The basis of liability for broadcasting defamatory remarks

In an article that appeared in Winter 1958–1959 issue of the Journal of Broadcasting, Profesor Gordon Greb added a new contender for the title of “oldest station in the nation.”; As a result, KQW has joined KDKA, WHA and WWJ as a candidate for the honor of primacy in American radio broadcasting. Although Greb's article created as much interest and controversy as any that has appeared in the Journal, it did not—and could not—still the confidence of the other claimants.

In the instant article, Mr. R. Franklin Smith does the field of historical radio research a service by setting forth, for the first time, a logical set of criteria by which to judge these conflicting claims. To illustrate he has utilized early records of WHA. Using these criteria, it is shown that WHA cannot claim to have been a true broadcasting station before the latter part of 1920. Comparison of the claims of the several contenders is outside the scope of this article. However, it would be extremely interesting if these criteria were applied to the conflicting claims by persons having access to the detailed station records and other data necessary for thorough analysis.

Perhaps Mr. Smith has given us the impetus and the tools necessary for determining which station really was the “oldest in the nation.”     

The broadcaster's responsibility for advertising

Far too often, one comes upon people who are unwilling or unable to tear down the artificial walls between “academic research” and “practical broadcasting.” Naturally, many of the most fruitful researchers recognize the advantages of tying their work to the “real world,” and many of the most efficient broadcasters rely strongly upon rigorous research rather than “seat of the pants” intuition. In the following article yet another link between research and broadcasting is demonstrated: the use of research, conducted by or on behalf of a station, to provide a wealth of newsworthy stories for the broadcaster. Whereas most journal articles emphasize the substantive results of a research, here they serve primarily as examples, with emphasis on reporting and the application of research techniques in the newsroom.

Dr. McCombs is an associate professor of journalism in the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Mr. Waters is assistant news manager of station WBTV in Charlotte, North Carolina.     

“Authentic” talk in broadcast news: The construction of community

Some recent assessments of public communication have demonstrated a concern for “authentic” forms of discourse in public life. This article uses a methodology derived from conversation analysis to examine different forms of public discourse in news interviews. Previous studies taking this approach have outlined the protocols for formal news interviews, but this article also looks at some types of “conversational” news interviewing that are increasingly prevalent in contemporary broadcasting. The modes of address (to the overhearing audience) in these types of interview can be usefully compared to the inclusive, sociable address associated with some genres of popular entertainment. It is suggested that the effect of “communality,” constructed by these conversational forms of talk, might be one factor in the development of new forms of participatory “public‐ness,” around some types of news events.     

Programmer's choice: Eight factors in program decision‐making

In the introduction to Charles Woodliff's “Catch Me if You Can” in the Fall, 1965 issue of the Journal it was, prophesied that it would be not “the last that will be published on the question of the proper curriculum for training professional broadcasters.” In this issue, on the preceding pages, is an article by Professor John Pennybacker answering Professor Woodliff's article disagreeing with the one that started it all, Pennybacker's “Working with Universities.” The following comment by Woodliff is intended only as a brief comment upon Pennybacker's “Leadership and the Educator: The Middle Way” and does not, of course, attempt to make full reply in this brief form. Professor Woodliff (Assistant Professor in the Department of Radio‐Television‐Film at the University of Denver) hopes that the dialogue between him and Dr. Pennybacker represents their respective points of view fairly—and that other positions will be heard from in the future. The airing of these points of view is not just another rehash of the old “liberal arts vs. professionalism” debate. Recent surveys have shown that broadcasting education has not yet made its mark on the industry—if it is to do so in the future, teachers of broadcasting must constantly reassess their goals and the means to achieve these goals.     

MORE NEWS FOR LESS

Using an ethnographic case study of the Newschannel at TV2 Norway, this article reveals ways in which the assembly-line mentality required by 24/7 news production nevertheless encourages reporters to negotiate a certain autonomy over their work and the routines required to produce it. By reorganizing its staff's use of time, space, and resources, TV2 was able to generate roughly 18 hours of “live” news coverage a day during the article's research period from 2007 to 2009. This production process is framed in terms of Schlesinger's “reactive” mode, here qualified as “reactive-active”, because it allows for the possibility of broadcasting live and gathering news at the same time. The article also revisits the concept of “professionalism” with regard to a traditional broadcaster's implementation of a 24/7 news channel within its existing newsroom. As a result of this process, more news—and more content concerning that news—is produced more efficiently while the tenets of traditional journalism remain operative.     

