Evening star., 1934-09-23
SILENT SESSIONS
BY YBROADCASTERS
Men Who Operate Stations
Do Not Go on Air in
Convention.
Special Dispatch to The Star.


tion's broadcasting stations and net
works, might have been bored by such
prosaic subjects as codes, trade prac-
tices, copyrights, legislation, regula-
tion and the like. Happily for them,
however, the broadcasters seldom il
ever undertake to broadcast the pro-
ceedings of their own National Asso-
ciation of Broadcasters' convention.
On the other hand they might also
touching their listening habits and
preferences more intimately, such as
proposed wholesale wave length shifts
the alleged censorship Of radio speech
and news by radio. Depending upon
whether they are satisfied or dissatis-
fed with what the American system
of radio now offers, they would have
been treasured or disheartened.
SeIf-Praise Tendency.
This convention, coming in the
midst of one of the most prosperous
eras in - broadcasting as a business
was marked by stock-taking and per-
haps a tendency toward self-praise
Yet always hanging over the heads
of the broadcasters, like a double
edged sword of Democles, are the
threat of frightened regulation by the
Government. and the constant duress
| under which this Federally licensed
industry is placed by those who frank
ly dislike all or some of the forms oi
private operation Of the radio.
With regard to wave length reallo-
cations, which would necessarily en-
tail changes in the dialing habits OF
listeners, they were reassured by the
chairman Of the broadcast division OF
the Federal Communications Commits
sion, Hampson Gary. With regard tc
radio censorship, they were reassureo
by no less parsonage than President
Roosevelt in letter to the convention
AS Tor news by radio, they were ex-
horted by Senator C. c. Dill Of Wash
ington to tear themselves free from
alleged press domination by setting ur
news gathering and distributing or
ganization of their own.
President Roosevelt's letter also
was freely interpreted as giving his
, Endorsement to the American system
Of broadcaSting, supported by Spon-
sored programs, as well as once more
pooh pooling the idea of censorship
| He reminded the broadcasters that
he had asked them a year ago to CO.
operate lin assisting the Government
to present to the people Of the United
States honest discussions of all phases
of national problems We would face
and their solutions" That he Is
satisfied they have done so is mani
tested In the remainder of his mis-
sive, which reads:
Faith in System.
"The cooperation given by youl
members Ia these discussions over the
past IL months has given me great
faith in the American system oi
broadcasting. know, as you must
that the American system of broad
casting is regulatory system anc
its every fundamental principle rele.
gates the thought Of censorship tc
the background of the minds of every
one who really knows and appre-
ciates your policies and daily prob
| lens. The American system of broad
casting assures an equality of free
dom similar to that freedom which
has been and is the keystone of the
American press.
II am not unmindful of another
benefit which radio gives all the peo-
pie and to all classes Of business
That is stimulation of buying power
and its assistance to commerce gen.
orally"
President Roosevelt is known to be
piqued over partisan intimations and
charges that the New Deal, because
its speakers have been SO prominent
on the radio, actually or potentially
stiles criticism of itself on the air
by reason Of the Governments radio
licensing power. That is why his
spokesmen have made so much ado
lately, in print and on the air, about
freedom of speech Commissioner
Gary. his personal Democratic choice
on the new F. c. c., again told the
broadcaSterS that censorship is not
practiced or contemplated. Commits
sioner Thad H. Brown, Republican
member of the F. C. c., echoed his
colleagues sentiments in another
speech before the convention.
Declared Preposterous.
But Commissioner Gary took pains
while calling the censorship idea
"preposterous," to assert that "the
principle of free speech does not in
clude unrestricted license" He de-
clared that certainly it is not CEN
sorship to bar from the wave lengths
the vicious, the indecent, the pro-
fame"
As for wave shifts, Commissioner
Gary promised that the commission
and its engineers will keep pace with
technical progress, but he said that
no immediate upheaval of the broad
cast structure Is imminent and that
changes, if any, will be made grad
ually and not suddenly. Nothing
revolutionary is in view," he said
Naturally, we shall lend every effort
to improve the existing set-up for
the benefit of the public's reception
and for your benefit. But the tech
nical basis must not be disturbed if
it will seriously affect adequate serv-
ice to the listener. The listener
comes first-and especially the re-
mote listener on the farms and in
the villages whose happy existence
is definitely bound up with radio en-
tertainment and education"
Senator Dill urged the broadcast
ers to break loose from the press and
gather and broadcast their own news
He fatty asserted that the recent
press-radio agreement, whereby the
major press associations In combina-
ton furnish two 5-minute news
flashes daily to networks and sta
tions, is a failure. News by radio. he
declared, is demanded by the people
and is a service they have right
to expect. He challenged the theory
of the networks that cooperation
with the press under the present
scheme is preferable to independence
citing the results of his recent ques-
tionnaire, which, he said, were pre-
ponderantly opposed to the present