Dallas Walker Smythe
Encyclopedia
Dallas Walker Smythe was a political activist and researcher who contributed to a political economy
of communication
s. He believed that research should be used to develop knowledge that could be applied to policies in support of public interest and the disenfranchised in the face of private capital. He focused his research on mass media
and telecommunications. Some of his main ideas included the “invisible triangle” (broadcasters
, advertisers and audience
members), and the “audience commodity”. Much of his efforts were the result of his attempts to differentiate between Administrative and Critical Communications research.
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, Canada
. His father ran a hardware store in Regina, and his mother was a nurse from Caledonia
. His parents married in 1906. His father was a Presbyterian, and his mother followed the Church of England
. Religion was important in his early childhood. The family didn't follow any particular church, but often read the passages in the New Testament
that discussed the ethical principles
of Christianity, which held ideas of primitive socialism
. As a child, he almost died of the flu, and subsequently his family moved to Pasadena, California
in search of a healthier climate. Encouraged by his junior college economics teacher, Smythe wrote an essay for a national contest and won $100. This encouraged him to pursue economics and become a teacher. Smythe was shy in junior college and didn’t date much. He eventually married Beatrice Bell, the first woman he fell in love with. After studying at the University of California, Los Angeles
in his third year of junior college, he finished his degree at the University of California, Berkeley
, achieving his A.B. in Economics in 1928. Later that year, he entered the Ph.D. Economics program at Berkeley, where he undertook a seven year thesis on the East San Francisco transit system.
(1934-47), Central Statistics Board (1937-38), the Department of Labor
(1938-41), the Federal Communications Commission
(1943-48). During his time at the F.C.C, Smythe helped create the Blue Book, which administered telecommunications policy until the 1960s.
During his time working with the government, his ideas about social justice
, social science research and the media were shaped by a number of events. The shooting of picketers by the National Guard at the San Francisco Longshore Strike, and the plight of drought-driven farmers of Midwest during the Depression
demonstrated to Smythe the vagaries of class struggle
. However, it was his concern for the Spanish Civil War
and the citizens' struggle against fascism that led him to being involved with the American League for Peace and Democracy, which promoted education and political action to help lift the arms embargo.
Later, when he applied for position as Economics Professor at University of Illinois, Urbana, his appointment was attacked with fallacies about his former activities. J. Edgar Hoover
refused to give his FBI files to the university administration. However, the attorney general intervened and Smythe was duly appointed to the University of Illinois, where he taught Communications and Economics until 1963.
During the period of McCarthyism
, Smythe found it difficult to get articles published or to get money to fund research. He left the US after the Cuban missile crisis
, because he feared for family’s welfare in the US. The Smythe family moved to Canada in 1963, and Dallas found a job teaching Communication and Economics at the University of Saskatchewan
for the next 10 years. Later, he became professor in the Communication Department at Simon Fraser University
, Burnaby BC from 1974 until his death in 1992 at age of 85.
system. He believed that a researcher must be engaged with the social processes studied. Overall, Smythe wanted to expose political and economic power relations that were reproduced in institutional relations, embedded in technology and represented in communications.
His theoretical approach was social realism, which acknowledged that institutions and policies mediate cultural realism. He also used Critical Marxist theory, which he posited did not have to be explicitly Marxist, but must be critical of phenomena in their systemic context.
Other ideas include “cultural screens”, which denote a struggle over the terms of national development with regard to which class it would serve, “audience power”, whereby the consciousness industry is resisted by people and older institutions and “cultural realism”, where the central values of a system are expressed in artifacts, practices and institutions.
Smythe also believed that technology is the result of social systems values and policies, which it reproduces regardless of judicial issues, and that science and technique are political, involving choice of problems to study and knowledge to practice.
