Radio broadcast .. (1922-30)

THE LISTENERS' POINT OF VIEW Conducted by John Wallace Much Sound and Fury About Radio Education 'R. ZEH BOUCK, in his column in the New York Sun, "What are the Air Waves Saying?" attacks our attack on radio education in the October number and conclusively proves that several conclusions we did not wish to draw are utterly false and in- compatible with even a moron's reason. He did this in such excellent and devastating fashion that we were greatly relieved that we hadn't actually advocated all the things he objected to! Mr. Bouck took up two statements we made in the article, viz: that an educated man is a disciplined one, and that the well informed man is not necessarily well educated, and in- formed his readers that "in these two rash as- sumptions Mr. Wallace has considerately and effectively committed suicide; for the arguments contradict each other and demonstrate the general untenability of his stand. Then Mr. Bouck kindly and considerately did a little suiciding himself by refraining from evidencing wherein the second statement was untenable or how the two were in conflict. To support his disbelief in "discipline" he rang in the aid of Messrs. Plato and Spencer, with which two eminent gen- tlemen we do not intend to engage in controversy in a public print. However, towards the end of this article, Mr. Bouck becomes more convincing and very persuasively presents the side of the believers in radio education: Of course Mr. Wallace is right when he says that broadcasting does not educate, but merely informs. But he might have said the same of books, colleges, and life itself. Education is something entirely within ourselves, and consists of arranging and rearranging all the information we assim- ilate into logical interrelations. Educa- tion is the process of making philosophy out of knowledge. An education is, there- fore, a subjective edifice constructed of objective materials supplied by books, life, radio broadcasting, and academic instruc- tors. In a limited sense, any one of these factors may be considered as educating or educational, with radio by no means placed last in effectiveness. We particularly emphasize the educa- tional possibilities of broadcasting because of the complete absence of disciplinary im- position. The information imparted by radio comes to us, for the greater part, in the guise of entertainment. Sugar coated, it is assimilated effortlessly by the listener, his mind, in the repose of recreation, highly receptive to thoughts and ideas that strike a sympathetic note in his mental sym- phony. It is almost needless to say that the effectiveness of broadcasting as an edu- cational factor depends largely on the broadcasting station; and as yet no sta- tion has done more than a partial justice to these possibilities. Referring to Mr. Bouck's first paragraph, we will gladly say the same thing about "books, colleges, and life itself"—and here it is: they do not educate. Education is the result of the in- herent, latent capacity of any given mind to be- come educated. An individual possessing such a mind will inevitably become educated. He will arrange and rearrange all the information he assimiliates into logical interrelations. He will assimilate this information from any and every source, including radio broadcasting. But what of any depth, or subtlety or complexity or real meaty value will he ever hear in a radio lec- ture? Moreover—he is a rare bird! There is not more than one of him in every thousand radio listeners. Thus it is ridiculous to claim that lecture broadcasts are "educating" when they are failing to "educate" 999 out of every thous- and persons who hearken to them. It would be just as reasonable to claim that a palsied marksman was a "crack shot" because he at one time shattered one clay duck out of eighty. GERTRUDE O NEILL GANLEY Impersonator; one of the most popular en- tertainers heard from wcco, Minneapolis How a Great Symphony is Broadcast IGHT microphones are used in sending out the series of twenty-four Saturday evening concerts which are broadcast by the celebrated Boston Symphony Orchestra through arrangement with W. S. Quinby, of Boston, through wuz and the "blue" chain net- work, including wjz, WGY, and WRC. While two sets of three microphones each have been installed in the hall for picking up the music, only one set is used during a single broadcast. The second or emergency set of three microphones is installed so that immediate switching may be accomplished in case of trouble with the first set. The other two microphones used in this broad- cast are installed in the control room in the WBZ broadcasting booth at Symphony Hall where the operators and announcers monitor all the programs. For picking up the music of the orchestra, two microphones have been suspended from the ceiling on each side of the hall slightly in front of the stage, and another is set up on a stand on the floor of the hall directly in front of the conductor's platform. The emergency set has been installed in the same manner and requires only the throw- ing of a switch to transfer from one set to the other. The musicians check for poor musical balance and the operators guard against poor mechanics in the broadcast. The specially constructed booth con- taining the amplifying apparatus, an- nouncers' microphones, and associated control instruments is located at the rear of the hall over the stage. This room is soundproof so that good monitoring by the operators may be done. A very small window in the proscenium enables the announcers to watch constantly the or- chestra conductor so that special an- nouncements may be made from time to time without interrupting the music. Two specially constructed wire lines connect Symphony Hall with the central control room of WBZA in the Hotel Bruns- wick. One pair of wires is normally used for the broadcast and the other for the operators to communicate over. Both lines, however, may be used for broad- casting. At WBZA, another operator checks the programs thus further reduc- ing the chances of poor broadcasting. The concert is put on the air from WBZA and at the same time sent over wire lines to WBZ at Springfield. At Springfield it is re-amplified and put on the air from WBZ. Additional wire lines with amplifiers at Waterbury, Connecticut., connect the Springfield control room of WBZ with the central control room of wjz in New York.