Broadcasting Telecasting (Apr-Jun 1954)

tor. state governor and eight other state offices plus local offices. Facilities of the AP and telephone were used for results in every other county. The pooled broadcast began at 6 p.m. when the polls began to close, and lasted to 3 a.m. the following morning, with each station assigning its top announcer. The broadcasts were sponsored by Hart-Greer Inc., Birmingham appliance distributor. Stations Should Decide On Tree7 Time — Siepmann DISCRETION of networks and stations to grant or deny "free" time for reply by persons who claim their positions have been unfairly attacked is discussed by Charles A. Siepmann, at one time with FCC and a contributor to its 1946 Blue Book, in an article in the current issue of The Nation. He is now head of New York U. Communications Dept. A person has no "right" to an idea or a public act once it is made public, Mr. Siepmann writes, hence is not entitled as a matter of right to reply to a challenge of that idea or act. "Failure of networks and stations to grasp this point has occasioned much of our present confusion and perplexity," he writes, citing Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy's (R-Wis.) success in selling the "proprietory theory" of ideas and securing air time. "Let any man mention his name on the air and the station quickly receives his claim for 'equal time' to answer back, whereas the sole public interest involved — with respect to any of his acts or opinions — is that they be discussed pro and con, but in no case, as of necessity or as of right, by him," the article states. FCC places the right of discretion upon stations themselves, Mr. Siepmann says, with the Commission charged with reviewing overall performance. He offered three rules to end the controversy in handling controversial matters on the air: Rule 1. In matters of controversy debated on the air the broadcast licensee alone shall decide who shall be parties to the discussion. No individual's "right" to broadcast is to be countenanced. Rule 2. Participants in broadcast controversy shall be confined to discussion of the matters at issue. Irrelevant excursions on their part shall be ruthlessly blue-penciled. (This is merely a common-sense extension of a recognized practice. If a speaker is invited to broadcast on bird song and then submits a manuscript on bees, his manuscript will be rejected. Intrusion into controversy of impertinent matter is objectionable in precisely the same sense.) Rule 3. Personal abuse or innuendo, or indeed any attack on the good faith, the motives, or the character of individuals, is out of place in broadcast controversy — for two reasons. In public discussion it is ideas, opinions, or points of view that are essentially at issue. Loathsome as is much about the character and past conduct of Sen. McCarthy to many persons, it is his point of view, his public statements, and public acts that are properly to be contested. Moreover, such fearful and sometimes irreparable damage can be done to the good name of an individual through the range of broadcasts and the prestige attached to them that special protection of his interests is proper. Only two parties are served by personal recrimination and veiled slander — the peddlers of such unsavory stuff and the diseased minds that revel in it. Summerford Heads WKLO D. C. SUMMERFORD, former technical director of WKLO Louisville, has been named to succeed Joe Eaton as general manager, it was announced last week by the board of directors of the Mid-America Broadcasting Corp., WKLO licensee. In another change, Charles Farmer has been named assistant manager and director of sales. WKLO, an affiliate of ABC, began operations in November 1948. Wire Elected President Of KSTM-TV St. Louis P. H. WIRE, president and general manager of the East St. Louis (111.) Journal, has been elected president of Broadcast House Inc., licensee of KSTM-TV St. Louis, William H. Biggs, board chairman, said last week. In an announcement, Mr. Wire said, "We are excited and gratified at the tremendous strides ch. 36 is making in the television picture in our area, and with our greatly increased listenership and the resultant increase in sales, we are more and more in a position to improve our programming in accordance with the original plans." Constant Companion TO EMPHASIZE that people do a great many things while they listen to radio, WWPA Williamsport, Pa., ran a "Radio Month" contest, airing four announcements each day which asked what listeners were doing at the time. Winners of three radios were a man who wrote a poem telling how he was helping his wife wash dishes at the time; a 13year-old who rigged a recorder to catch two CBS mystery programs (he also caught the contest announcement) while he attended a Scout meeting (he heard them the next day), and a woman who was feeding a new-born piglet. KCEE * MSA'S *Ml/0Mk market/ NBC — DUMONT Full Time Network Facilities PROGRAMS OF OTHER NETWORKS ACCEPTED ON THE BASIS OF AVAILABILITY March-April UHF-VHF Penetration Report states that Tulsa is the first dual market in any ARB study to have a conversion as high as 17.7% before going on the air. Also the first market to have a conversion as high as 25% after less than one month's operation. ARB KCEE Represented By THE BOLLING COMPANY New York — Chicago — Boston — Los Angeles — S?n Francisco Broadcasting • Telecasting May 17, 1954 » Page 78A