Political economy
Political economy originally was the term for studying production, buying, and selling, and their relations with law, custom, and government, as well as with the distribution of national income and wealth, including through the budget process. Political economy originated in moral philosophy...
of communication
Communication
Communication is the activity of conveying meaningful information. Communication requires a sender, a message, and an intended recipient, although the receiver need not be present or aware of the sender's intent to communicate at the time of communication; thus communication can occur across vast...
s. He believed that research should be used to develop knowledge that could be applied to policies in support of public interest and the disenfranchised in the face of private capital. He focused his research on mass media
Mass media
Mass media refers collectively to all media technologies which are intended to reach a large audience via mass communication. Broadcast media transmit their information electronically and comprise of television, film and radio, movies, CDs, DVDs and some other gadgets like cameras or video consoles...
and telecommunications. Some of his main ideas included the “invisible triangle” (broadcasters
Broadcasting
Broadcasting is the distribution of audio and video content to a dispersed audience via any audio visual medium. Receiving parties may include the general public or a relatively large subset of thereof...
, advertisers and audience
Audience
An audience is a group of people who participate in a show or encounter a work of art, literature , theatre, music or academics in any medium...
members), and the “audience commodity”. Much of his efforts were the result of his attempts to differentiate between Administrative and Critical Communications research.
Background and education
Dallas Walker Smythe was born in 1907 in Regina, SaskatchewanRegina, Saskatchewan
Regina is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. His father ran a hardware store in Regina, and his mother was a nurse from Caledonia
Caledonia
Caledonia is the Latinised form and name given by the Romans to the land in today's Scotland north of their province of Britannia, beyond the frontier of their empire...
. His parents married in 1906. His father was a Presbyterian, and his mother followed the Church of England
Church of England
The Church of England is the officially established Christian church in England and the Mother Church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church considers itself within the tradition of Western Christianity and dates its formal establishment principally to the mission to England by St...
. Religion was important in his early childhood. The family didn't follow any particular church, but often read the passages in the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
that discussed the ethical principles
Ethics in religion
Most religions have an ethical component, often derived from purported supernatural revelation or guidance. "For many people, ethics is not only tied up with religion, but is completely settled by it...
of Christianity, which held ideas of primitive socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...
. As a child, he almost died of the flu, and subsequently his family moved to Pasadena, California
Pasadena, California
Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Although famous for hosting the annual Rose Bowl football game and Tournament of Roses Parade, Pasadena is the home to many scientific and cultural institutions, including the California Institute of Technology , the Jet...
in search of a healthier climate. Encouraged by his junior college economics teacher, Smythe wrote an essay for a national contest and won $100. This encouraged him to pursue economics and become a teacher. Smythe was shy in junior college and didn’t date much. He eventually married Beatrice Bell, the first woman he fell in love with. After studying at the University of California, Los Angeles
University of California, Los Angeles
The University of California, Los Angeles is a public research university located in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, USA. It was founded in 1919 as the "Southern Branch" of the University of California and is the second oldest of the ten campuses...
in his third year of junior college, he finished his degree at the University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley , is a teaching and research university established in 1868 and located in Berkeley, California, USA...
, achieving his A.B. in Economics in 1928. Later that year, he entered the Ph.D. Economics program at Berkeley, where he undertook a seven year thesis on the East San Francisco transit system.
Government career and impetus for applied social science research
After finishing his Ph.D., Dallas W. Smythe worked for 14 years in various government departments as an economist: the Department of AgricultureUnited States Department of Agriculture
The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...
(1934-47), Central Statistics Board (1937-38), the Department of Labor
United States Department of Labor
The United States Department of Labor is a Cabinet department of the United States government responsible for occupational safety, wage and hour standards, unemployment insurance benefits, re-employment services, and some economic statistics. Many U.S. states also have such departments. The...
(1938-41), the Federal Communications Commission
Federal Communications Commission
The Federal Communications Commission is an independent agency of the United States government, created, Congressional statute , and with the majority of its commissioners appointed by the current President. The FCC works towards six goals in the areas of broadband, competition, the spectrum, the...
(1943-48). During his time at the F.C.C, Smythe helped create the Blue Book, which administered telecommunications policy until the 1960s.
During his time working with the government, his ideas about social justice
Social justice
Social justice generally refers to the idea of creating a society or institution that is based on the principles of equality and solidarity, that understands and values human rights, and that recognizes the dignity of every human being. The term and modern concept of "social justice" was coined by...
