U. S. Radio (Jan-Dec 1960)

Radio In The Public Interest (Radio News) LATEST DEVELOPMENTS are gathered and reported In newsrooms of WWJ Detroit. A 12-man news staff wo-ks in newly built room. Visible behind the news editor's desk (in rear) is the "control center" with bank of communication equipment and the glass enclosed wire service room. lucicial pioi^iaiiis. The slalion worked closely with Civil Delense and weather bureau officials to pre.sciu enieigeiuy messages to those in danger lioni the Hood. Tornadoes and tornadic storms skipped across Florida last .\pril. .\ correspondent for WCiTO Cyprus Gardens, Fla.. alerted the station about 7:15 a.m. From then on, the slalion says, bulletins and headlines kept listeners abreast of the fast-breaking developments. On the 8:15 a.m. news, the station broadcast that a second tornado had hit east of Orlando, and within minutes the correspondent in the area reported on damage. There was also a direct iniervicw with a lunii)eryarcl owner Avho described how he and his eight employees narrowly escaped as ihe main stoiage building was flattened. Fhe station coniinued to carry reports on where the storms hit, and the damage done. In addition, announcements were carried on the mobilization of National Guard luiits for Dade Ciity and Orlando. Later in the year, a storm that had been labeled as a "tropical depression," suddenly began to take on the characteristics of a hurricane which woidd hit Florida on a Sunday, conij)leieIv by surprise. VVG FO alerted These are the things that matter most to me . . . "Our culture .. .'' MUSIC MAN ON THE MUDDY OLD RIVER Most people living along the Ohio used to think of it as a muddy old river— if they thought of it at all. But KDKA had a different notion about it. So — last summer, Robert Austin Boudreau and his American Wind Symphony, co-sponsored by KDKA, were sent on a mission: to rhapsodize from a river barge to twelve cities along the river. The result of this voyage is best told by a townsman* of one of those cities : "It was a typical hot July night last Wednesday when Huntington (W. Va.) tucked an old blanket under arm, took cushion in hand and headed down the bank toward the Ohio River. An orchestra was scheduled to play on a barge moored close to the bank and it seemed as good a way as any to relax and get cool — to sprawl on the riverbank and listen to music. "It would be a light program . . . for relaxation. "No one expected to come away 'thinking.' No one expected to get bawled out, not even by a Boston professor conducting a Pittsburgh orchestra. But that's what happened. "Robert Boudreau conducting the American Wind Symphony paused between numbers to give what presumed to be an informal chat. He told his listeners he'd been warned not to come to Huntington because the city was notorious for staying home even before the distracting days of television. He expressed his gratification for the large audience attending. "He spoke of the beautiful river that had been given us and the dirty river we had made of it. He 36 U. S. RADIO May 1960