#cccbroadcasting22

The Fairness Doctrine was a controversial policy enacted by the FCC.

As a whole, its purpose was to monitor news in broadcasting through ensuring that public issues were presented from opposing viewpoints. However, many believed that the policy in fact limited free speech and was full of ulterior motives.

 “...’the fairness doctrine, on its face, violates the First Amendment and contravenes the public interest.’”

“Only Connect: A Cultural History of Broadcasting” 3rd edition, p 323

For a fuller understanding on its opposition along with those who supported the policy, see the following:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ZrdLYtLPx0

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRZYrFwwN

Ultimately, the Fairness Doctrine was repealed by the FCC in 1987:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/ezra-klein/post/everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-fairness-doctrine-in-one-post/2011/08/23/gIQAN8CXZJ_blog.html

What would happen if the Fairness Doctrine was put in place today?

“ The result of a reinstituted fairness doctrine would not be fair at all.”

http://www.heritage.org/research/reports/1993/10/em368-why-the-fairness-doctrine-is-anything-but-fair

“FM frequency improved sound-for our listening pleasures” 

Frequency modulation (FM) brought higher quality signal and great tone to radio and was considered a revolutionary change in the broadcast business. FM broadcasting stations operate a frequency band from 88 MHz to 108 MHz. This invention was pioneered in the 1930’s by American Engineer Edwin Armstrong.

Armstrong’s approach to this development was due to the limitations of AM (Amplitude modulated) radio, for example, static interference from household appliances and lighting and limited audio quality due to frequency response. What would result if Armstrong did not experiment to solve the problem that plagued AM radio?

AM radio varied the amplitude of radio waves, though it gave listeners a wider reach, it was plagued with statics. Armstrong was told by colleagues that such error could not be eliminated.

Link to a detailed video of the operations of FM and AM frequency: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xn6lzrMJUDs

 Armstrong’s determination was a success. He improved sound for our listening pleasures. However, his journey was never an easy one; he was stalled multiple times by depression, rejection and industry players who had their networks built on AM radio.

This link provides more story of Armstrong’s Journey with FM Radio: http://www.cybercollege.com/frtv/frtv020.htm

 They all came to a conclusion; Am radio was limiting the industry’s potential and FM radio was accepted as the better alternative. Armstrong had a long and hard labor, but he eventually- gave birth to FM radio. Amidst the success came tragedy and he later committed suicide.

Only Connect: A Cultural History of Broadcasting” 3rd edition, Michele Hilmes, p 162 - 163.

Let’s Keep Their Attention

 During the early days of radio, it was important to keep the listeners ready for more. Hollywood, advertisers, and radio needed a way to bond together in order to captivate and intrigue the listening audience. One way in particular was to have consistent scheduling. U.S. radio developed this plan to have programs air on the same day and time which would encourage audiences to build their schedules around their favorite shows. Source “ Only Connect: A Cultural History of Broadcasting in the United States” 4th edition Michele Hilmes pg. 87

http://www.old-time.com/weekly/

 One quest of U.S. radio was to keep the audience listening all day, to the same station if possible. The goal of this practice was to maximize the exposure of the products and performers to the listening public. A radio show titled ESCAPE would have families gather around to listen and find out where the next trip would take them. One episode, “A Shipment Of Mute Fate, “which aired on 10/15/47, told the story of an ocean liner with its passengers and crew haunted by a deadly snake loose aboard their ship. The last two minutes tells who portrayed the cast, the production crew, where the next adventure will take you and what you will encounter. They would also play a reminder on when to tune in for the next episode. The announcer also includes the call letters of the station along with the “This is CBS where 99 million gather every week, the Columbia Broadcasting System.”

http://fullreels.com/en/video/10362329/Old-Time-Radio-ESCAPE-A-Shipment-Of-Mute-Fate

 In these early days, schedules were fairly diverse and the system was stabilized into time slots. This took place with the appearance of networks. Time slots would vary from 15 minutes up to one hour. The shows would start on intervals that would fall on the hour, half-hour or quarter-hour. Stations wanted to keep a constant flow in programming and avoid any dead air time. The way this was accomplished was by filling in with commercials and station identifications between the shows. The U.S. radio then and now continues to be a competitive market. The radio industry relies on sponsorship to remain on the air other than public broadcasters that do not sell commercial airtime. They can also receive funding from institutions, government or listener support.

http://www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2014/for-advertisers-radio-is-worth-listening-to.html

, Let’s take a look across the ocean into the different broadcast style of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) where program schedules were not like those in the U.S. The BBC’s approach to radio was not for entertainment as a whole but to be an avenue of cultural improvement for the listeners. The  audience needed to consult the program guide and make specific plans to listen and then go about their day when the program was finished. The motivation of this practice was to treat radio programs like special events, unique and occasional, similar to going to a theater or a symphony. The term dead air on the BBC does not have a negative meaning. To maintain respect for the material you will find dead air between programs. Without pressures from networks, sponsors,or agencies the shows here would vary in length and were intermittent. pg.87

Question: How would I compare the ideas? 

