Broadcasting Telecasting (Jan-Mar 1962)

Canon 35 opponents plan Chicago argument Broadcasters will participate in a hearing next Sunday (Feb. 18) in Chicago before a special committee of the American Bar Assn. to explore possible revision of Canon 35 which prohibits broadcast and photographic coverage of court trials, ABA representatives disclosed last week (Broadcasting, Jan. 29). Representing NAB will be Frank P. Fogarty, WOW-TV Omaha, Neb., chairman of the NAB Freedom of Information Committee, and Douglas A. Anello, NAB general counsel. Inquiries about the hearing so far, ABA sources said, disclose a mistaken belief that the session will be only an informal "conference" rather than what for all practical purposes amounts to a "court of last resort." The formal committee hearing seeks to settle the controversy between newsmen and the courts about Canon 35 over the past several years. The hearing was announced Jan. 26. The special ABA committee headed by Newark, N. J., attorney John H. Yauch Sr., wishes to receive all pertinent argument for modification of Canon 35, including complete supporting evidence or documentation in the form of tv film clips or radio tapes from experimental situations in which court coverage has been allowed. Mr. Yauch said written or documentary presentations will be accepted from all interested organizations or parties, but oral testimony Media reports... On display ■ The studios of WNOR Norfolk were chosen by judges at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts for inclusion in a new statewide traveling architectural exhibition. A panel with photographs and plans of the structure will travel for the next two years to Virginia colleges, libraries and art centers. During this month, the WNOR panel will be included in the Virginia Museum's 1962 Architects, Designers and Photographers Exhibition in Richmond. Most successful ■ The March of Dimes telethon, broadcast over WVECTV Hampton-Norfolk, Va., was reported by the station to have netted a total of $75,000 in cash and verified pledges as the 18-hour campaign concluded. Despite adverse weather, more than 7,000 people visited the studios in Hampton and Norfolk to donate to the March of Dimes drive. Headlining the fund drive was Roger Smith, star of 77 Sunset Strip. before the committee Feb. 18 will be heard only from those to whom invitations for comment were issued or who have contacted the committee chairman beforehand. The hearing will begin at 1 1 a.m. Sunday at the Edgewater Beach Hotel and will run into the evening if necessary to conclude its business. It coincides with the mid-winter meeting of the House of Delegates of the ABA. Mr. Yauch said the committee hopes to present its recommendations on Canon 35 to the House of Delegates for final action at its annual meeting Aug. 6-10 in San Francisco. Late Filings ■ A court transcript will be made at the Chicago hearing and will be available later, Mr. Yauch explained. He anticipates that late filings may be received by the committee after the Sunday session. A public docket will be compiled of all presentations, he said. It is expected that this docket will include a detailed letter from FCC Chairman Newton Minow, who has declined an invitation to appear. Mr. Minow favors modification of Canon 35 to allow broadcast coverage of court cases at the discretion of the trial judge. Mr. Minow disclosed the essence of his letter to the ABA Feb. 1 at the annual meeting of the Jewish Community Centers of Chicago. He said he believes broadcasters "should not RFE certificate ■ ABC owned radio stations received a certificate of appreciation from the Radio Free Europe Fund for their promotion during November and December 1961. Six stations (WABC New York, KQV Pittsburgh, WLS Chicago, WXYZ Detroit, KABC Los Angeles and KGO San Francisco) broadcast a total of 1,781 announcements as part of their "Community Action" campaigns, conducted in cooperation with the Advertising Council. Starts stereo ■ WKJF-FM Pittsburgh becomes the first station in that city to broadcast in stereo. The station plans to schedule 44 hours per week of stereo broadcasts. Good neighbor drive ■ A one-day drive spearheaded by KCHE Cherokee, Iowa, resulted in a happier Christmas for 11 persons after all their belongings had been destroyed by fire a few days earlier. An appeal, promoted solely by broadcasts on KCHE, netted more than $1,500 in cash and a warehouse full of be second class members of the press" by reason of their exclusion from the courts. What about the courtroom television and radio experiments of recent years in Colorado, Texas and elsewhere? Mr. Yauch said the committee expects the broadcasters to build their own case on these experiments. He indicated that although the committee "in its own way" has made a preliminary study of these experiments, it expects the broadcasters and photographers to produce their own documentation and interpretation of the results. Organizations that have been invited to participate in the hearing include NAB, Radio-Television News Directors Assn., Radio-Television Working Press Assn., National Press Photographers Assn., American Newspaper Publishers Assn., American Society of Newspaper Editors and the National Editorial Assn. No invitation was sent to the radio and television networks, although individual representatives of the networks associated with the other organizations were contacted. . No invitation was sent to Sigma Delta Chi. The invitation list was based on the participants at a meeting held in Washington several years ago by broadcasters with ABA representatives to discuss modification of Canon 35. clothing and other merchandise. Controversial show ■ WBEN-FM Buffalo originated two broadcasts of controversial civic meetings which won it praise from local newspapers. The meetings, in which the city commissioner appointees were to be confirmed in addition to the police chief, resulted in verbal fireworks lasting 2V2 hours. WBEN-FM broadcast the entire proceedings. It's sister station, WBEN, taped the proceedings for rebroadcast in the evening. Ford Grant ■ The Ford Foundation has announced a grant of $1.2 million to the Midwest Program on Airborne Television Instruction. This amount brings total Ford funds earmarked for this activity to over $7 million (Broadcasting, Jan. 8). News scholarship ■ A scholarship valued at $1,500 has been established by WMT-AM-TV Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to be awarded annually to a student majoring in radio or television journalism at the U. of Iowa. BROADCASTING, February 12, 1962 (THE MEDIA) 71