On 19 May 2005 03:13:03 GMT, Korbin Dallas
wrote:

I wish you were running the FCC, stations these days simply don't do
any public service. Running recorded Public service programs at 4 am on a
Sunday morning won't cut it in my book.

If they ran them at 6pm would you listen to them?

Rich

"Rich Wood" wrote in message
...
| On 19 May 2005 03:13:03 GMT, Korbin Dallas
| wrote:

| I wish you were running the FCC, stations these days simply don't do
| any public service. Running recorded Public service programs at 4 am on
a
| Sunday morning won't cut it in my book.

| If they ran them at 6pm would you listen to them?

If they actually had some meaning to my life, yes. But you and I both know
that, as these programs aren't exactly profit-centers, they get some pretty
scant funding which limits the ability for them to actually attain
relevancy.

Good to hear from you, Rich!
--
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Men born to freedom are naturally alert to repel invasion of their liberty
by evil-minded rulers. The greatest dangers to liberty lurk in insidious
encroachment by men of zeal, well-meaning but without understanding." --
Justice Brandeis
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For direct replies, take out the contents between the hyphens. -Really!-

On 2005-05-19 said:
I wish you were running the FCC, stations these days simply don't
do any public service. Running recorded Public service programs
at 4 am on a Sunday morning won't cut it in my book.
If they ran them at 6pm would you listen to them?
IF they were well presented I probably would. Usually our NPR
affiliate here has switched back to music from news. THese days for
lack of anything better on the dial I spin the dial one notch up the
band and tune in wwoz here in NEw Orleans if I'm traveling to work or
about the city. AT home I only listen to npr news when I get up in
the mornings and occasionally wwoz. OTherwise I'm listening to
whatever audio is relevant to the project I'm producing or my own
music collection which is far more varied than anything I can get on
commercial radio.
HOwever I can say that for the most part well presented public service
programming at 6:00 P.M. would be something I'd make an effort to tune
in.

I'm like the poster you quoted. People such as Mr. DOrsey would do a
much better job of running an agency such as the FCC. True public
service would be more than just something that had to receive some lip
service to keep one's broadcasting license.



Richard Webb

Electric Spider Productions
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
--- Benjamin Franklin, NOvember 1755 from the
Historical review of Pennsylvania
Replace 0junk4me with elspider for real email

Amazing how much tape is on a 10" reel, when it's not, isn't it?

On Thu, 19 May 2005 16:25:47 +0000, Rich Wood wrote:

On 19 May 2005 03:13:03 GMT, Korbin Dallas
wrote:

I wish you were running the FCC, stations these days simply don't do
any public service. Running recorded Public service programs at 4 am on a
Sunday morning won't cut it in my book.

If they ran them at 6pm would you listen to them?

Rich

No, I did not run those lousy programs. Public service should be part of
what the station does every day. The typical Public service programs
hidden away on Sunday morning do the public no good. The station might
was well be playing music.


--
Korbin Dallas
The name was changed to protect the guilty.

Public service should be part of
what the station does every day. The typical Public service programs
hidden away on Sunday morning do the public no good.


Remember when top 40 stations had talented and clever news people who
actually crafted listenable newscasts? They were fun on slow news days and
credible when the public need arose. Public service was also part of the
format-- not a block of shows hidden on the schedule.

Fred Cantu
Austin, TX

On 24 May 2005 07:20:50 GMT, "fredtv" wrote:


Remember when top 40 stations had talented and clever news people who
actually crafted listenable newscasts? They were fun on slow news days and
credible when the public need arose. Public service was also part of the
format-- not a block of shows hidden on the schedule.

Fred Cantu
Austin, TX


In the Tampa area, during the 50's, 60's and70's.. News was frequently an
afterthought. Rip and Read was the norm. (And most of the news budget went
for the TTY, telco, and service, rather than the humans doing the actual
reading. A -few- stations had a real news team, but it -all- depended on how
profitable they were. As profitability suffered, news was the first to go.

Public Service? The stations that were on 24x7 simply put their "What's
happening in the schools" programs on at 3 am. They put on transcriptions
supplied by the government ("Forests today!", "Army Recruiting" and so on) and
occasionally programs provided by the teacher's unions. Did they ever identify
the propaganda pieces as such, or the suppliers of them? No..

