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Mainstream media

Posted by ESC on September 22, 2010 at 14:20

In Reply to: Mainstream media posted by Patricia Sears on September 21, 2010 at 17:26:

: What is the origin of the current phrase "mainstream media?"

Interesting question. Haven't found the exact phrase yet. However, "Safire’s New Political Dictionary" by William Safire (Random House, New York, 1993), has a long entry, Page 429-430, about the use of the word "mainstream" and water imagery. Goes WAY back. Mary Wollstonecraft, A Vindication of the Rights of Women, 1792: "...a stream of popular opinion." John F. Kennedy, 1963, "Ireland is moving in the mainstream of current world events." Mr. Safire said New York Gov. Nelson Rockefeller used "mainstream" a lot: "'The mainstream of American political thought and action' was one of his favorite phrases. Speechwriter Hugh Morrow recalled that Rockefeller's first use of the term was in a statement released July 14, 1963..."

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