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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zoeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 75-3142 MERRITT, Bishetta Dionne, 1947- A HISTORICAL-CRITICAL STUDY OF A PRESSURE GROUP IN BROADCASTING - - BLACK EFFORTS FOR SOUL IN TELEVISION. The Ohio State University, Ph.D., 1974 Speech Xerox University MicrofilmsAnn , Arbor, Michigan 48106 © 1974 BISHETTA DIONNE MERRITT ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THIS DISSERTATION HAS BEEN MICROFILMED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED. A HISTORICAL-CRITICAL STUDY OF A PRESSURE GROUP IN BROADCASTING BLACK EFFORTS FOR SOUL IN TELEVISION DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of The Ohio State University By Bishetta D. Merritt, B.A., M.A * * * * * The Ohio State University 1974 Reading Committee Approved By Dr. James Golden Dr. Joseph Foley Dr. William Brown Aclviser--------- Department of Communication ACKNOWLEDGMENTS There are numerous people who have been especially helpful in gathering the necessary data for this study. My very special thanks to William Wright, former national coordinator of BEST, and all the people at Cablecommunica- tions Resource Center, especially Marrissa Young, Gilbert Mendleson, and Carolyn Vance, all of whom took the time to talk with me and to provide me with valuable source materials. My thanks also to Susie Dillion of Citizens Communication Center, and all the helpful and friendly people who gave of their time to answer letters and con­ duct telephone and personal interviews. X would like to express my appreciation to my advisor, Dr. James Golden and the members of my reading committee— Dr. William Brown, Dr. Joseph Foley and Dr. George Lewis. A special thanks to Dean Frank Hale for his encouragement, thoughtful criticism, and understanding. Finally, I would like to thank my mother, Mrs. Willette Merritt, and all my friends who were constantly encouraging and supporting me during the writing of this study• ii VITA December 15, 1947............ Born— Greensboro, North Carolina 1970.......... •••••••....... .B.A., Fisk University, Nash­ ville, Tennessee 1970-74•••••••••••••••••••••.University Fellow, Communica­ tions Department, The Ohio State University 1972 ......M.A., The Ohio State Univer­ sity, Columbus, Ohio COMMUNITY SERVICE 1971-72•••••••••••••••••••••.Ass't Secretary— Black Graduate and Professional Student Caucus 1972-73.••• •.... ............. Treasurer— Black Graduate and Professional Student Caucus 1972 and 1 9 7 3 . Graduate Visitation Day Committee, The Ohio State University 197 3-74.. ........... .President— Black Graduate and Professional student Caucus Black Cultural Center Steering Committee, The Ohio State University 1 9 7 4 .Testified at the Senate Hear­ ings on the nomination of James Quello to the Federal Communications Commission Testified at the Senate Hear­ ings on the 1974 License Renewal Bill i• * n * AWARDS Scholarship Award— Afro-Am, The Ohio State University Student of the Year— Black Graduate and Professional Student Caucus Community Service Award— The Ohio State Graduate -School V FIELDS OF STUDY Co mmun ica tion -Mas s M edia and sp eech Ed ucat ionMajor Fields Communication-Mass Media and speech EducationMajor Studies in Broadcasting Professors Walter Emery, Joseph Foley, Donald Le Due and Robert Monaghan Studies in Speech Educa­ tion Professor George Lewis Studies in Educational Broadcasting Professor Keith Tyler Studies in Rhetoric Professors James Golden and William Brown TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............. • « ......................i± VITA ....................................................... iii DEFINITION OF TERMS . • ................................ Chapter I. INTRODUCTION .................................. 1 Statement of Problem • •••••••«•• 14 Methodology ........................ « • « 15 Chapter Overviews ..*•••••««••. 16 II. REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE ....................... 18 Chapter Summary .••••••••••••• 43 III. BEST AND ITS EDUCATIONAL SERVICE .............. 44 BEST Workshops • •••••.*••••«« 56 Conferences .................. • •••••• 61 Chapter Summary • 64 IV. BEST AND ITS TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND MONITORING OF THE INDUSTRY AND THE FCC . 65 BEST As a Technical Assistant ••••••• 66 BEST, Howard University and Its Communications School •••••«••.• 71 The WMAL-TV Case and BEST »••••..•• 74 BEST As a Monitor of Regulatory Activities ............. «..••••• 79 BEST and the Public Interest Primer • • • • 86 BEST and Filing in Support of Other G r o u p s ............... 88 BEST and Important Petitions to Deny . 89 BEST and the FCC Commissioner • • • • • • .109 BEST and Reimbursement •••••••...113 BEST and Cable Television ••••••••• 118 Chapter Summary ... •••••• 125 vii TABLE OF CONTENTS (CON'T) Chapter Page V. SUMMARY AND IMPLICATIONS ...................... 127 Appendix I. CHART OF BEST ACTIVITIES ...................... 152 II. BLACK OWNED RADIO STATIONS .... ........... 158 III. BLACK OWNED TV S T A T I O N S ........................ 162 IV. CATV FRANCHISES GRANTED ........................ 164 V. COLUMBUS BROADCASTING COALITION DEMANDS - 1970 166 VI. WLW-C STUDENT PROGRAMS FOR BLACKS ........... 171 SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY .................. 175 Filmed as received without page(s) viii UNIVERSITY MICROFILMS. CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION The communication between the Black and White communities of this country during the 1960's was at a very low level. This situation was caused by several elements of the American society. One of the main prob­ lems was the broadcasting system in the country which practically ignored the Black population except when crimes were committed. The long summers of 1965 and 1967 brought all the complaints of the Black population to a head when the Watts riot and the 1967 riots occurred. These riots were a reaction to the broadcasting system, the local and national governments of the country, the police and the living conditions of the ghetto. The conditions which caused the riots of 1965 and 19 67 were similar. The results of these riots can be seen through example by looking at the Watts riot. These results included better services to Blacks from the govern­ ment, and more participation by Blacks in the broadcasting system because of the development of citizens' groups. In the reports following the riot in Watts, a Black inhabited area in Los Angeles, many sources have placed the blame for the disturbance on several elements of society. Some of the contributors to the Watts riot are said to have been the police, the social conditions under which the people were forced to live, the city, state and federal government, and last, the media which reported day-to-day occurrences of the riot. No one of these factors is solely responsible, but all were contributors,^ Exactly how and what prompted the Watts riot of 1965? Incidents had occurred in the country between Blacks and policemen. Civil rights workers staged a nonviolent demonstration in Selma, Alabama and the police and state troopers forcibly interrupted their march. In Bogalusa, Louisiana, Black demonstrators were inadequately protected by the police when attacked by whites. But, on the evening of August 1, 1965, as the Watts area of Los Angeles was burdened with a heat wave. Highway Patrolman Lee Minikers halted young, Black driver, Marquette Frye for speeding. The youth appeared intoxi­ cated and the patrolman arrested him. A young Black ■^Benjamin D. Singer, "Mass Media and Communication Processes in the Detroit Riot of 1967," Public Opinion Quarterly, Vol. 34, No. 2 (Summer, 1970). ^The Kerner Report— Report of the National Advisory Commission' ori”civil Disorders (New York: Bantam Books, 195-37, p.”

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