, social science research and the media were shaped by a number of events. The shooting of picketers by the National Guard at the San Francisco Longshore Strike, and the plight of drought-driven farmers of Midwest during the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
demonstrated to Smythe the vagaries of class struggle
Class struggle
Class struggle is the active expression of a class conflict looked at from any kind of socialist perspective. Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels wrote "The [written] history of all hitherto existing society is the history of class struggle"....
. However, it was his concern for the Spanish Civil War
Spanish Civil War
The Spanish Civil WarAlso known as The Crusade among Nationalists, the Fourth Carlist War among Carlists, and The Rebellion or Uprising among Republicans. was a major conflict fought in Spain from 17 July 1936 to 1 April 1939...
and the citizens' struggle against fascism that led him to being involved with the American League for Peace and Democracy, which promoted education and political action to help lift the arms embargo.
Later, when he applied for position as Economics Professor at University of Illinois, Urbana, his appointment was attacked with fallacies about his former activities. J. Edgar Hoover
J. Edgar Hoover
John Edgar Hoover was the first Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation of the United States. Appointed director of the Bureau of Investigation—predecessor to the FBI—in 1924, he was instrumental in founding the FBI in 1935, where he remained director until his death in 1972...
refused to give his FBI files to the university administration. However, the attorney general intervened and Smythe was duly appointed to the University of Illinois, where he taught Communications and Economics until 1963.
During the period of McCarthyism
McCarthyism
McCarthyism is the practice of making accusations of disloyalty, subversion, or treason without proper regard for evidence. The term has its origins in the period in the United States known as the Second Red Scare, lasting roughly from the late 1940s to the late 1950s and characterized by...
, Smythe found it difficult to get articles published or to get money to fund research. He left the US after the Cuban missile crisis
Cuban Missile Crisis
The Cuban Missile Crisis was a confrontation among the Soviet Union, Cuba and the United States in October 1962, during the Cold War...
, because he feared for family’s welfare in the US. The Smythe family moved to Canada in 1963, and Dallas found a job teaching Communication and Economics at the University of Saskatchewan
University of Saskatchewan
The University of Saskatchewan is a Canadian public research university, founded in 1907, and located on the east side of the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. An "Act to establish and incorporate a University for the Province of Saskatchewan" was passed by the...
for the next 10 years. Later, he became professor in the Communication Department at Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University
Simon Fraser University is a Canadian public research university in British Columbia with its main campus on Burnaby Mountain in Burnaby, and satellite campuses in Vancouver and Surrey. The main campus in Burnaby, located from downtown Vancouver, was established in 1965 and has more than 34,000...
, Burnaby BC from 1974 until his death in 1992 at age of 85.
School of thought
Smythe applied social science methodologies against the flows of the capitalistCapitalism
Capitalism is an economic system that became dominant in the Western world following the demise of feudalism. There is no consensus on the precise definition nor on how the term should be used as a historical category...
system. He believed that a researcher must be engaged with the social processes studied. Overall, Smythe wanted to expose political and economic power relations that were reproduced in institutional relations, embedded in technology and represented in communications.
His theoretical approach was social realism, which acknowledged that institutions and policies mediate cultural realism. He also used Critical Marxist theory, which he posited did not have to be explicitly Marxist, but must be critical of phenomena in their systemic context.
Key concepts
Probably one of his most influential ideas was that of the ‘audience-commodity’. In "Communications: Blindspot of Western Marxism", Smythe writes about monopoly capitalism's dissolution of the boundary between an individual’s role as worker and buyer. Smythe believed that all non-sleeping time is work time. Work time is devoted to the production of commodities, producing and reproducing labour power. Time away from work, but not asleep is sold as a commodity to advertisers. This is the audience commodity, which perform marketing functions and work at the production and reproduction of labour power.Other ideas include “cultural screens”, which denote a struggle over the terms of national development with regard to which class it would serve, “audience power”, whereby the consciousness industry is resisted by people and older institutions and “cultural realism”, where the central values of a system are expressed in artifacts, practices and institutions.
Smythe also believed that technology is the result of social systems values and policies, which it reproduces regardless of judicial issues, and that science and technique are political, involving choice of problems to study and knowledge to practice.