The Cultivation Legacy: Media Influence and Intellectual History

Cultivation theory had two historical antecedents. The first was George Gerbner’s empirical and theoretical work in the 1950s and early 1960s. In this period, Gerbner argued that communications scholarship should focus on analysing what it meant to live in societies where mass media set the terms for social thought and political debate. In this work, Gerbner seemingly framed his research as a kind of socialist activism. The second antecedent was the University of Pennsylvania’s decision to partner with publishing tycoon Walter Annenberg to develop a communications school that would become a thought leader in media research. The early years of the partnership were marked by tension, culminating in the replacement of the school’s first dean, Gilbert Seldes. Gerbner’s appointment as Seldes’ successor created a noteworthy tension. Although Annenberg was hostile to socialist inclinations, he would also provide the resources to realise Gerbner’s ideas. Cultivation theory, therefore, became a significant case study in disciplinary history. Existing studies discovered political intersections between post-war mass communication scholars and American hegemonic interests. However, the relationship between Gerbner and Annenberg indicates how personal histories and relationships also influenced the direction of the new discipline.