NAEB Newsletter (Aug 1957)

of groups with which we work; the extent of our sem¬ inar and training programs; the merit of our publica¬ tions; and the extent of our international activities. You also will be impressed with the amount of money we have collected and disbursed during the past few years. Our total resources are still small in terms of our assignments; but the grand total nevertheless is impressive. If you want to feel proud of NAEB read the new Annual Report! * * * * For a few days in the middle of July I took part in a conference arranged by the Department of Speech at the University of Michigan. At this annual session the University invites specialists in various speech re¬ search areas to talk to its graduate students. Speech therapy, theatre, interpretation, debate, public ad¬ dress and television were among the subjects exam¬ ined. My contribution was a review of the factors which brought Britain’s new Independent Television Authority into being. All in all, this was an interesting experience. The University proved an excellent host (Garnet Garri¬ son, Ed Stasheff, and Edgar Willis were among those to whom I was assigned); and the obviously superior students provided some lively question periods. * * * * Here are a few reading suggestions, based on books I’ve gone through during the last six months, at home, in the office, and on airplanes in flight. Not all of these are what might be considered “summer read¬ ing,” although if you’re as hard pressed' for time as I am, you may have to do your heavy reading while on vacation. I was much impressed with Four Theories of the Press, by Fred Siebert, Theodore Peterson and Wilbur Schramm. (Many of the authors in this list, you’ll notice, have had long NAEB connections.) Not only do these three authors deal in an interesting way with past and present press theories (including broadcast¬ ing) , but they also provide excellent reviews of the basic governmental concepts of the related countries. Schramm’s essay on the Soviet Communist system is particularly illuminating. (What is more, this book spurred me to re-read Milton’s Areopagitica, and John Stuart Mill’s On Liberty, two of the basic treatments of the subject.) Erik Barnouw’s Mass Communication : Tele¬ vision, Radio, Film, Press is a simplified summary of these media, which relates them to each other. Syd¬ ney Head’s Broadcasting in America impressed me as an excellent overview of the basic theories and prac¬ tices of our system. Those of you who share my in¬ terest in Britain might like to look into a book by my University of Minnesota colleague, J. Edward Gerald, The British Press under Government Economic Con¬ trols. If you want a “reader in the methodology of social research,” you might go through The Language of Social Research, by Paul Lazarsfeld and Morris Rosenberg. Finally, I want to recommend highly The Age of Television, by Leo Bogart. Here is a careful summary of much of the recent research on the effects of tele¬ vision on radio listening, reading, motion pictures, spectator sports, and advertising. Bogart’s volume provides documented answers to a lot of the questions we are asked about the effects of television on its large viewing audience. * * * * By the time you read this I shall be enjoying a long, pleasant and cool holiday with my family on an Oregon ranch. May you too have a good vacation. We can compare notes when we meet at the NAEB convention in St. Louis on October 30, 31, and' Nov¬ ember 1. So long till then. Because our Executive Director Dr. Harry J. Skornia, is still on vacation while this Newsletter goes to print, his monthly column had to be omit¬ ted. It will be resumed in the September issue. NETWORK NEWS —Bob Underwood By this time most of you have received the offering for the fourth quarter. (If you haven’t, please let me know immediately.) This offering contains four new grant-in-aid series covering the areas of civil rights, atomic power, contemporary American life and the Indian problem. In addition, there are series on Russia (interviews made inside Russia), J. S. Bach, cerebral palsy, and the United Nations; also, this quarter marks the beginning of Roman Forum, a series made by WNYC’s Bernie Buck during his stay in Rome as a Fulbright scholar. I think you will find much of use in this offering, including the full-length college level course in beginning German. May I again urge all members to place their orders for this offering as soon as such a decision can be reached. Our ability to get ahead in our production schedule has increased, and late orders serve to tie up our operations. Remember, for each reel you order late, one of our machines is tied up for fifteen minutes; and please consider that we have 800 to 1000 tapes to distribute each week for the regular offering plus in-school tapes (another 200-400 tapes) plus special orders from members and non-members. It may in¬ terest you to know that at this time our production staff has more than 400 special order tapes to dub. This should indicate the need for prompt ordering. AUGUST, 1957 3