Also

I’ve pulled these 1948 election news clips into my bedtime playlist again.

The big entertainment shows were carefully preserved. Networks and sponsors archived full seasons on transcription disks so they could rerun if needed. News wasn’t officially preserved. Why would you want to rerun last year’s events? We have only a handful of scattered clips from excellent commentators like Frank Edwards and Bert Andrews.

These Bert Andrews clips are packed with political intrigue and strategy, same as today except that politicians had to work harder to push a rumor into national circulation. They couldn’t just post it on twitter, they had to sneak it through the filters of COMPETENT reporters.

Under the whispering and vicious “investigations” is a HUGE difference. In 1948 politicians were ALSO doing their damn jobs. Congress was passing laws to help veterans and control corporate greed. Congress listened to what the peasants wanted and tried to give it to them.