Radio and Television and Ethical Standards
| DOI | 10.1177/000271625228000116 |
| Published date | 01 March 1952 |
| Date | 01 March 1952 |
| Author | Frederick C. Gruber |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
116
Radio
and
Television
and
Ethical
Standards
By
FREDERICK
C.
GRUBER
S INCE
the
Radio
Act
of
1912
the
Federal
Government
through
its
various
agencies
has
been
attempting,
within
the
framework
of
the
American
economic
system,
to
regulate
the
radio
industry
so
that
the
air
waves
are
used
for
the
public
good.
Such
regulations
are
predicated
on
the
proposition
that
the
air
waves
belong
to
the
people,
that
their
number
is
limited
by
the
nature
of
the radio
spectrum
itself,
and
that
the
use
of
these
air
waves
by
an
indi-
vidual
or
group
for
commercial
broad-
casting
should
be
looked
upon
as
a
pub-
lic
trust
and
should be
continued
only
as
long
as
the
daily
schedule
of
broad-
casts
can
show
that
the
welfare
of
the
general
public
is
being
served.
The
Radio
Act
of
1912
merely
denied
the
right
of
any
person
to
operate
a
radio
station
without
a
license
from
the
Sec-
retary
of
Commerce.
The
tremendous
increase
in
the
num-
ber
of
radio
stations,
the
overlapping
of
radio
signals,
and
adverse
court
deci-
sions
denying
the
Secretary
of
Com-
merce
the
right
to
assign
frequencies,
to
regulate
hours
of
broadcasting,
to
re-
strict
the
number
of
licenses
issued,
or
even
to
prevent
one
station
from
using
a
frequency
assigned
to
another
station
caused
such
confusion
that
in
1926
President
Coolidge
appealed
to
Congress
to
enact
a
comprehensive
radio
law.
The
Radio
Act
of
1927
7
... proclaimed
that
the
air
waves
be-
longed
to
the
people
of
the
United
States
and
were
to
be
used
by
individuals
only
with
the
authority
of
short-term
licenses
granted
by
the
government
when
the
&dquo;pub-
lic
interest,
convenience,
or
necessity&dquo;
would
be
served
thereby.
A
temporary
Federal
Radio
Commission
was
created
to
administer
the law.
Advertising
abuses
also
engaged
the
at-
tention
of
the
new
Commission
which
stated
as
its
policy
that:
&dquo;Advertising
must
be
accepted
for
the
present
as
the
sole
means
of
support
for
broadcasting
and
regulation
must
be
relied
upon
to
prevent
the
abuse
and
over-use
of
the
privilege.&dquo;
The
Commission
decided
not
to
renew
the
license
of
one
station
in
1928
because
a
large
part
of
its
program
service
&dquo;was
distinctly
commercial
in
character
consist-
ing
of
adve,rtisers’
announcements
and
di-
rect
advertising,
including
the
quoting
of
prices.&dquo;
&dquo;
Despite
the
Commission’s
moves
to
con-
trol
advertising,
and
the
efforts
of
respon-
sible
broadcasting
leaders
to
eliminate
abuses,
public
reaction
against
overcom-
mercialization
of
the
air
was
apparently
so
great
that
in
1932
the
United
States
Senate
passed
a
formal
resolution
calling
for
a
survey
to
be
made
of
plans
that
&dquo;might
be
adopted
to
reduce,
to
limit,
to
control,
and
perhaps,
to
eliminate
the
use
of
radio
facilities
for
commercial
advertising
pur-
poses.&dquo;
In
1934,
after
reviewing
seven
years
of
federal
radio
regulation,
Congress
was
ready
to
write
a
permanent
law
embodying
the
&dquo;public
interest,
convenience,
or
neces-
sity&dquo;
approach
which
has
been
tried
and
found
successful.
The
Communications
Act
of
1934
created
the
Federal
Com-
munications
Commission
with
substantially
the
same
powers
and
responsibilities
as
the
earlier
Radio.
Commission
except
that
it
was
given
jurisdiction
over
wire
communi-
cation
too.
The
1934
statute
with
certain
amendments
remains
on
the
books
as
the
governing
law
of
modern
broadcasting.,-
1
Giraud
Chester
and
Garnet
R.
Garrison,
Radio
and
Television
(New
York:
Appleton,
Century,
Crofts,
Inc.,
1950),
pp.
29,
30,
31.
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