THE SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT RADIO
Wheeler, Sen. Burton K.
The Shocking Truth About Radio By SEN. BURTON K. WHEELER THE subject of this article lends itself to a severely critical discussion of the ills and faults and foibles of the radio broadcast...
...I am not criticising the profit motive...
...izations which, although responsible for the bulk of nationally known programs, have the power of life and death over the majority of stations by reason of their economic control over the station's income...
...The listener may turn off the radio switch—that is his privilege...
...to identify properly speakers and commentators, to make public who pays them, who pays for their radio time,—so that listeners will have an honest opportunity to appraise the speakers' motivation...
...4. Permitting the Federal Communications Commission to duplicate clear channel frequencies where there is no interference with another station, thus insuring thorough distribution of radio facilities over the United States...
...This economic stranglehold on the industry by a relatively few persons has led to many other grave dangers...
...They...
...I am opposed to Government ownership of so powerful a propaganda vehicle—what has happened in Italy, Russia, and Germany are reasons enough for me...
...Monopoly is not dead—it is an ever-growing octopus, international in its scope as Congressional and Justice Department investigations have proved...
...by extending favors or threatening denial of them, it wields a power almost as great as government itself...
...In other words, 19 out of the 41 richest stations in the country are absolutely owned or controlled by the chains...
...9 Has not been diligent in making available an adequate portion of broadcasting time on a FREE UN-SPONSORED BASIS for the presentation of forums, discussions, and similar programs designed to give the listener a greater insight into our nation's social, religious, economic, political, and general problems, Has suffered from political pressures from with- in government which has led it to exercise partiality for whichever party is in power or for particular individuals or for particular social or political policies...
...8. Requiring station owners to be responsible for news analysts and commentators rather than allowing such commentators to be paid by commercial advertisers...
...unless the American people insist that radio must serve the interests of all the people for the common good, we face either increased private monopoly control over this vital artery of public opinion or Government ownership...
...to guarantee factual presentation of news...
...few realize the extent of the propaganda flood to which we are daily subjected...
...gram standards as being an interference with free enterprise...
...It means also that vast areas of the United States are without adequate radio service...
...it does not belong to the Government...
...It is significant, perhaps, that the controlling influences in this industry seek to make this Federal license their own permanent property right—they have the effrontry to suggest that licenses be- made renewable automatically at the end of each three-year licensing period unless there has been a revocation proceeding in the interim...
...The American people are presented with precisely the same problem they had in the case of the railroads, oil, steel, and electric utilities—monopolistic control...
...It can persuade the economic and social and political thinking of 130 million American citizens...
...it insists on regarding its Federally-granted license as a permanent private property right to be used as the licensee pleases...
...But now comes the important part—23 of these 49 rich stations are what is known as "clear-channel" stations, that is, each operates on a frequency set aside exclusively for its own use and no other station, no matter how remotely located, may use that frequency...
...BURTON K. WHEELER THE subject of this article lends itself to a severely critical discussion of the ills and faults and foibles of the radio broadcast industry in our republic...
...What other privately owned commercial enterprise does as well ? And if these percentages seem misleading, it should be remembered that these chains do not deal in pennies—their combined net income after payment of taxes was in excess of $9,000,000...
...they are like a moth-eaten coat which has long outlived its usefulness...
...it means that Harlem jive and Hollywood sexy love dramas are the daily radio fare simply because those who control programming are influenced by their particular local considerations...
...How valuable is such a frequency...
...Yet this is precisely the essence of the policy advocated openly by those who own and control the three great radio networks and the big radio stations owned or dominated by them...
...Even after they paid Federal tax, their profit return was 59 per cent, 65 per cent, and 69 per cent on capital invested...
...It means that the great majority of radio programs originate in two or three cities in the United States...
...That fact makes these 23 clear-channel stations the recipients of the biggest advertising contracts, and therefore the prime revenue producers in the radio broadcast business...
...5Is largely at the mercy of so-called network organ...
...6Has warded off any suggestion for elevating pro...
...In 1943, for example, the three major networks earned profits of 149 per cent, 158 per cent, and 190 per cent on DEPRECIATED cost of broadcast property...
...Networks and high-power stations, using the National Association of Broadcasters as their mouthpiece, have been buttonholing Senators and Congressmen and influential public figures in Washington and misrepresenting the purposes of the legislation...
...Ducking Regulation The second fact is that the industry depends upon one thing for its very existence...
...That radio is not fault-free goes without saying—nothing in life is...
...It has helped unseat governments...
...Unless the American people understand this basic fact and its significance...
...Certain spokesmen for the radio industry contend that because it is not a common carrier, it should escape Federal regulation...
...it can raise or lower the standards of conduct and the morals of the Nation...
...The maintenance in these United States of freedom of speech on the air is equal in importance to the continuance of our democratic Republic...
