U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1959)

Washington Sen. Proxmire Gets A new Senatorial face has appeared on the hioathasl scene — that of Sen Into the Act . . . ator ^VilHanl Proxmire (D-Wis.) . He is hard at work, on a bill to rid the Federal Conniiunications Commission ol its seven commissioners and replace them with a panel of judges who would be given life-time appointments. Each would specialize in a partidilar phase of ( omiiimiications and hand down decisions only in his own specific field. . . . Advantages of Proposed The theory behind Senatoi Pioxmiie's legislation is that cx parte con Plan Are Cited . . . tacts will be automatically eliminated: that a judge will act on the facts of a case as they are, not as a litigant woidd like them to be, and that the possibility of political pressure being brought to bear on decision makers at the FCC will be reduced to a iinniniinn. . . . Bill Bears Resemblance The Proxmite plan is not entirely new — at least in terms of what it is To Dill Proposal intended to accomplish. Ex-Senator Clarence Dill, co-author of the Radio Act of 1927, recommended last sjiring that a Communications Court of Appeals be established and manned by three President-appointed judges. A bill nas drawn up along the lines he suggested but until now has been dormant in the files ol the Senate Conunercc Committee. Is Advertising Selling In a city where trade associations and lobby groups are big business, Itself in Washington? . . . second only to the government itself, one industry is conspicuous by its absence. It is advertising. This point was iniderscored at a meeting a short time ago of the Advertising Federation of .\merica — which convened for the first time in the nation's capital — by Robert Wilson, a gentleman who wears two hats. He is a Democratic Congressman from California as well as a partner in Champ, Wilson & Slocnm Advertising, San Diego. Representative Wilson opined that advertising's selling job on the Hill is nil. . . . Rep. Wilson Gets "There has been too much of a tendency on the part of advertising to To the Root of Problem think of Washington as a figment of somebody's imagination," he said, and chided delegates for their lack of a "direct route into Pennsylvania Avenue." One of Representative Wilson's chief concerns is the possibility of Congressional legislation to levy an advertising tax, he said. Ad-Inquiry Subcommittee Despite Representative Wilson's fears that ami-advertising sentiment on Dies In House the Hill is on the increase, the industry got at least a temporary breather with the abolition of a Government Operations Subcommittee headed by Representative John Blatnik (D-Minn.) . The subcommittee has been highly critical of the Federal Trade Commission's methods of curbing fiaudident advertising. Representative Blatnik has been one of advertising's most ardent critics. Among other bills he authored Avas one in the last session that would label all cigarette packages for tar and nicotine content and empower the FTC to inspect all cigarettes. Oversight Unit Revs Up in the Senate The Senate counterpart of the House Legislative Oversight Subcommittee has been created to delve into the operating methods of regxUatory U. S. RADIO • March 1959 17