Broadcasting Telecasting (Oct-Dec 1959)

BROADCASTING THE BUSINESSWEEKLY OF TELEVISION AND RADIO December 21, 1959 Vol. 57 No. 25 WHAT PUBLIC REALLY THINKS OF TV A deep search into national attitudes shows that most people have kept their perspective despite broadcasting's bad press The American public opposes quizrigging and payola but has not let the torrent of newspaper publicity shake its faith in broadcasting. Authority for this conclusion: Elmo Roper, partner in the research firm of Elmer Roper & Assoc. Results of a nationwide sampling of public opinion by the firm were given Dec. 17 to the FCC's broadcasting inquiry. The people's common sense prevails, Mr. Roper said in analyzing the tabulations of the cross-country statistics. Backed by 26 years of public-opinion sampling (see box page 20), Mr. Roper's latest study moved him to make this statement to the FCC: "The results indicate to me that the public as a whole has put this matter in a pretty sane perspective — perhaps far saner than the writers of newspaper headlines." His analysis given to the FCC shows: • A majority of the public feels tv is doing an excellent or good job. • Tv rates close to newspapers in believability of news and as a source of news. • It ranks first as the medium most wanted if only one medium were available. • Two out of three people think quizrigging is wrong but they don't condemn all television. • Three out of four are convinced the tv industry is correcting the publicized abuses. A TIO Project • The Roper firm was commissioned by the Television Information Office to find out how the public was reacting to widespread publicity, most of which has been adverse. It was the first basic project undertaken by the new TIO when it went into action last October with Louis Hausman as director. Clair R. McCollough, Steinman Stations, is chairman of Television Information Committee, which directs the TIO project under NAB auspices. One of TIO's basic jobs is to find out what the public thinks of tv. "We commissioned Mr. Roper to get the answers to these questions," Mr. Hausman said last week: "Has television been damaged in the public eye? Are people losing confidence in television? Does the public distinguish between what is good and bad in the medium?" During the Dec. 5-12 survey week. Roper interviewers completed personal interviews with a nationwide cross-section of 2,000 adults. The findings given the FCC were tentative, based on 1,898 completed questionnaires. Final tabulations will make only trivial changes in the figures, Mr. Roper said. The Public's Wisdom • Mr. Roper told the FCC, "Twenty-six years of asking the public thousands of questions on hundreds of different subjects have convinced me that the public is usually pretty sound. It is true that occasionally a burst of emotion, usually inspired by widespread dissemination of misinformation, may cause them to go astray momentarily, but our research has shown that they are soon back on the path of common sense, and I think I might even be pardoned if I used the word "wisdom." He said specialists tend to over-estimate the amount of information the public should have and also to understate the public's native common sense. Questioned after his prepared testimony, Mr. Roper said results from a sample three times as large would vary not over 2-3%, certainly not over 5%. "The sample isn't on the large size and it isn't skimpy either," he observed. When FCC Comr. Robert T. Bartley asked if phrasing or order of asking questions could influence answers, Mr. Roper said these elements were behind the fact that several questions were asked respondents before the tv quiz subject was touched. He said an average of 5% of the people refuse to talk to surveyors because they are too busy, speak no English or don't like polls. The hearing had a laugh when Ashbrook Bryant, FCC attorney, opened questioning this way: "Just for the record, Mr. Gallup. . . ." This prompted Chairman John C. Doerfer to suggest HOW ROPER EVALUATES THE RESULTS "It seems to me that in view of the tremendous amount of newspaper space which has been devoted to the abuses of public confidence which have been revealed, the public has taken a pretty sane position. They are properly critical of abuses, but they have not lost confidence in the medium as a whole . . . "It may well be that the public, which if it is anything is human, knows that wherever one finds human beings, one will find instances of great merit, instances of mediocrity and instances of shabbiness. "The news that a certain fighter threw a fight does not cause people to instantly conclude that all fights are fixed. The news that a judge took a bribe does not cause the public to lose all confidence in our legal system. Perhaps the public is saying, in effect, 'Well, here's just one more proof of the fact that you'll find some rotten apples in every barrel.' . . ." BROADCASTING, December 21, 19S9 19