Erik Barnouw

Erik Barnouw (1908 – July 19, 2001) was a U.S. historian of radio and television broadcasting.

Born in Den Haag in the Netherlands, Barnouw became a professor at Columbia University in New York after emigrating to the United States.

He is best known for his history of U.S. television, his history of documentary films, and for his film about Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

In 1971 Barnouw received a George Polk Award.

Since 1983, the Organization of American Historians has awarded the Erik Barnouw Award for films about American history.

[edit] Selected Writings

A Tower in Babel: A History of Broadcasting in the United States To 1933 , Oxford University Press, 1966.
The Golden Web: A History of Broadcasting in the United States 1933-1953, Oxford University Press, 1968.
The Image Empire: A History of Broadcasting in the United States from 1953, Oxford University Press, 1970.
Tube of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television, Oxford University Press, 1976 (second updated edition, 1992).
The Sponsor: Notes on a Modern Potentate, Oxford University Press, 1978 (new edition, 2005).
Indian Film, Oxford University Press, 1980 (with S. Krishnaswamy).
International Encyclopedia of Communications, Oxford University Press, 1989. (editor)
Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film, Oxford University Press, 1993.
Media Marathon, Duke University Press, 1996 (an autobiography).
Media Lost and Found, Fordham University Press, 2001.