Broadcasting: A Candid Appraisal

WHYY (Radio station : Philadelphia, Pa.) · February 5, 1961

1 hour program, produced in 1961 by WHYY. Increased government supervision of the commercial broadcasting industry is advocated by Marya Mannes, TV critic for The Reporter, on a special National Educational Television program, Broadcasting: A Candid Appraisal, which premieres this week. Miss Mannes and five other broadcasting experts appear on the hour-long public affairs program, actually a discussion of the activities and decisions of the winter session of the Continuing Conference on Communications and the Public Interest. Produced by educational station WHYY-TV in Philadelphia where the Conference was held, the program is being shown exclusively by the non-commercial stations affiliated with the National Educational Television and Radio Center. Gilbert Seldes, dean of the Annenberg School of Communications at the University of Pennsylvania and chairman of the Conference?s executive committee, is moderator of the NET program. Other members of the panel are Frederick Ford, outgoing chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; Charles Tower, vice president of the National Association of Broadcasters; Percy Tannenbaum, director of the Mass Communications Research Center at the University of Wisconsin; and Dr. Dallas Smythe, research professor in communications at the University of Illinois. Says Miss Mannes: ?Only in the last year has the American public been able to see public affairs programs during prime evening hours. These advances are due to the bravery and resistance of a few people in broadcasting. But can we rely on this to give people what they should know?? On the other side of the argument, Mr. Ford emphasizes his belief in self-regulation by commercial broadcasting. He suggest that, to relieve commercial broadcasting ?to some extent? of its responsibilities in the area of public affairs, educational television?s role be expanded through a working UHF system. Mr. Tannenbaum objects to any such switch in public affairs programming responsibilities, asserting that this would permit commercial broadcasters to avoid the obligations of their broadcasting licenses. Dr. Smythe agrees and notes that the broadcaster?s obligations to the public are the primary reasons for his right to broadcast at all. Miss Mannes proposes that the government present, not impose, ?a series of standards.? She adds, ?It seems to me that if the American public, in a time of crisis, got 80 percent entertainment as against 20 percent information, public affairs programming would not be too badly off or too throttled. I don?t see what is so evil about attempting a solution of that kind. ?It is an easy thing to say, ?Government, stay away.? On the other hand, as we grow bigger and bigger and more and more complex, it becomes absolutely necessary in many areas to have some kind of federal supervision. Now this in many instances has nothing to do with censorship or interference in content. I think we can remain as we are and yet have a little more direction from established government agencies.? Both Mr. Seldis and Mr. Tower disagree on the need for such standards. Mr. Seldes does not think it wise for government to dictate broadcasting time percentages, while Mr. Tower believes there should be no government supervision of programming. Mr. Seldes and his guests also consider commercial broadcasting?s current achievements, the present system of commercial sponsorship, and the meaning of the phrase ?public interest.? The Conference is a professional organization of scholars and teachers in the communication arts. It meets twice a year to discuss the responsibilities of the media, the public, and government in assuring that mass communications server ?the passing cultural needs and democratic goals of our society.? The National Educational Television and Radio Center, which has headquarters in New York City, distributes to its affiliates a diversified weekly schedule of cultural and informational program. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)