Suchergebnisse

A Committee of Congress & the press finds the existing morality in broadcasting disturbing. However, those primarily at fault, the broadcasters, have escaped attention. The intended benefits of the Communications Act were: (1) a rich diversity of programs, (2) provision for the needs of cultural & soc minorities, (3) broad interpretation by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) of what constitutes the public interest & (4) regulatory control of licensees in the performance of public service. The changes during the past quarter cent underscore the wisdom & foresight of those framing the original Act. A world undergoing rapid change esp in technological spheres demands the utmost in intelligence & refined sensibility to avoid destruction. In the race to establish a moral order the mass communications media are not a luxury but services that must be harnessed to democracy's needs. Broadcasters at first thought of the future as bringing widespread educ'al & cultural benefits but the proportion of programs devoted to human betterment has diminished relative to the increase in the number of radio & TV stations. The FCC has not been the consistent, careful, devoted guardian of the public interest that was originally envisioned. The following policies of change are recommended: (1) revised procedures respecting FCC appointments which ignore party labels & focus on proven integrity, intelligence & distinguished public service of the candidates, (2) recovery of the Blue Book & enforcement of its provisions as a condition of every license renewal, (3) appropriations by the Congress sufficient for staff to permit careful scrutiny & appraisal of services rendered before license renewal, (4) the holding of license renewal hearings should be held in the locality served by the licensee, (5) the creation of a nat advisory commission representing major cultural & other interests throughout the nation to advise the FCC on matters relating to broadcasting & the public interest, (6) a minimum of a half hr nightly devoted to serving the interests of lesser majorities & major minorities in the arts & discussion of public issues, be required of each licensee, (7) the (total - sum) divorce of advertising from determination of program content & the limiting of advertising time to 3 minutes per half hr to be filled only by an announcer, (8) congressional grants-in-aid for activation & sustenance of all the 258 frequencies reserved for non-profit educ'al TV, (9) consideration of ways & means to implement the recommendation of the Luce Commission on Freedom of the Press involving a continuing content analysis of the broadcasting media. G. M. Coughenour.