119. Red Channels

The phone just stopped ringing.

What’s crazy is that it came in the immediate aftermath of WWII. You’d think we’d settle into our newfound power with confidence, not paranoia. But the USSR flipped from ally to arch-enemy in just 4 years. It tested its first nuclear bomb in 1949; two months later, China fell to the communists. Almost overnight, the Red Scare gripped mainstream America.

During the 1950s, those accused of having communist sympathies could only clear their names by hiring their accusers—accusers who also charged networks $5 per person for “research,” profiting off both ends of the affair. Blacklisted people had to appear before HUAC¹ to grovel, recant, swear oaths of loyalty, and—most importantly—to name names.

It wasn’t Congress, but private, for-profit companies that drove the hysteria. The Red Channels blacklist pamphlet was published by three former FBI agents. Their ally, a supermarket chain owner, threatened to pull products from shelves if manufacturers advertised on unapproved channels. The pamphlet was secretive, quietly passed among ad agencies, never mentioned when performers were fired and careers destroyed. The phone just stopped ringing.

The blacklists were finally killed not by Congress or conscience, but by a libel verdict of $3.5 million, and Red Channels co-author Vincent Hartnett admitting under oath that his research consisted of “being sold a barrel of goods.” His attorney was immediately replaced by Roy Cohn.

Red Channels argued that politically conservative performers had previously been stigmatized—which was probably true in some cases. And so the accused became the virulent accusers.

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Links:

• Great essay: “Why I Wrote The Crucible” - Arthur Miller, The New Yorker, October 21 & 28, 1996 (PDF - scroll down to “Primary Source” p. 36)

• Texas humorist wins record libel award - Texas State Historical Association

• Red Channels: The Report Of Communist Influence In Radio And Television - Counterattack Newsletter, June 22, 1950 (via Internet Archive)

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This post is part of The American 250, a series featuring 250 words on 250 objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary. Through December 31, 2026.

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1. HUAC = the House Un-American Activities Committee