The radio broadcasting style in the early days is quite comparable to television today. There are numerous shows today that use the same format in the aspect of hooking their audience to tune back in next time. Growing up I was subjected to soap operas, a vast and ongoing multitude of fights, affairs, and sickness would capture the viewers to see what would happen on the next show. Those shows still continue and the radio soap operas were as a forerunner to today’s entertainment shows by the same name. There are shows today that use the same premise such as American Idol, The Voice, America’s Got Talent, and other various reality shows. The viewer tunes in next time to find out who gets sent home or disappears from the show. 

http://heavy.com/entertainment/2016/04/dalton-rapatonni-who-eliminated-american-idol-tonight-got-kicked-voted-off-finale

A law, which dramatically reduced the important Federal Communications Commission (FCC) regulations on cross ownership, and allowed giant corporations to buy up thousands of media outlets whether is was radio, TV, newspapers, etc,. across the country, controlling the flow of information, in which how it was delivered and received in the United States public. 

The Act was signed by President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Watch this brief 3 minute background below of what it is in a nutshell. 

Do I agree with The 1996 Telecommunication Act, and its outcome?

Originally, I thought it would be a great idea because smaller radio/TV stations would have a bigger company behind them, giving them more demographics to reach. Now, with some investigating this has sadly turned from entertainment (radio) being an art form but now into a business venture. 

Companies that are in the media business now, have not been necessarily interested in bring entertainment to the people listening but rather more importantly to them, put more money in their own company pockets. That is why you may notice that your favorite radio station only plays the same top 40 song over and over again, because the head company regulates that is aired.  

See more information at : http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/34789-democracy-in-peril-twenty-years-of-media-consolidation-under-the-telecommunications-act

Clear Channel, who has now changed their name to iHeartCommunications, Inc. is very proud that they serve 150 markets,  It serves 150 markets through 850 owned radio stations in the U.S as listed in their “About Us” corporate statement. See info below 

http://www.iheartmedia.com/Corporate/Pages/about.aspx

Here is a little more evidence that the Telecommunications Act of 1996, is not as great as some thought it would be. 

http://www.hypebot.com/hypebot/2012/05/the-sad-truth-of-media-consolidation-infographic.html

https://aculturalcollision.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/the-voices-heard-how-is-media-consolidation-affecting-the-music-industry/

Can you assess the value or importance of Frieda Hennock’s actions to create public television?

Frieda Barkin Hennock was born in Kovel, Russia (an area that is now in Ukraine) in 1904 and immigrated to the United States at the age of six. (Morgenthau)  Living in New York City, she grew up in the Bronx and, after high school, would work at several law firms during the day to pay for her classes at the Brooklyn Law School at night. (Morgenthau)  She graduated at age nineteen and was admitted to the New York bar at twenty-one, becoming the youngest practicing female lawyer in the city at that time. (Morgenthau)

Hennock continued to practice law well into the 1940′s, while, at the same time, advocating and raising funds for women’s rights and Democratic political candidates, such as President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. (Morgenthau)  In 1948, with little experience in broadcasting besides campaigning over the radio for the aforementioned politicians, President Harry S. Truman appointed her as the first female commissioner of the FCC. (Liggett) That same year, the FCC was facing difficulties with interfering airwaves from new television stations. (Hilmes, 178)  In consequence, a freeze was put on the distribution of television licenses. (Hilmes, 178)  This provided Hennock with the oppurtunity to advocate for educational television, which was non-existent up until this time. She campaigned around the country, using t9elevision, radio, and print publication to communicate her cause. (Liggett)

In 1950, hearings were held for a television allocation plan. (Liggett)  With television ownership rapidly rising in the US (Hilmes, 178), commercial broadcasters were desperate for station ownership and knew that educational programming would limit their chances of gaining an available station. (Liggett) These broadcasters testified that their programming was educationally sufficient (Liggett), but with the help of lobbying groups like the Ford Foundation (Hilmes, 179), she was able to guarantee educational programming.  In 1952, the FCC issued the “Sixth Report and Order,” ending the freeze and allocating 242 channels for non-commercial stations, which she encouraged communities and universities to apply for (Liggett).

