When students or friends experienced major life challenges or traumatic events, he always encouraged them to "write about it.
"[2] During his long career at the University of Wisconsin, he authored four books on the history of mass communication in the United States.
Baughman argued that television had a greater impact on its rivals—such as newspapers, radio broadcasters, and the film industry—than it did on society as a whole.
As he explained: Reviewing the book in the April 30, 2007 issue of The New Yorker, Nicholas Lemann observed: "As the television audience grew larger and took in people from small towns and the middle of the country, it became obvious that Americans wanted predictable, familiar entertainment, featuring, as Baughman astutely observes, stock situations and stars who had unusually expressive faces that lent themselves to cartoonish mugging shown in closeup.
"[11] In addition to his academic career, Baughman served as a member of the Wisconsin Advisory Committee to the United States Commission on Civil Rights from 1985 to 1992.
[7] Shortly before Baughman passed away, Madison Mayor Paul Soglin declared March 26 James Baughman Day for "the love and intellectual passion he has inspired in his current and former students, and for his contributions to scholarship, history, journalism and education.