...it is important that regulation be as sensible and as fair as the reasonable judgment of prudent men will permit...
...Yet this shibboleth of "protecting" such a system because any regulation of it would "interfere with private enterprise" has been fantastically successful in Washington...
...6. Requiring equal opportunity for all sides of public questions to be heard and over the same radio stations on free time...
...Here are some facts: In 1942 there were 851 licensed commercial stations...
...Perverting Free Speech These facts are cited because, in my opinion, the profit motive is all-compelling within the controlling element in the industry...
...Obviously, that station is bound to do what the network says...
...Under the present system, equality of opportunity to be heard is impossible...
...I recognize that it is the basis of the capitalistic system...
...Manipulating Ideas What does all this mean to the American public...
...3. Denying superpower to all clear channel stations, the majority of which are owned by networks...
...Now, in attempting to set down my opinion of what is wrong with the radio industry, I run the risk of being misunderstood by apparently ignoring compensating factors...
...7Has made little attempt or progress in eliminating ? programs of questionable taste or value, or in reducing the amount of commercial advertising per program...
...The Wheeler-White Bill Legislation alone, of course, cannot correct all the evils in the radio industry...
...Wallace White of Maine, Minority Leader of the Senate, and I have attempted to improve the existing situation by proposing corrective legislation...
...For example, $10,000 out of the $15,000 monthly gross income of a medium size western station represents income from the network...
...It has been successful because the radio industry maintains the most powerful lobby ever seen in the nation's Capital...
...It has resulted in effective control over free speech by denial of radio facilities to varying shades of public opinion, or by daily programming of speakers and commentators who mouth the views of particular persons, parties, or organizations .to the exclusion of minority views...
...It can be—and has been— instrumental in changing or modifying the opinions, habits, and lives of people in every country on earth...
...sentee owners...
...But Sen...
...If it doesn't, the network can cut it off, and it would go bankrupt...
...4" Is dominated and substantially controlled by ab...
...It should be emphasized here that when the average radio commentator speaks about "free speech" he means his own personal right to the exclusion of any one else's right to free speech, or to answer him...
...It is desirable, perhaps, that I document this contention of monopoly control...
...too much of what it does or ? fails to do is measured by the amount of money in it, or the amount of money it will cost...
...It is essential that minorities have the same rights and privileges as the majority, else democracy perishes...
...Two basic factors must first be understood clearly in any consideration of the radio broadcasting industry in this country...
...It has resulted in a situation that when the networks graciously permit opposite views to be heard, only a fraction of the stations which carried the original program will broadcast the other view...
...that the provisions which would reduce monopolistic tendencies would unduly interfere with and restrict private business...
...It is obvious why dictators and would-be dictators have first seized the radio facilities of a nation...
...Networks have paid from $800,000 to $1,250,000 for radio "stations" whose physical plant value was less than one-tenth of the purchase price...
...But bad as it is in a commercial commodity, it is a thousand times more dangerous in a facility which reaches into every home in the land and can shape the thoughts of men with propaganda so cleverly concealed and so subtly presented that few of us are able to recognize it when we hear it...
...it means that local ownership and local responsibility which always is a guarantee of better service to local needs is replaced by absentee ownership which is interested in only one fact—the daily profit statement...
...unless the American people realize that 'radio should not be the private plaything of a few individuals...
...Its effectiveness in resisting regulation is unparalleled in my experience in the Senate because it can work insidiously: its facilities—time on the air—can be and are of inestimable value to office holders and political parties...
...Moreover, these profits are calculated after payments of salaries— and it is interesting that'the salaries range from $20,-000 to $75,000 a year—the amount the American people pay their President...
...Those facts are bad in themselves, but they do not tell all the story...
...It means that the most skillful manipulators of ideas feed into American homes the kind of propaganda they themselves want the public to hear...
...It is a freedom which may limit one man in order to give another a chance...
...It is true that the average small local radio station—there are 448 of them in this country—makes less than $5,000 a year...
...The loss of one is implicit in the loss of the other...
...Radio broadcasting is affected perhaps with a greater degree of public interest than any other private enterprise...
...That thing is an electrical frequency—a channel through the ether—to carry words and music to the listener...
...The children of today who hear these programs are the men and women who tomorrow will determine the destiny of the greatest truly democratic republic in the world...
...It has the greatest power for good or evil...
...But its problems have multiplied because dominating influences in the industry have failed to understand certain facts which I believe are vitally important to the preservation of democracy in this nation...
...They include the basic originating stations for network programs...
...2. Preventing unlimited control over a local station's time by a network...
...it means that the social, political, moral, economic, and philosophic concepts of two or three metropolitan areas crowd the radio spectrum to the exclusion of all else...
...Well, facts speak louder than words...
...So far as is possible within the confines of this brief article for The Progressive, I want to elaborate on the more important points...
...The spoken word—whether in music, drama, or debate—always has been recognized as more cogent and compelling than the written word...
