NAEB Newsletter (Jan 1958)

representative. Added to the group were: the secre¬ tary-elect (Haskell Boyter); two members from the permanent finance committee (William Harley and Edward Rosenheim); one member from the com¬ mittee set up by the ETRC affiliates to represent them to the, Center (Janies Robertson); NAEB’s legal counsel (Leonard Marks); and the Executive and Associate Directors of NAEB (Harry J. Skornia and Harold Hill.) One of the principal items discussed at both meetings was educational television. NAEB was a leader in the battle for the reservation of channels; we helped set up the original Joint Committee (now Council) on Educational Television (JCET); and we were involved in the early planning for the Edu¬ cational Television and Radio Center (ETRC). The subsequent growth of educational television stations, production units, and closed circuit installa¬ tions, created new problems. Appropriately, some of these are now being referred to us for solution. For example, at our Allerton House Television Manage¬ ment Seminar in August 1957, the NAEB Television Operations and Development Committee recommend¬ ed that we encourage the activation of new education¬ al television stations. Later the Educational Televi¬ sion Project of the Southern Regional Education Board made a similar request. Proposals to ac¬ complish this were among the major items of business held over from the St. Louis to the Chicago meeting. One of the principal actions at Chicago, there¬ fore, was the unanimous adoption of a resolution on educational station activation drawn up by a special ad hoc committee (William Harley, chairman; Rich¬ ard Hull, Leonard Marks, Jack McBride, James Ro¬ bertson and Robert Schenkkan). Its preamble de¬ clared that the reserved television channels might be lost if not activated soon; that the utilization of more channels was necessary if the majority of the nation’s population was to be served by educational television; that an increase in the number of stations would improve the resources for program exchange; that “no present efforts toward this end seem to offer an immediate practical solution, or, indeed a long-term one;” and, that there now are a number of communities “ripe” for station activation. Accordingly, the Board voted to set up a national chairman and eight regional coordinators, who would constitute the new NAEB Television Development Committee. Using funds already in hand, they would provide consultants immediately to those areas re¬ questing them. These experts would be recruited lo¬ cally to expedite action, and to guarantee familiarity with local conditions. It not only resolved that work should begin at once with present resources, but also that NAEB's officers and Foundation Committee should seek additional funds with which to carry out this work on an expanded scale in 1958. The Board and its advisors recognized, of course, that other organizations besides NAEB are interested in station activation. Therefore, it was decided that these plans should be discussed with representatives of the ETRC and the JCET at once, as well as with groups in due course. Accordingly, on December 12, a committee composed of Vice-President-elect Mc¬ Bride, Past President Schooley, and President Paulu went to Ann Arbor to meet with Dr. Harry Newburn, President of the ETRC. On December 20, President Paulu met with JCET Chairman Albert Jorgensen and Executive Director Ralph Steetle in Washington. Although it is early to forecast the eventual out¬ come of this project, it seems certain that in one way or another NAEB’s leadership will stimulate and hasten local-level station work. In any event, the officers and Foundation Committee will press on with the mandate of the Board of Directors as rapidly as possible. Since no NAEB Newsletter should consist ex¬ clusively of a message from the president, I shall summarize more briefly the other actions taken at these meetings. Ten major areas of need in education¬ al radio and television broadcasting were defined: programs; professional advancement of broadcasting personnel; services to educational stations and broad¬ casters; teacher training and utilization activities; technical services; research activities; publicity and public relations; station activation; long-range policy guidance; and financial support. In both St. Louis and Chicago, particular atten¬ tion was given to the ever-present problem of liaison between educational broadcasters on the one hand, and teachers and educational administrators on the other. Special consideration also was given to edu¬ cational broadcasting and the FCC; to public rela¬ tions problems; and to the ever-important question of long-term financial support for educational broad¬ casting. The various interests involved in educational broadcasting, and the organizations set up to serve them, were identified. Those whose orientation is broadcasting were recognized as including such groups as the NAEB, the ETRC, and the JCET. Groups less directly involved in broadcasting, although still vitally concerned with its results, were seen to be as varied as associations of teachers and organizations of educational institutions. All these groups, it was realized, have worked towards somewhat the same 2 NEWSLETTER