Target: Prime Time by Kathryn C. Montgomery (Assistant Professor, Department of Film and Television, Assistant Professor, Department of Film and Television, University of California, Los Angeles)

Offering the first book-length exploration of network television's relations with advocacy groups, Kathryn C. Montgomery presents a comprehensive picture of the impact of organized pressure on prime-time TV. She vividly describes, for example, how the Catholic Church campaigned against Maude's abortion on the TV show, Maude; how outraged actors mobilized a national protest against the portrayal of blacks in the TV miniseries, Beulah Land; and how the Moral Majority waged a sophisticated campaign to "clean up TV," by threatening to boycott advertisers. Exposing the inner workings of network television as no other book has done, Montgomery's study demonstrates how behind-the-scenes struggles have shaped the images, messages, and values that enter people's homes every night. The book also raises critical questions about television's role in our society and its responsibility to the American public.

About the Author
About the Author: Kathryn C. Montgomery teaches Film and Television at the University of California, Los Angeles. She has written for various publications, including the Journal of Communication and Columbia Journalism Review.

Reviews
"An excellent book that provides an important addition to the pressure group framework. Montgomery's book is accessible to a broad audience of social scientists, and it challenges many of the assumptions of conventional interest group literature."--Donald R. Culverson, University of Wisconsin
"A solid addition to media history, likely to become a standard resource on its subject."--Booklist
"A remarkably detailed inside look at how, starting in the 1970s, the various 'advocacy groups,' as [Montgomery] calls them, turned prime-time television into a virtual battle zone....Fascinating."--Marie Winn, The New York Times Book Review
"The special interest group that Kathy Montgomery addresses is a big one, consisting of those wishing to better understand the nature of communications media. Her book is the essence of good writing and good thinking. It taught me a lot."--Howard Rosenberg, T.V. critic for Los Angeles Times
"Montgomery has made a needed contribution to the research on that period with Target: Prime Time, which thoroughly examines media activism in the unregulated world of network television."--Journal of Communication
"A unique and fascinating look at the pressure group siege lines surrounding U.S. television and efforts to ward them off."--Erik Barnouw
"A unique and fascinating look at the pressure group siege lines surrounding U.S. television and efforts to ward them off....Valuable history for practitioners and students of the media."--Erik Barnouw
"Extremely well written and comprehensive....An outstanding book that fills a void in the literature and should be required reading for citizens concerned with the quality of network television."--Choice
"Well-researched, well-written, and well-worth adding to any tvphile's library."--Variety


Awards
Winner of Named an Outstanding Academic Book of 1989-1990 by ^IChoice^R.



Book Information
ISBN 9780195063202
Author Kathryn C. Montgomery
Format Paperback
Page Count 288
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Series Communication and Society
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 135mm * 15mm