...It is a "young" industry and falls heir to many of the faults and problems of immaturity...
...Those who control the radio industry want riot free speech, but controlled speech—control by the operator of the facility as to who shall speak, when he shall speak, and what he shall say...
...What does that mean in a democracy ? The keystone of this republic is free speech—but free speech for all...
...And what about the ownership of them ? Well, 16 of the clear-channel stations are owned directly by the three major network corporations or the persons who own the networks, and three others afe managed by a network...
...One is that our system is different from all others in that it is wholly privately owned and its operation is paid for by commercial advertisers...
...claim that the granting of equal opportunity for everyone to be heard would prevent freedom of speech over the air...
...It purveys that most elusive of all commodities—thought...
...And in spite of its youth, this radio business is a mighty profitable one for a few...
...That frequency is not property in the accepted sense of the word...
...It has brought control over the industry's trade organization so that it espouses policies inimical to 98 per cent of its member stations but beneficial to the 2 per cent membership of the networks and high power stations...
...to balance presentation of opposite views on public questions or issues...
...2Is run by men who have little or no conception of ? the public welfare and of the responsibility to the public that is involved in managing an enterprise affected with great public interest...
...Corporation Control IT is my earnest belief that these 10 points could be compressed into one over-all indictment—namely, the nation's 910 radio broadcast stations are at the economic mercy of and effectively controlled by three or four big corporations and the handful of individuals who run these corporations...
...Arbitrary restrictions against free speech, whether they stem from economic or social or political pressures, are dangerous to democratic government...
...That is why I am interested in forwarding a policy which will broaden the right of free speech over the air for all, not just for a few...
...But it is very important that the listener have the opportunity to hear and study all sides of a controversial question...
...So the programs they originate, whether they be musical, dramatic, or discussion, bear unmistakably the stamp and feeling of only one section of our country...
...it is primarily to render a useful public service...
...Thus, when we talk about freedom of speech on the air we do not necessarily mean an uncontrolled freedom...
...5. Requiring complete identification of all speakers and commentators so that their motivation will be clear to all listeners...
...But these affiliate stations are in economic thralldom to the network because the advertising income they receive from the network for broadcasting a network commercial program is the major part of such an affiliate station's income...
...It is an ethereal thing—a path which the people, through their Government, license for use to certain individuals for limited periods of time...
...It would be much more reasonable and fully as sound for the Federal Government to withdraw from the regulation of railroad and truck transportation, or from the licensing of water power sites, or the regulation of interstate public utilities as it would be to turn the radio broadcasting industry over to private individuals to operate without regulation...
...7. Requiring equal opportunity to use the same facilities in all political broadcasts...
...8Has taken no action to insure equality of access of ? radio facilities to varying views and opinions...
...Any industry whose basic ability to operate comes from the use of a frequency licensed without any charge by the Federal Government owes an obligation to the people whose frequency it uses...
...Therefore, unless one is willing to espouse Government ownership of radio there can be no basic objection to the fact that radio advertising is necessary...
...3Insists on regarding itself as "private enterprise" ? in the same sense that a gasoline filling station is private industry...
...That, of course, is not the American system—the democratic system...
...Generally speaking, the industry: 11s "dollar-hungry...
...That obligation goes far beyond that of merely making money...
...I agree that when the incentive to make money is removed, the water which nourishes the tree of American business is taken away and the tree dies...
...The networks, of course, each have contracts with a great many additional stations scattered throughout the.country which carry the network programs...
...We mean a freedom which sets public interest far above the interest of any individual or group...
...But the big clear-channel high-power stations and the networks —that is a different story...
...The large and high-powered stations are located in the metropolitan areas, and the'bulk of programming is motivated by what a relatively small part of the population of the country desires...
...Congress cannot legislate honesty and fairness and common sense into either the industry or the regulatory commission...
...It means that many conscientious people are persuaded to particular beliefs simply because the speaker or commentator they hear talks with a professed authority which is nothing but a veneer...
...It is desirable that regulation be as elastic as common sense and good taste permit...
...Radio already has had, and in the future will exert even greater, influence upon the economic and political destiny of our country...
...Forty-nine of these stations are the so-called "high-power" stations, operating with 50,000 watts of power, located in the richest metropolitan commercial markets, and earning annually 90 times as much as the average small local station...
...The 23 high-power clear channel stations are mostly located in the eastern United States...
...It is a system strikingly similar to that in countries where dictatorships flourish and the government controls the radio...
...That bill, now pending in Senate Committee, attempts to correct the evils and the monopolistic tendencies I pointed out by: 1. Limiting ownership to six stations and not more than one station in the same trade area...
...it does not belong to those who operate radio facilities...
...But I am firmly of the opinion that platitudes such as "the American system of broadcasting" have been overdone...
Vol. 8 • November 1944 • No. 45
