NAEB Newsletter (July 1958)

sonnel beginning to emerge from educational uses of television, and many other things—including the ap¬ parent inadequacy of present testing and measure¬ ment procedures to cope with television teaching needs. Meanwhile, sincere thanks to the growing number of you who write each month to react to the News¬ letter editorial. NETWORK NEWS —Bob Underwood During the summer months the network staff is work¬ ing on, among other things, a catalog describing the program series we have available for general distri¬ bution. Almost forty such series are available, and the network has no objection to these grant-in-aid series being broadcast over commercial stations on a one-time, sustaining basis. Many NAEB members, either non-active members or active members not partaking of network service, have used these, series for public relations broadcasting over local com¬ mercial stations. Also, many non-NAEB organiza¬ tions and individuals have either purchased or bor¬ rowed these series for broadcast use. The reports received here on use of our programs by non-network groups have been pleasing and have encouraged us to promote these series further. The preparation of a catalog describing these series will take a while, since the tapes must be checked; but we are preparing a briefer temporary descriptive, state¬ ment on these series. This may be had by writing me at headquarters. For those who are not familiar with our tape oper¬ ation, all of our programs are recorded full track at 7% inches per second on 1200 foot reels. Since all orders not connected with the offering currently being distributed require additional labor for dubbing we are forced to make a per reel charge for these pro¬ grams. Full details on this charge and other matters regarding either rental or purchase of these programs may be had by contacting me. Your request will re¬ ceive prompt attention. Also, we encourage you NAEB members oper¬ ating radio stations to investigate the advantages to be gained from network membership. The nine hours per week you can obtain from us will help your staff devote more of its time to the preparation of quality locally produced shows, and will enable your audi¬ ence to hear the finest programs being produced in educational studios throughout the country. Please write me for details about network membership. Since we here are planning our vacations we im¬ agine you are, too. Have a good time! PUBLICITY AND PUBLIC RELATIONS —William Bender, Jr. WUOM, University of Michigan A number of NAEB stations also belong to the Na¬ tional Association of Broadcasters whose head¬ quarters are in Washington, D. C. Last spring, NAB members received a “Check-off List For Public Re¬ lations”. Although NAB writes largely for its commercial- station members, many of the suggested PR practices apply to educational stations as well. We received permission to quote some excerpts from their Check- Off List, so here goes: 1) Develop a public relations plan. A PR plan should be founded on a bedrock of background infor¬ mation about an individual station’s strengths and’ weaknesses. Survey the situation and determine: a) types of present audience b) audience potential c) signal coverage d) specialized interest of your present and potential audience e) your programming as it relates to your com¬ munity f) opportunities for public service. 2) Your most saleable product from a PR point of view is the service you provide your community. This is a telling theme, demonstrable and reflecting the highest ideals of broadcasting. 3) Establish an institutional personality. It helps identify your station with the public ... as something of which they are a part. 4) Develop an attention-getting special project. Try to find one important project for extra effort that will become associated with the community leader¬ ship of your station. Whatever it is, it should fill a real need in your coverage area. 5) Assign public relations responsibility. Your PR plan should give someone clear cut responsibility for public relations. In a small market this probably will be a collatoral duty, but the important thing is to designate someone as an anchor man. 6) Off the air promotion. Utilize your town’s Welcome Wagon and similar services to acquaint newcomers with your station. This just skims the top of NAB’s three-page list of Do’s and Don’ts. Our favorite quote from the 4 NEWSLETTER