Evening star., 1948-06-27


Wednesday night. The radio had
become an alert listener to the
doings at Philadelphia. 1t wasn't
missing a word, though there were
some words that were less than
momentous and hardly worth the
great expense to which the broad
casting industry was going to
spread them far and wide. Still
there was the potential of drama
in the Republican convention
broadcasts. There was always the
chance, or so it seemed to the In
nocent listener at home. that some
one might Unexpectedly set the con-
vention on fire.
That no one ever did-that things
Just seemed to drift off downhill
from a dramatic point OF view
was not the fault of radio. The
high point of the evening, dramat-
icalN, came during the nomination
of Senator Baldwin of Connecticut
by Frances Burke Redick. Con-
necticut's secretary of state was
warming to her proud task when her
voice broke under the strain. She
managed, by what seemed like
superhuman effort, to get it going
again and complete her speech in
the loudest stage whisper radio ever
! has broadcast.
In the case of any of the other
candidates-the expected ones-thls
would have been moment OF high
comedy, the traditional tumble OF
dignity. In the case of Senator
Baldwins nomination, it turned out
to be radios most poignant moment
of Wednesday night. Senator Bald
wins chance to be the next Presi-
dent hardly was altered by the fact
that a speakers voice failed her at
critical time, but the radio micro
phones at this moment were gather
ing up for listeners everywhere the
essence of democracy upon which
party conventions are based. With
out reference to any political deals,
group of voters were setting forth
the name of the man they thought
best qualified. That's the way It
sounded in the living room, at any
rate, and it was sad to have the
moment marred.
+ X \
Radio, on the whole. seems to
have done a thorough job of cover
ing the Republican convention. II
it caught the democratic essence, at
times, it also caught the phoniness,
the staged and prearranged quality
of session such as this. Radio was
right there to give you laugh, too,
when a man pounded a gavel and
advised the delegates to assume an
attitude of quietude." Stop the
racket probably is what he meant,
but you can't talk like that from the
platform of a political convention.
BY the very completeness OF its
coverage, and by the nature of this
particular convention, radio showed
up those spontaneous" demonstra-
tions for what they are. Without
plenty of preparation in advance
and a stage manager on the ros-
trum to keep things going, spon-
taneous wave of apathy is likely to
replace the spontaneous" demon
Stration.
The listener at home is likely to
puzzle over these demonstrations
and wonder who is supposed to be
impressed The listener at home
certainly isn't impressed and even
if he were there is nothing he could
do about it. Nor do the demon
strations impress the delegates, who
have forgotten them any how the
next day when they are voting or
meeting in their smoke filled rooms
Maybe the demonstrations are de-
signed to impress the candidates
themselves, to let them know what
good fellows they are and how much
they are admired.
! A tape recording, carefully edited
would make radios reporting of q
political convention more dramatic
and more sensible, all right. But
the full report is both the more
honest and more interesting one.
X X
/ Baseball fans must have been
startled the other day by Ray Nor
gan, who helps Arch Mcdonald with
the play-by play broadcasts. Mr.
Morgan. to the CONSERVATION of any