Dynamics of Illegal Participation in Peer-to-Peer Networks—Why Do People Illegally Share Media Files?

In 1997, a law was passed in Spain that mandated that “broadcastings of general interest” be free-to-air rather than pay-per-view. Since that time, a soccer match of the Spanish First Division—considered a public benefit activity—can be viewed on a weekly basis for free throughout the regular season. The aim of this article is to determine whether a “general interest” for these free-to-air broadcastings exists. To perform the empirical analysis, a demand equation for a TV audience is estimated using a unique panel data set on a regional level, in which the dependent variable is the number of viewers of free-to-air matches in each Spanish region during the period 2008–2012. The model specifications consider whether a particular region has a team competing in the First Division and other socioeconomical and sporting variables. The results conclude that a nationwide “general interest” in free-to-air broadcasting of soccer matches, which would support Spanish law, does not exist, with the exception of matches played by Real Madrid Club de Fútbol, Fútbol Club Barcelona, and local teams.     

A survey of salaries and hiring preferences in television news

Perhaps the fastest growing area of local broadcasting is news. Few other areas require as much background and education—the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” to the contrary. To attract the best possible people into this field, it is necessary to show them that (a) they have a good chance of being accepted, and (b) they will find the field rewarding. The survey reported in the following article attempts to provide the necessary raw data for this “showing.” Frank Gerval was a senior in broadcast journalism, and Dr. Irving Fang is author of Television News and associate professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communication of the University of Minnesota.     

Television production training

For many years, there has been controversy between the so‐called “liberal arts”; and the “vocationsal”; approach to broadcasting instruction. In this article, Jack Warfield points out that the resulting compromise has been unsatisfactory, and offers a partial solution.     

A preliminary study of the effects of a reading improvement course on oral reading

Experimental evidence of the relative advantages and disadvantages of specific “techniques” in the field of broadcasting education is hard to find. For the most part, the training of announcers and other specialists is by example, not theory. However, there is no doubt that both professional and student can benefit from the results of careful research on the attributes and talents necessary for effective broadcasting. The following study offers strong indications that “fluffs” in reading aloud may be far less frequent after a course in silent reading.     

Leviathan dreams: State and broadcasting in South America

This article examines different forms of state intervention in the history of broadcasting in South America. In contrast to “media imperialism”; positions, it is argued that the analysis of the evolution of broadcasting systems cannot be restricted to the role of international capital. Nor can the development of broadcasting in the region be understood as completely dominated by market mechanisms. On different occasions and for different reasons, domestic actors coalesced around the state to champion government‐run models against private broadcasting. Statist solutions, however, were ineffectual in changing the fundamental dynamics of the systems in place. Moreover, as they were often implemented by authoritarian governments, state models aggravated the problems for the existence of democratic broadcasting. Amid the hegemony of the private model and the globalization of media economies in the region, the discrediting of statist experiences makes it necessary to rethink alternatives to market‐dominated broadcasting.     

A newcomer looks at the broadcast curriculum controversy

The following article was also written in response to Dr. John Penny‐backer's article, “Working with Universities” that appeared recently in the Journal of Broadcasting. This reply is intended to present the point of view of a relative newcomer to the position of “teacher of broadcasting.” This point of view is quite different from that of Dr. Pennybacker, who now holds dual positions as Executive Secretary of the Louisiana Association of Broadcasters and Assistant Professor of Speech at Louisiana State University. (A brief commentary written by Dr. Pennybacker is printed following Mr. Davlin's article.)     

The right to privacy: A legal guidepost to television programing

One of the most complex problem areas of broadcast programing is where a person's “right to privacy” meets the public's (or the broadcaster's) “right to know.” Guidelines through this area are difficult to find, resting as they do upon a highly technical body of law. Textbooks in broadcasting suggest the broadcaster use caution whenever the right to privacy might become an issue, but fail to give clear instruction (apart from the need to obtain a release in some unspecified form) on the best methods of avoiding a law suit. The average newsman and other program production personnel are ill‐equipped to analyze a difficult legal question without help and with little time. The following article, written for a graduate seminar at Michigan State University under the direction of Dr. Walter Emery, is designed to provide the non‐lawyer broadcaster with some guides for minimizing the influence of the “right to privacy” on the “right to know.”     

