Jay G Blumler (18 February 1924 – 30 January 2021 ''(aged )'') was an American-British researcher of communication, politics and media. He was

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

of Public Communication at the

University of Leeds The University of Leeds is a public research university in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was established in 1874 as the Yorkshire College of Science. In 1884, it merged with the Leeds School of Medicine (established 1831) and was renamed Y ...

Early life and education

Blumler was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

on 18 February 1924. Blumler's father was a

Marxist Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...

and his mother a supporter of Roosevelt's

New Deal The New Deal was a series of wide-reaching economic, social, and political reforms enacted by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in the United States between 1933 and 1938, in response to the Great Depression in the United States, Great Depressi ...

. He described himself as a " red diaper baby". In 1947 Blumler graduated from

Antioch College Antioch College is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio, United States. It was founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection and began operating in 1852 as a non-secta ...

Ohio Ohio ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Lake Erie to the north, Pennsylvania to the east, West Virginia to the southeast, Kentucky to the southwest, Indiana to the ...

with the degree of BA in political science. He subsequently received a

DPhil A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

Military service

Blumler joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

in 1944 and served as a

Russian Russian(s) may refer to: *Russians (), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *A citizen of Russia *Russian language, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages *''The Russians'', a b ...

interpreter in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. As Chair of the American Veterans Committee in Berlin he was invited to have tea with

Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...

when she visited the city. She had heard of some of the charity work that his committee had done and asked to meet them.

Academic career

From 1949 Blumler taught political theory at

Ruskin College, Oxford Ruskin College, originally known as Ruskin Hall, Oxford, is a higher education institution and part of the University of West London, in Oxford, England. It is not a college of Oxford University. Named after the essayist, art and social cr ...

. In 1963 he was appointed

Granada Television ITV Granada, formerly known as Granada Television, is the ITV (TV network), ITV franchisee for the North West of England and Isle of Man. From 1956 to 1968 it broadcast to both the north west and Yorkshire on weekdays only, as ABC Weekend TV, ...

Research Fellow A research fellow is an academic research position at a university or a similar research institution, usually for academic staff or faculty members. A research fellow may act either as an independent investigator or under the supervision of a p ...

at the

where in 1966 he established the Centre for Television Research. He became the university's first

of Public Communication in 1978. Blumler retired from his chair at Leeds in 1989 with the title

Emeritus ''Emeritus/Emerita'' () is an honorary title granted to someone who retires from a position of distinction, most commonly an academic faculty position, but is allowed to continue using the previous title, as in "professor emeritus". In some c ...

Professor. He continued to publish prolifically as well as teaching for one semester each year at the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

Death

Blumler died in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

on 30 January 2021, aged 96. He was survived by his children Matthew, Luke, Jackie and Mark. His wife, Gina, died in 2004.

Selected publications

*''Television in Politics: Its Uses and Influences'' (1968) with

Denis McQuail Denis McQuail (12 April 1935, London – 25 June 2017)"Prof. dr. D. McQuail, 1935 -," at ''Album Academicum'' website, University of Amsterdam. was a British communication theorist, Emeritus Professor at the University of Amsterdam, considere ...

*''The Uses of Mass Communications: Current Perspectives on Gratifications Research'' (1974) editor with

Elihu Katz Elihu Katz (; 21 May 1926 – 31 December 2021) was an American-Israeli sociologist and communication scientist whose expertise was uses and gratifications theory. He authored over 20 books and 175 articles and book chapters during his lifeti ...

*''The Challenge of Election Broadcasting. Report of an Enquiry by the Centre for Television Research, University of Leeds'' (1978) with Michael Gurevitch and Julian Ives *''La télévision fait-elle l'élection?: Une analyse comparative, France, Grande-Bretagne, Belgique'' (1978) with Alison Ewbank and Claude Geerts *''Communicating to Voters: Television in the First European Parliamentary Elections'' (1983) editor with Anthony D. Fox *''Research on the Range and Quality of Broadcasting Services. A Report for the Committee on Financing the BBC.''(HMSO 1986) with Thomas Nossiter, Malcolm Brynin *''Wired Cities: Shaping the Future of Communications'' (1987) editor with William H. Dutton and Kenneth L. Kramer *''Broadcasting Finance in Transition: A Comparative Handbook'' (1991) editor with T. J. Nossiter *''The Formation of Campaign Agendas: A Comparative Analysis of Party and Media Roles in Recent American and British Elections'' (1991) with Michael Gurevitch,

Holli A. Semetko Holli Semetko, frequently published as Holli A. Semetko, is a comparative political scientist, currently serving as the Asa Griggs Candler professor of media and international affairs at Emory University. She served as Emory University's Vice Pr ...

, David H. Weaver *''Comparatively Speaking: Communication and Culture across Space and Time'' (1992) editor with Jack M. McLeod,

Karl Erik Rosengren Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl of Austria, last Austrian Emperor * Karl (footballer) (born 1993), Karl Cachoe ...

*''Television and the Public Interest: Vulnerable Values in Western European Broadcasting'' (1992) editor *''The Crisis of Public Communication'' (1995) with Michael Gurevitch

References

* Ellis Cashmore and Chris Rojek, ''Dictionary of Cultural Theorists'', 1999, pp. 75–76
Professor Jay G. Blumler (1924–2021)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blumler, Jay 1924 births 2021 deaths Academics of Ruskin College Academics of the University of Leeds Alumni of the London School of Economics American expatriate academics in the United Kingdom American expatriates in the United Kingdom Antioch College alumni