Education by Radio (1932)

University Broadcasts Opera The successful broadcast of opera by Station WLB of the University of Minnesota bespeaks the ability of educa¬ tional stations to match the best efforts of commercial stations in this field. Station WLB’s broadcast of the overture and a portion of the first act of the comic opera, Robin Hood, direct from Northrop Memorial Auditorium, Minneapolis, probably marks the first time that any radio station in the Northwest has ever endeavored to broadcast an opera from the stage. The university station may be credited with a worthy achievement. Reports from listeners have been enthusiastic and indicate that reception was unusually good. The chorus work came in perfectly and all dialog could be heard. The music from the orchestra pit, the dialog, and the sing¬ ing on the platform were all picked up thru two condenser microphones placed on the front edge of the stage. In order to make the pick-up successful, it was necessary to borrow spe¬ cial remote control equipment. The technical details in both the auditorium and studio control room were handled by student operators, Fred Shidell, Lyman Swendsen, and Vir James. Difficulties in broadcasting such a program from a stage as large as that in the Northrop Auditorium can readily be imag¬ ined and the operators deserve credit for their efforts. Details of the program could have been picked up more completely with additional microphones and other equipment, but an exceptional broadcast resulted with the equipment at hand. The success of this broadcast indicates the possibilities of WLB, and other educational stations. Operas and other lengthy programs which commercial stations could not broadcast be¬ cause of commercial restrictions can be handled successfully by university stations if the proper equipment is available. The university pursued its pioneer work in broadcasting with a unique program in answer to its own question, What Does the Radio Public Want? This was the first of a series of programs given from 8 to 8:15pm on seven consecutive Tues¬ day nights from Station WLB. The series simulated an atmosphere resembling that which surrounds after-dinner coffee conversation. A dialog was car¬ ried on by the hostess, her friend the professor, and two other guests. Mrs. M. S. Harding, managing editor of the University of Minnesota Press, arranged the programs. Other topics dis¬ cussed were: Can Character Be Read At Sight? ; Can A Third Party Survive in American Politics? ; The Prairie Pioneers — Heroes Or Ne’er-Do-Wells? ; Should College Students Earn Their Expenses? ; Are The Classics Dead? ; How Can Minne¬ sota Birds Be Saved? IF education is going to get its place on the air, it will have to fight for it very strenuously. The interests that are now controling radio facilities are organized and if they are to be combatted they will have to be met by just as carefully organized a situation. — Levering Tyson in National Associa¬ tion of State Universities, Vol. XXVIII, p!45. Service or Profit? Ido not think educational institutions should maintain and operate radio stations,” said the editor of one of ^ the radio-broadcasting magazines in a recent letter to the director of Station WCAJ. Other conclusions reached by this spokesman of commercialism in radio were that “None of us has yet found a proper solution of the educational problem . . . stations should be required to assign specific hours for educational purposes . . . it is uneconomical for anyone to operate a radio station partime ... a greater audience will be available to educational institutions by using the regu¬ lar established commercial stations . . . perhaps stations are overdoing advertising now ... so far educational institutions have not been able to make any kind of satisfactory arrangement with stations . . . sometime or other, the owners of commercial stations will be forced to sacrifice some of the hours which are considered most valuable for advertis¬ ing.” “Do you know of any institution of higher learning that is being run for profit?” wrote Professor Jensen, director of Station WCAJ, in reply. “Why should a college or university expect to make dividends from its broadcasting station any more than from its department of English or mathematics? Is there any more reason why an educational institution should be prohibited from reaching its constituents thru the radio than for preventing it from publishing ‘faculty studies’ and research papers over its own name? . . . What guarantee have you that any better arrangements would be forthcoming j once the large commercial stations got a complete monopoly of broadcasting facilities? “Granting that the legislation was passed requiring each station to set aside a certain number of satisfactory hours for educational purposes, how could you guarantee that rival stations would not vie with each other to obtain schoolroom listeners by injecting cheap humor and cheaper music into their features? Suppose for example that the NBC is putting on one hour of educational programs each morning from 9 to 10am. What guarantee have we that the Columbia system will not put on a competing series with better comedians, but with correspondingly less time given to the serious work in hand? Who will decide for the rural teacher which of these programs her children shall listen to? Granting that both pro¬ grams were placed in the hands of dry-as-dust pedagogs so as to eliminate nonsense and competition, what will prevent these companies from running up to the very beginning of the nine oclock period with an attractive tobacco program, and begin¬ ning sharply at ten oclock with a chewing gum advertisement before the teacher can get it tuned off? “Why should the commercial broadcasters insist that they are better prepared to do educational work than the educators themselves in radio any more than in the work of the class¬ room? Everyone knows the answer, namely, that radio pays dividends, and the commercial group wants those dividends regardless of the consequences to educational forces.” [It will be recalled that WCAJ has had considerable diffi¬ culty with a commercial station with which it shares time, and is hesitant about mixing education with commerce.] f 74