In his heart, Donald Shaw was a historian.
He was known worldwide as co-author of the original Agenda Setting studies. The 1972 article combined journalism, political communication and public opinion research and created perhaps the greatest of the “milestone” communications studies of our lifetime.
Yet Shaw’s focus in the 1960s was an influential study on news bias and the telegraph. He lived intellectually across research fields, a lesson for us all. Years later, he delivered an influential talk on “The Rise and Fall of American Mass Media,” which predicted media fragmentation today based on historical trends. He published on journalism and military history, plus agenda setting, into his 80s.
Shaw died October 19, 2021, after a brief illness.
I met with Shaw at least weekly in Chapel Hill over the past several years. He was my PhD mentor, and we formed a long friendship. A lunch conversation with him could jump across centuries and disciplines, yet he always came back to two core topics: family and research. In our last time together, he was going strong — planning for the 50th anniversary of Agenda Setting, discussing an update of “Rise and Fall,” and excited about the issues of today.
Shaw was unique. His history, particularly his impact, can be told through the stories of the many people he met, mentored and loved.
Fittingly, the top award given at AEJMC in Shaw’s name is in the history division and recognizes lifetime achievement. His traditional academic home remains where he started sixty years ago as a young student at Wisconsin — in journalism and media history.
– Bradley J. Hamm
Donations to the Shaw Senior Scholar Award may be made to AEJMC.
We have lost a titan in communication research, and quite a character at that.