The Educational Radio Media
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Illinois Wesleyan University Digital Commons @ IWU Honors Projects Theatre Arts, School of 1969 The Educational Radio Media James L. Tungate '69 Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/theatre_honproj Part of the Speech and Rhetorical Studies Commons, and the Theatre and Performance Studies Commons Recommended Citation Tungate '69, James L., "The Educational Radio Media" (1969). Honors Projects. 12. https://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/theatre_honproj/12 This Article is protected by copyright and/or related rights. It has been brought to you by Digital Commons @ IWU with permission from the rights-holder(s). You are free to use this material in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s) directly, unless additional rights are indicated by a Creative Commons license in the record and/ or on the work itself. This material has been accepted for inclusion by faculty at Illinois Wesleyan University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. ©Copyright is owned by the author of this document. Illinois Wesleyan University ARCHIVES 3 36 192�b� The Edgcational Radio Media / James L. Tgngate II Submitted for Honors Work In the Department of Speech Illinois Wesleyan University Bloomington, Illinois 1969 w.rttnoIn Wesleyan Unl'v. tTOrarI'o Eloomington, Ill. 61701 Accepted by the Department o� Speech of Illinois Wesleyan University in Yalfillment of the requirement for Departmental Honors Date TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TA BLES. • • • • • • • •• • co • • . .. • • • iv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS • • co • • • • • .. • co • • co • • v .. .. 1 INTRODUCTION. " . • • • . .. • • . • • • · .. Chapter 1 I. MEDIA FUNCTION ••••• •••••••••• 0 2 II. MEDIA FUNCTION FROM THE INSIDE . • • . .. • • • 20 III. EDUCATIONAL RADIO AND THE FCC ••• 0 •• co • • 25 IV. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMMING • • • • • · . .. • • 31 . V. THE OOLLEGE FM "INDUSTRY". co • · . ' • • • • 49 . .. VI. SIGN-OFF 10 • • .. .. • >0 • · .. · .. • 69 APPENDIX I ••• • • • • • • • co • • • · .. • 72 APPENDIX II .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. • • • • • • • • co • .. .... .. .. .. 113 BIBLIOGRAPHY. • • • • ., . \II . :USm' OF '&BLEB Table 1. SAMPLE'; PROGBAM LOG•• •• •••• • • • ••••••••• • • • • • • 29 2� SAMPLE'; mCHNICAL LOG• •••••••• • •• •••••••••• • • 30, 3. WNTHf WEEDAY PROGR.AMJ[ING. ................... 46' 4. KPFK PROGRAM PROFlLE� ••• •• •• •••• •• • ••• •• • ••• 41 5. wan PROG�•• ••• ••••••••••••••••••• ••••-� 1T LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS elate Page 52 I. Gate s Transmitting Equipment . • • • • • • •• v · , INTRODUCTION TO RADIO: VOICE$FROMPAST AND PRESENT The undeniable affect of radio on the nation!s econo .... my, social structure, att itudes and behavior, not to mention mar keting , bl.1siness and industry, and the entertainment field has been great. But the modern broadcaster has a rather u t un iq e problem�a problem of commanica ion . All of the national effect s of radio have caused the broadcaster to constamtly review and up..-date his knowledge in legal and social areas of developaent, as well as technical advance ... a ment.... Since eh nge occurs so rapidly and so often in all three, the communication problem becomes even mor e acu.te. Broadcast texts of five years ago , for inst ance , only predicted tbe exteasi". u.se of vide. tapiftg (VTR) in television , and hinted of Ilsing tape cartridges in radio; legal developments set forth by the FCC are equally dramatic, as well as recent sociological changes sparked by people like Marshall McLuhan,., i It seems that the indllstry (noncollmercial in c luded ) all too ofte·n ignores this third area of sociologyI!' The questions of UWhy?" become overlooked for the "How?" 2 questions.. Whereas "Why?il is often only considered by the commercial broadcaster aro und the tim. of license renewal, it!s a q"•• tion taat the edtlcational broadcaster SROQld, not ignore by virtu. of the adjective that classifies his funetio"--"'t!ducational." the noncommercial station really lunctions the sam. as afty co_ereial station, with the excep-tiom of th.is "Why?" questio_; it is a fraternal twin , tIIorm of CGml1lOft circumstances, with the sa •• diversity Of "parents." The remainder of this chapter will examine and trace the radio heritage.* In the 1860's James Clerk Maxwell, a Scotsman. pre"!!" ,dieted the existence of radio waves. Two decades later Heinrich Hert2 in Germany delllOnstrated that rapid varia"'!! tions of electric current can be projected into space in the form of waves not unlike those of heat and light .. In l89S Marceni tr ansmitted radio signals for a short distance and , at the turn of th e centlilry, conducted sue ... cessfal transatlantic tests. In 1907 Lee DeFer est patented what is now known as the vac,,,,'. tube. The first practical application of radio was for ship..,to-ship and ship""toMshore telegraphic com.unications; this was first termed as use of the "wireless.ft ADlerican use of the tera "'r adio" is *General tIlaterial obtained from "'Broadcast Primer: Evolution of Broadcasting," Information Bulletin No. 2 ..B., published by the FCC in, 1946..;. addi.t..iona 1 FCC documents; and Robert Hillard, Radio �ioadcasting(New York: Hastings, 1967). 