Education by Radio (1937)

the noncommercial station have no status. Under that philosophy the educational station is being tolerated rather than accepted and en¬ couraged by the regulatory body of the government. That philosophy is a purely commercial one which compels all stations to operate ac¬ cording to commercial standards. If such a basis of operation were to be applied to education generally the colleges and universities of the United States could not justify their existence. Had the Fess Bill been passed by Congress it would have protected the rights of education in radio against either the philosophy of an un¬ friendly regulatory body or the attacks of commercial stations. There¬ fore, the Committee persisted in its support of the bill. When the Communications Act of 1934 was drafted, the request of the Com¬ mittee, backed by labor, had become so well supported that mention of it was written into the law. The Communications Commission was instructed to hold hearings on the feasibility of such a reservation of frequencies. As a result of these hearings the Commission finally recommended to Congress that the request be denied. The Commis¬ sion claimed that all the needs of education could be met within the framework of the existing broadcasting structure. Some of the testimony upon which the Commission reached its verdict has since been repudiated. Specifically, this occurred in the booklet. Four Years of Network Broadcasting, which is the report of the experience of the Committee on Civic Education by Radio of the National Advisory Council on Radio in Education and the American Political Science Association. That booklet tends to sup¬ port the original claim of the National Committee on Education by Radio that broadcasting under an educational philosophy could not expect to receive due consideration in a system of broadcasting based upon and judged entirely by commercial standards. Perhaps the most pointed sentence from the report is as follows: “Educa¬ tional broadcasting has become the poor relation of commercial broadcasting and the pauperization of the former has increased in direct proportion to the growing affluence of the latter.” The Federal Communications Commission, in the same communi¬ cation to Congress which recommended against special facilities for education, suggested that a conference be held at which attempts would be made to thresh out differences between education and com¬ mercial broadcasting. Such a conference was held, under the aus¬ pices of the Communications Commission. Out of it grew the Fed¬ eral Radio Education Committee, composed about half and half of commercial broadcasters and educators selected in their capacity as individuals and not as the representatives of organizations or institutions. Until recently this committee has been .rather inactive. However, one of the positive acts of its chairman. Dr. John W. Studebaker, U. S. Commissioner of Education, was to appear at a hearing on the disposition of ultra-high frequencies which was held by the Commis¬ sion in June 1935 and to ask that certain ones of these frequencies be set aside for the exclusive use of education. This was a very specific endorsement of the position which the National Committee on Edu¬ cation by Radio had advocated in the regular broadcast band. Dr. Studebaker has stated publicly that assurances have been given to him that the Commission will reserve as a matter of public policy ultra-high frequencies for education. However, no public announce¬ ment of such a reservation has been made by the Commission. The most favorable indication of interest on the part of the Com¬ mission in this fundamental problem occurred at the reallocation hearings held in October 1936. At that time the Commission invited testimony not only on technical matters but also on the social and The institute for propaganda ANALYSIS, 132 Morningside Drive, New York, N. Y., publishes a monthly letter. Propa¬ ganda Analysis, to help the intelligent citizen de¬ tect and analyze propaganda. By its charter the Institute is a nonprofit corporation organized to assist the public in detecting and analyzing propa¬ ganda, but it is itself forbidden to engage in propaganda or otherwise attempt to influence legislation. In the November issue of Propaganda Analysis the seven common propaganda devices are listed as: the name calling device, the glittering generali¬ ties device, the transfer device, the testimonial device, the plain folks device, the card stacking device, and the band wagon device. .411 of these devices are designed to appeal to our emotions. They are made use of by newspapers, radio, news¬ reels, books, magazines, labor unions, business groups, churches, schools, and political parties. The Institute does not propose to tell its sub¬ scribers what to think but how to think. Subscrip¬ tion price of the monthly letter is $2 a year. o TO SERVE outside island teachers and those in rural Oahu who find it difficult to attend campus courses in the late afternoon or evening, the University of Hawaii Adult Education Divi¬ sion has arranged to broadcast an extension course in “Constitutional History of the United States” over KGMB, a Honolulu commercial station. A half hour broadcast each Monday from 3:304pm, study outlines sent in advance of the broad¬ cast, textbook, collateral reading, and weekly papers based on questions raised by Dr. Charles H. Hunter, instructor in the course, form the lesson material. Forty-five students are enroled for credit. A great many more report that they are listening in. The course was planned as a part of the univer¬ sity’s participation in the sesquicentennial cele¬ bration of the federal Constitution. For those with discriminating TASTES, a half-hour of good music — me¬ lodic, unobtrusive, and unbroken by commercial announcements — is being offered by the educa¬ tional shortwave station WIXAL in Boston, as a background for the enjoyment of a leisurely din¬ ner. These programs, introduced by the Magic Song theme, are radiated on 6.04 megacycles each weekday evening, Monday thru Friday, at 7pm, EST. They are reminiscent of the type of music formerly heard in the best restaurants and hotel diningrooms before their invasion by dance or¬ chestras. The selections include Viennese waltzes, ballets, minuets, serenades, love songs, and light operatic airs written by the best classical and modern composers. Dubuque COUNIA schools, lowa, pre¬ sent a weekly radio program over station WKBB. The program, entitled “Rural School Forum of the Air,” serves to interpret the work of the county schools to the public. [61 ]