Lang, Kurt (1924—)

Kurt Lang is a scholar whose research in political communication focuses on media effects, particularly how the media shape public opinion. Born in Germany, Lang earned his master's degree and doctorate at the University of Chicago in sociology, and spent several years working for the U.S. military. He has written extensively in the areas of the sociology of war, military institutions, and collective behavior.

In the realm of political communication, however, Lang and his wife Gladys Engel Lang are known best for their study “MacArthur Day in Chicago,” which provided the basis for the former's doctoral dissertation. The chapter was published in their 1968 book Politics & Television and was hailed as a canonic text in media research by Elihu Katz and his colleagues in 2002.

The ...