Unlocking the Airwaves

A decisive contribution to McLuhan research, and to media research in general, is being made by a massive project called “Unlocking the Airwaves: Revitalizing an Early Public and Educational Radio Collection.” This admirable project is a collaboration among the Maryland Institute for Technology in the Humanities, the University of Wisconsin-Madison Department of Communication Arts, and the Wisconsin Historical Society. It is supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities through a Humanities Collections and Reference Resources grant. Four folders posted to the Internet Archive by this project have particular relevance McLuhan studies: Project in Understanding New Media. These folders detail the genesis and development of the NAEB1 project with McLuhan which began officially in 1959 and eventuated in the publication of the Report on Project in Understanding New Media in 1960.

  1. National Association of Educational Broadcasters.