short-term survival of SDI. In the process, it abandoned Reagan’s vision and pursued continued congressional funding.] http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png

Media and the Cold War in the 1980sSelling “Star Wars” in American Mass Media

Part of the Palgrave Studies in the History of the Media Book Series
Editors: Bastiansen, Henrik G.; Klimke, Martin; Werenskjold, Rolf
Knoblauch, William M.
Media and the Cold War in the 1980s — Nov 9, 2018
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23 pages

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Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Copyright
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG, part of Springer Nature 2019
ISBN
978-3-319-98381-3
Pages
19 –42
DOI
10.1007/978-3-319-98382-0_2
Publisher site
See Chapter on Publisher Site

Abstract

[In March of 1983, Ronald Reagan introduced his Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI), a program to intercept incoming ballistic missiles in space. Dubbed “Star Wars” by skeptics, SDI prompted a media battle—in print, television commercials, documentaries, and even a mail-in sweepstakes—between two non-government organizations: High Frontier, which believed missile defense was achievable, and the Union of Concerned Scientists, which criticized Star Wars at every turn. Together, these NGOs shaped public perceptions of Star Wars’ promise before the White House could. Alarmed at this media war, the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization had to fight back with its own media campaign to ensure the short-term survival of SDI. In the process, it abandoned Reagan’s vision and pursued continued congressional funding.]

Published: Nov 9, 2018

Keywords: Star Wars; American Mass Media; Strategic Defense Initiative Organization (SDIO); High Frontier; Missile Defense

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