Education by Radio (1932)

Radio Broadcasting in the Philippines A. V. H. Hartendorp Editor, Philippine Magazine It can hardly be questioned that the radio is an instru¬ ment that will prove of increasing value, especially to the people of such a country as the Philippines, where millions of the population live on comparatively isolated islands. Before long the radio will appear to them to be not merely a means of entertainment, but an almost vital necessity. To the nation as a whole, the radio is the only means available for direct com¬ munication between the government and other social entities and the masses of the people. There should be at least one good radio instrument in every town and barrio of the Philippine Islands, and the sale of some tens of thousands of instruments thruout the country would probably do more for Philippine progress than any other thing that could be so easily accomplished. Listener’s responsibility — But it must be emphasized to the individual radio owner that a good instrument does not assure him of worthwhile reception; and broadcasting will long continue to be the barbarous yap which, generally speaking, it is today, unless he asserts himself. Radio broadcasting is so important, or will become so, that it should be either a government monopoly, as it is in European countries, or a private monopoly under strict government su¬ pervision. For the same reason, as great care should be exercised in the selection of a director of an important broadcasting sta¬ tion as is exercised in the selection, say, of a director of a gov¬ ernment bureau of education. Music — Since the radio appeals to the mind exclusively thru the ear, a good part of the broadcast may very well be music. There can be no question, however, that music is broadcast to such an extent that people are growing sick of it. Never has the world been so flooded with music. Music used to have for us the preciousness of something rare; it was reserved for our hours of relaxation and recuperation. Now we have it over the radio for breakfast, for lunch, and for supper; at work, at night, and after we go to bed. No wonder that under such cir¬ cumstances, great musicians, among them Rachmaninoff, have railed against the radio as the devil’s own device against the divine art. But it is one thing to attack the wrong and stupid utilization of the radio, and another to condemn the radio itself. Due to atmospheric conditions and other causes, radio recep¬ tion can never be even as satisfactory as the playing of good record music on a phonograph. However, the radio is a boon to people of musical taste living in isolation or to those who are for any other reason unable to attend concerts. But musicians need not fear that either the phonograph or the radio will ever supplant the actual public performance of music. Music lovers able to attend concerts will continue to attend them and will listen over the radio only when there is no other way. Less and better radio — The solution to the broadcasting problem lies chiefly in giving the people less, much less, and better, much better. Both the radio industry and the public This article is abridged from the April 1932 issue of Philippine Magazine by cour¬ teous permission of the author. would be the gainers if broadcasting were cut down from all day and most of the night to two or at most three hours after six oclock in the evening — eliminating most of what is now “buncoed” as entertainment. What we should have in the Philippines are the market broadcasts for the sake of radio owners in the provinces; a brief summary of the most important news of the day; one or two short lectures prepared, perhaps in series, by the extension department of the university or by such government bureaus as those of health, education, agriculture, forestry, and science; and an hour or a little more of good music. How often, in the Philippines, have we suffered the barbarity of listening to a broadcast of the Constabulary Band on the Luneta — good music — with the pauses between the concert numbers filled in with jazz records, completely destroying the effect of the Luneta music and causing hundreds of radio listeners to switch off in disgust! Broadcasters seem to be afraid of nothing so much as silence, and the last strains of the finest pieces of music are interrupted by such an incongruity as Stand by, please. You will now hear a Victim recording of the popular Stamping Hot Mammas by the Fiends of Broadway Orchestra. Talking about the incongruous! Often on a Sunday morning the stay-at-home is afforded the opportunity to tune in on a church service, — or his neighbor does it for him — and he is compeled to listen to a long and solemn prayer which may not at all harmonize with what he at the moment may be doing or feeling. The heights of frenzy may be reached when some one immediately thereafter switches on a piece of jazz. Jazz should be abolished from the air entirely, at least as a regular dish. The ringside reports of prize fights should also be eliminated, except perhaps of the most important contests, and the same should go for ball games. The scores could be reported with the day’s news. Speeches and addresses made upon special occasions, as at the inauguration of a new gover¬ nor-general or the opening of the legislature, should of course continue to be broadcast. Don’t copy U. S. — The Philippines, as a relatively isolated country, off by itself, not yet in the grasp of a conscienceless band of private broadcasting corporations, may well determine upon and follow a radio development program of its own — liberal, instructive, entertaining, delightful, and, at times, even beautiful. We need not take all our ideas from the master minds in the broadcasting game in the United States! After all, if the American public had been fed a wellbalanced diet over the air there would be little discussion now of the radio problem. — Levering Tyson. [99]