As seen in the photograph above, in 1953, Hennock innaugurated the first educational station, KUHT, in Houston. (Morgenthau)  Hennock’s actions during her career as FCC commissioner have anchored in a place for public programming in American television. Thanks to her, channels like PBS and C-SPAN have been able to keep citizens informed and provide educationally substantial programming for children.

Sources:

Liggett, Lucy A. “HENNOCK, FRIEDA BARKIN”. Museum of Broadcast Communications. (Accessed 27 Sep. 2016) http://www.museum.tv/eotv/hennockfrie.htm

Morgenthau, Henry. "Frieda Barkin Hennock." Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. 1 March 2009. Jewish Women's Archive. (Accessed 27 Sep. 2016) http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/hennock-frieda

Thomas Dodd

“TV and Violence”

It is not surprising that the next wave of social dystopian concern over television went down precisely this path. Senator Thomas Dodd of Connecticut sprang onto the violence bandwagon in June 1961. ushering in three more years of hearings and investigation on juvenile delinquency, still not a widespread social phenomenon and its links to TV, in particular. 

Once again, Dodd failed to follow through with any kind of meaningful recommendations or remedies. In fact, precisely the kind of programs that Dodd’s researchers had condemned action-adventure shows, westerns, cartoons proliferated on television and became some of the most highly rated shows in both network run and syndication. 

Only Connect: A Cultural History of Broadcasting in the United States: Fourth Edition Michelle Holmes pg.218

Thomas Dodd 70 years later giving a speech in Nurmemberg, Germany

Speech: http://www.connecticutmag.com/Blog/Connecticut-Today/November-2015/Thomas-Dodd-at-Nuremberg/ 

Speech on Gun Control: http://connecticuthistory.org/thomas-j-dodd-and-the-gun-control-act-of-1968/

What is your opinion of TV and Violence?

Television and Violence is mostly associated with and has a major impact/influence on children. Children who watch programs on violent programs on television develop violent tendencies. However, it’s not always television that causes or develops violent tendencies in children. honestly television and violence is over-exaggerated by the media as a whole. 

What would happen if Jack Benny continued his career as a violinist?

The stand-up comedian Jack Benny had a major success on the radio and so the comedian became a national figure with The Jack Benny Show, a weekly radio show which ran from 1932 to 1948 on NBC and from 1949 to 1955 on CBS.

http://www.bestcomedyonline.net/comedian-biographies/jack-benny-biography-personal-life-career

By 1936 The Jack Benny Program was the highest ranked in the bunch.

(Only Connect book fourth Edition, Michelle Hilmes, 107)

What would happen if Jack Benny continued his career as a violinist?

Jack Benny will not be known as a great comedian throughout history with his radio program if he continued his career as a violinist.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, TV networks began to cater to their new audience of “working women” by adding serial narratives to their prime time lineups.  

Can you assess the importance of the new, “sexy,” serialized dramas of the 70s and 80s?

With women entering the workplace and earning their own wages, they became a highly desirable group of consumers that TV networks wanted to target. Shows like Cagney and Lacey catered directly to these second wave feminists. It featured two strong female leads and dealt with controversial issues, such as domestic abuse and sexual harassment, from a feminist approach. It inspired other shows like Murphy Brown and LA Law with its cast of mature, successful women. Cop shows today are still at least partially feminized in this format, as show in programs like Law & Order.

You can read more about Cagney and Lacey here: http://www.avclub.com/article/icagney-laceyi-survived-two-cancellations-and-mult-101747

Another groundbreaking prime time soap was Dallas, broadcast on CBS beginning in 1978. It was the first successful “soapish melodrama” on prime time and the first American program to become an international hit. Dallas inspired many imitators, like Flamingo Road on NBC, and a successful spin off Knots Landing. The show’s style of open-ended, melodramatic serial narrative soon characterized most of the hour length programs on TV. 

Read more about Dallas here: http://entertainment.time.com/2012/06/13/greed-melodrama-and-the-unexpected-what-made-dallas-tvs-greatest-happy-accident/