Radio showmanship (Jan-Dec 1944)

staiularcl ol living rests in this country. If wc wish people to be Iree from want, wc must inspire them to work for and demand by their earnings those things which make for high living standards and economic security. Projecting this line of thought to a world basis might have seemed visionary a few years ago. It might even seem so today, were it not for the remarkable developments in global broadcasting. If radio advertising has so efficiently sold goods in this coinitry, why can it not create the same desires and ambitions everywhere else in the world? Radio, because of its capacities to cover great areas instantly, provides a controllable advertising mediinii w^hich can reach all of the potential markets. To fail to tise this instrumentality of international trade would be unfortimate from the standpoint of the rehabilitation of world economy, to say nothing of the effect which it would have tipon the perpettiation of low living standards in great areas of the earth's surface. What I am proposing, therefore, is that American btisiness use radio with that same leadership throughout the world that it has upon our ow^n continent; that it provide the facilities for global broadcasting; and that it solicit the interests of men in industry, both for their own profit incentives and the other objectives involved. There are obstacles, certainly, in the path of w^orld-wide broadcasting, but none that cannot eventually be overcome. In fact, the first prcjblem, that of establishing the mechanics of a global transmission system, has already been solved. Now that we can transmit messages to any part of the world, the next step must be to provide the mechanical means for radio reception. hven now in primitive lands, group listening to the village set is not uncommon. If broadcasting has penetrated that far, without any organized effort on our part, think how far it can go if we put radio recepticjn easily within their individual reach! Just let us remember this: despite tlu'ii (olor oj condition, all the people of the earth have two ears, and their minds are not vastly different from ours. Because of this common receptivity, radio is the j^erfec t vehide for educating and broadem'ng people over a period of years to the point where they will have a definite desire to improve their standards of living. It is significant that broadcasting is the only advertising medimn that coidd imdertake such a world-encompassing job. For in radio the story is told by the hiunan voice, which even the illiterate can understand. No one even needs to learn to read, to understand radio. From the standpoint of furthering our own cidtural and trade interests in the futtuT peaceful world, it is imperative that we do more than develop the facilities for world radio. We must also arrive at certain definite concepts as to the policies which are to control it. Ihe United Nations are now follow^ing the very efficient example set by the Axis in propaganda broadcasting. I he Allied governments are making a good job of it, in a good cause. But in peacetime, such governmental types of broadcasting have very definite limitations. 1 hey are not conducive to building the kind of world we want. It is the responsibility of men in broadcasting and in all other forms of industry to work together, towards a common objective. Our objective must go beyond the immediate interests of broadcasting, of trade, or of any other business consideration. Our job must be to justify our faith in free enterprise; to support with more than good will the Four Freedoms enunciated in the Atlantic Charter, to prove that the democratic principle is predicated upon fair and harmonious economic relations. American business has always been the motivating force behind democracy in the United States. In the period of global expansion that lies ahead, we have the perfect opportunity to prove that American business can also be a vigorous force, in fact, the dominant force, in welding closer ties among nations, and in making possible a lasting peace. JUNE, 1944 187