Broadcasting in the ICBM age

When discussion of earth orbital satellites first left the pages of science fiction magazines and “became respectable,”; the use of these devices for relaying of television programs was first seriously suggested. Today, the future is so close upon us that there exists a recent Congressional Report with the title, Satellites for World Communication.

Coupled with the world‐wide shortage of frequencies, the development of space satellites for broadcasting purposes could cause tremendous changes in the current systems of domestic broadcasting. Even though they will be first used for point‐to‐point communication rather than broadcasting, the means by which such satellites will be regulated may well become of as much importance to the broadcaster as the NARBA and similar agreements are today.     

The beginning television course

All too often, strong opinions are held without regard to detailed knowledge of the subject involved. Current controversies show that the question of course content in professional broadcasting education is no exception. Regardless of the viewpoint held, a supply of adequate data relevant to the question should be welcomed by all. The Journal undertakes to supply as much data as possible relevant to broadcasting education, the most recent example being Harold Niven's “Fourth Annual Survey of Colleges and Universities Offering Course Work in Radio and Television, 1958–1959”; published in the Fallissue.     

Illicit Transmissions: Engaging with the Study and Preservation of Pirate Radio

Unlicensed broadcasting has been a surprisingly consistent phenomenon throughout the history of radio in the United States. This article sketches this history and the factors which have allowed pirate radio to flourish, and argues that radio scholars should engage more closely with the phenomenon in order to learn more about public aspirations regarding access to the airwaves. It is also incumbent on radio historians to preserve the legacy of stations that have risked persecution in order to manifest the “public airwaves” and “the public interest” as meaningful and tangible elements of radio history and contemporary practice.     

Old Against New,or a Coming of Age? Broadcasting in an Era of Electronic Media

“Broadcasting” is often cast as an outdated term—we are constantly told that we are in the midst of a digital/social media revolution that will make the unidirectional, mass communication model obsolete. In response, we argue that to consider the continued relevance of terms like “broadcasting” in an era of electronic media is to neither hastily disregard the legacy of these terms, nor cling to them too rigidly. In this special issue of the Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media written and edited by graduate students, we begin a new thread in the longstanding conversation about what it means for media to be “old” and “new.” While this distinction is not one we should take for granted, the articles in this issue all show how we can strategically approach the intricate intersections and interconnections of different media, old and new. As such, this issue collectively calls our attention not to the familiar trope of “old against new,” but rather to the tensions that arise around a “coming of age.” Presenting a wide range of international scholarship from graduate students across many different disciplinary backgrounds, topical literatures, methodological approaches, and theoretical frameworks, this special issue represents an emerging approach to what it means to study broadcasting in an era of electronic media.     

Other People's Money: Adapting Entrepreneurial Techniques to Build Capital in Challenging Economic Times

Drawing on the “predator” model of entrepreneurship put forward by Villette and Vuillermot in their 2009 book “From Predators to Icons,” this article argues that challenging economic times reveal that self-funded, collaborative information literacy models have in many cases unsustainably overstretched staff and budgets. In such circumstances, it is necessary for librarians to shift to an entrepreneurial approach that seeks profitable opportunities funded by parties other than the library in order to build capital for current and future instructional services. Following Villette and Vuillermot, the article seeks to refute a cultural myth that sees the entrepreneur as someone who is first and foremost a “do-gooder” or marketer of helpful products, and it also advocates that librarians adopt a view of the entrepreneur as one who preys on unexploited, low-cost/high-profit opportunities to leverage “other people's money” to build capital for later innovation. The article considers the economics of information literacy and library instruction programs, provides historical context for what has come to be known as the “collaborative imperative,” points to the economic shortsightedness of many collaborative and “embedded librarian” partnerships, and details six examples from information literacy programs that model successful entrepreneurship of the sort argued for.     

Trades,techniques—and a fable

A generation of broadcasters has grown up without a firsthand knowledge of the now‐out‐of‐print FCC “Blue Book.” Mr. Meyer's personal overview of the content and effects of this document will be followed by a future article on “Reaction to the ’Blue Book’.” It is accepted that any one individual's summary of a controversial document will itself be controversial. Richard J. Meyer is Assistant Professor and Director of Educational TV at the University of Wichita, and wrote the MA thesis on which this article is based under the direction of Professor Stanley Donner at Stanford University. He also has worked in broadcasting at stations KZSU, KSAN‐TV and KQED (TV).