3 traced to about 1912 when the Navy, believing that "wire- less" '*'_ too inc lusive, adopted t he word "radiotelegra.ph." Tho149P the British still use the older term, "radio" continues to be the American designation. The word tlbroadcastU stems from early United. States naval reference to the t'broadcast" of orders to the fleet. The first voice broad.cast is subject to debatej claims to that distinction range from uHello Rainey," . ••il! to have been sent by Stubblefield to a partner in a demonstration near Murray, Kentuck� in 1892, to an impromptu program from Brant RoCk, Massaeha�tt � by :. /1 ttessenden$.n 1906, which w� s picl<ed, '*1' by nearby ships. Thw!i�.ire other early experimental aud io tranS1Gissions, h suc as DeForest putting the singer Caruso on the air in 1910 and transatlantic tests by the Navy st ation at . , Arlin9�ol'l' Virginia in 1915, but it was not until after ) . ir Wor 1d War I that r.gular br'oadcast ing began. The f st broadcasting station is likewise a mat •.ar of conflic ting claims. This is due largely to the f·aot that some pione�r AM b roadc a s t stations developed from experimental A operations. l though KDKA Pittsburgh did not receive a regdl ar br oadcast ing license until NQvember 7, 1921, it illrnished programs experimentalJ;y p1:'ior to tl'1at "'te. 4 Records of the Departllent of Commerce., which then super .... vised radio , indicate that the first station issued a regular broadcasting license was WBZ Springfield, Massa chuetts, on September IS, 1921. There was experimental network operation over tele phone lines as euly as 1922,. In ' that year WJZ now New York, andWNAC Boston, picked up a footba ll galle froll Chicago. Later,' that sa•• year WEAF and, WGY were con.ected with KDKA Pittsburgh, allld KYW Chicago, to carry talk s mad. at a dinner in New York. Presiden t Coo l idge's message to Congress was broadcast by six stations in 1923. In ltZ6 the National Broadcasting Collpany started the first regular network with 24 stations . Its first coas:t:��o�T9��t !'lookup, in 1927, br.ac:Jc::�st a football game;." ,Ill th� l�tter year, the Colu1llb!a aroadeasting 5ys ... tell w�� organized. The first rotlnd""the... world broadcast was made froll Schenect ady in 1930. The history of broadeasting is filled, of course, with various ,laws and regu1atiens; there was a Wireless Ship Act of 1910 which applied to use of radio by ship s, but the Radio Act of 1912 was the first domestic law for the control of radio in general. It made the then secre tary of commerce and labor responsible tor licensing rad.io 5 stations and. po erators . Early broadcasting was experimental and" therefore, noncommercial. In 1919 broadcasters were enabled to operate as limited comaereial stations. 1ft 1922 the "wavelength" of 360 meters (abou.t 830 kilohertz ) was assigned fqr the transmission of ftimportant news items, entertainment, lectures, serllOns. and si1li1ar matter .ft i'F(!f:.) Reco_end,ations of the first National Radio Con... r f by ference in 1922 esulted in urther regulations the secretarry of co •• erce. A new type of AM broadcast sta. tion came into being, with minimum po wer of 500 watts and a Ilaximum of 1,000 watts. Two frequencies (7� and 833 kilohertz) were assigned for program transmission. But so rapid was the development of aural broadcasting, that upon recommendation of subsequent Nationa l Radio Conferences {1923 and 1924,-, the Department of COnmuerce al located SSO to 1500 kilohert� for standard bro.d,cast and. au.thorized. operating � ... up to 5,000 watts. Btilt, once again, th. increase in the nu.mber of stations caused so much interference that, in 1925, a, fOl.1rth National Radio Conference asked for a limitation on broadcast tille and. power. The secretary of COMmerce was unable to deal with the situation because of a court decision holding that the Rad.io Act of 1912 did not give him this authority. As a resQlt, many broadcasters jumped their frequencies and incr&-ased their power and 6 operating time at will, regardless of the effect upon other stations. There was bedlam on the air. In 1926 President Coolidge urged Congress to remedy matter s; the result was the Dil18Wtdte Radio Act of 1927. The Radio Act of 1927 created a five-member Federal Radio Commission with certain regulatory powers over radio, including the issuance of station licenses , the allocation of frequency bands to var ious services, assignment of specified frequencies to individual stations and control of station power. The sam. act also delegated to the seeretary of coa.erce authority to inspect radio stations, to examine and l icense radio operators and to assiCJn radio (:·.11 let ter s . Ml.lch of the early efforts of the Federal Radio eo_ission were r equired to straighten out tl\.\.