They were -boring- and total wastes of time. How much did they put into
those shows? Nothing. No budget.. Just get a talking head to come into the
station one afternoon and have them talk about how great things were. Get the
Sheriff's spokesman? Good. Get the head of the school board. More boredom.

At the TV stations, the "public service" was aired either late at night, or
early on Sunday mornings. Again, the budget for those shows was very
limited... Get a news guy to sit in one chair on a empty set in the studio,
and some local politician to sit in the other set... Have 2 cameras with
static shots of the two folk, and let the tape spool. No one listened to them
at 5 am on Sundays.

The only exception to that was when the news director did a "Sky is falling"
show about energy that aired in prime time. "We will be totally out of oil by
1995!" (this was in 82 or there abouts.. ) - At the rate we are going, by
1995, there won't be any cars moving. We have to buy econoboxes that get 50
mpg if we want anything available to make plastic with." "We have to have mass
transit that runs on something other than oil so that our economy can
survive." .... Like the Tampa Bay tourist economy would survive on coal
burning airplanes carrying tourists into town?

Well, Joe is long dead.. The folk he interviewed from the Sierra Club are long
dead. (They were in their 70's then).. and the show got NO ratings at all.
But -THAT- was the limit of "public service" on the air in the 70's and 80's..

"fredtv" wrote in message
...
Public service should be part of
what the station does every day. The typical Public service programs
hidden away on Sunday morning do the public no good.


Remember when top 40 stations had talented and clever news people who
actually crafted listenable newscasts? They were fun on slow news days
and
credible when the public need arose. Public service was also part of the
format-- not a block of shows hidden on the schedule.


Yes, I remember that from the 50's and 60's. Every time one of the newscasts
came on, I would go to the other local Top 40 station until the news came on
on that station, when I would go back. All my friends did the same thing.

Fortunately, the US realized what places like Mexico had known all along:
the market will provide amply for news needs and specialized news and
information stations will be created naturally. Mexico has, in general, more
and better news and information stations than the US does, and none was ever
forced to do news and information programming.

I used to travel a lot - fortunately no longer do so - but would listen to a
news report of a current event on a given subject in Japan - then next day hear
the US version on that same subject - then next day hear the BBC or European
view - was very hard to tell we were talking about the same event - the skew was
extreme from each source concerning that same event - what was true? well - not
sure - and current extrapolation to today approach concerning US HomeLand
Security news etc etc etc in US news compared to the rest of the world view of
news - well - guess I will be investigated as a non US patriot for this post -
whatever

likable PC correct news is one thing - reality (whatever that is) is another - I
would prefer reality or at least objective facts minus the politics and skew of
political agendas

Do you have a windmill I can tilt at????? Low rates - guaranteed success -
dragons extra!

David Eduardo wrote:

"fredtv" wrote in message
...
Public service should be part of
what the station does every day. The typical Public service programs
hidden away on Sunday morning do the public no good.


Remember when top 40 stations had talented and clever news people who
actually crafted listenable newscasts? They were fun on slow news days
and
credible when the public need arose. Public service was also part of the
format-- not a block of shows hidden on the schedule.


Yes, I remember that from the 50's and 60's. Every time one of the newscasts
came on, I would go to the other local Top 40 station until the news came on
on that station, when I would go back. All my friends did the same thing.

Fortunately, the US realized what places like Mexico had known all along:
the market will provide amply for news needs and specialized news and
information stations will be created naturally. Mexico has, in general, more
and better news and information stations than the US does, and none was ever
forced to do news and information programming.

Fred-

Doesn't sound like you're speaking of Awstin stations. Having lived here off
and on for 19 years, I can't picture any one here crafting a listenable
newscast. I listen to the 5,000 ounce chimpanzee every morning, and the
newscasts are about on par with a college radio station.

Growing up in the NY market the newscasts on WABC were good and paced well.
But that was a long time ago. When the music died in the early 80's I
stopped listening.

When I played radio in the early 70's the news was a joke. They tried to be
serious, but the main goal in the control room was still to crack the
newsguy.

George Csahanin
Awstin, TX

"fredtv" wrote in message
...
Public service should be part of
what the station does every day. The typical Public service programs
hidden away on Sunday morning do the public no good.


Remember when top 40 stations had talented and clever news people who
actually crafted listenable newscasts? They were fun on slow news days
and
credible when the public need arose. Public service was also part of the
format-- not a block of shows hidden on the schedule.

Fred Cantu
Austin, TX