| This dissertation considers the medium of radio by examining the relationship between a representation and the production of that representation. The study reveals the cultural impact a core team of eight African American women had on the production of a series of public radio documentary programs. The dissertation posits: first, that producers acting as a community of cultural workers drew from their cultural identities and personal frames of reference to develop political strategies for making production choices in the studio and the field; and second, that producers constructed radio representations of African American sacred music communities that were similar to and different from face-to-face encounters with these communities.;The specific context of this argument is the twenty-six pan documentary series Wade In the Water: African American Sacred Music Traditions produced by National Public Radio and the Smithsonian Institution and aired in 1994. Central to this research are the strategies used by the core production team, challenging traditional approaches to the presentation of folk culture on public radio. This study examines the core production community, as well as, several sacred music communities including a prayer band and a contemporary mass gospel choir in rehearsal 1 to determine what kind of cultural knowledge becomes part of a radio representation and why.;The dissertation borrows theories and techniques from cultural studies, media studies, folklore, and ethnomusicology while it offers analysis of scripts, e-mail, and other archival twils written during the production process. It employs the methods of ethnography including participant observation, key informant interviews, life stories, and introspection to enter and describe the communities which are partners in production.;This is a reference to two communities: The United Southern Prayer Band of Baltimore, Washington and Virginia, a six-decade old assembly of African American Christians; and the mass choir "Kaleidoscope" directed by Reverend Donald Vails in Prince Georges County, Maryland. |
