The Jeremiad Over Journalism

elievable by the progressive, almost social democratic, policies of the Roosevelt administration,
which made American culture even more palatable to Europeans.
Finally, and in Schou‘s opinon the decisive reason ―why Americanisation lead to widespread pro-
Americanisim,‖ was that the image of the United States presented to Europeans was both glorified,
but also ―convincing‖ since it was produced by many of the finest European artists.
According to Schou, many leading European cultural and political personalities had fled the
continent and settled in the United States in the years surrounding World War II. Thus, American
culture was enriched with gifted European immigrants, while their European counterparts had few
resources to improve the quality of cultural production and be innovative. As a consequence, the
developments of the mass communications industry increasingly originated in the United States,
while the quality of the entertainment received a great boost by being infused with European
talent. 106
Towards the end of his study Schou introduces the concept of ―time lag,‖ as many of the American
innovations within the culture industry took some years before they found their way to Western
Europe especially in World War II‘s immediate aftermath. According to Schou, this ―time lag‖
ensured that the Europeans were only exposed to cultural products deemed potentially successful,
while less stellar productions were tried and tested in the United States but not necessarily exported.
―The specific constellation of American populism and high artistic standards in entertainment
on the one hand and European postwar dreams of a more colourful and prosperous life on the
other would in my opinion account for the spectacularly successful process of
Americanisation.‖ 107
Finally, Schou argues that while academic elites on both sides of the Danish political spectrum
deplored influence from the United States, on the left perceived as a threat to working class culture
106 Ibid. Page 146-148
107 Ibid. Page 151.
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