I grew up in Chicago and was touched by some of the earliest things that "Educational TV" was involved in. Chicago is the home of wttw a pioneer in the whole evolution of this media. Controversy has been there since the beginning. Here's a bit of history:
A New Channel
In 1952, the Federal Communications Commission lifted a freeze on the number of television channels on the broadcast spectrum. Many of the new channels would be reserved for educational purposes and Inland Steel chairman Edward Ryerson, imagining the impact such a station could have on Chicago, made it his mission to make sure that Chicago had its own non-commercial television channel. "The plan to acquire the license from the FCC for the use of Channel 11 is an opportunity that offers unknown and unlimited advantages for every citizen in this area," Ryerson said in 1953. This would be the viewer's station and programming would help to "make each day brighter." But, first things first, Chicago's Window To The World had to make it to air.
The Chicago Educational Television Association was formed by Ryerson and other civic leaders to lobby for, create, and fund Chicago's educational station. A public television station was born.
Using offices and a temporary studio in Chicago's Banker's Building, a staff of writers-directors was hired and trained for work in television. Report to the Teachers, WTTW11's first program, was broadcast September 6, 1955. In short order, under the leadership of Dr. John Taylor, former University of Louisville president and deputy director-general of UNESCO, WTTW's staff of 54 would regularly schedule 40 programs a week, Monday through Friday. They would also find a permanent home as a "working exhibit" in studios located in the east wing of the Museum of Science and Industry.
My part time job while in college at the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago was as a lecturer/demonstrator for all of the technical exhibits in the museum (1955-1957). One of the exhibits we received during that period was the
Atoms for peace exhibit. This gives some insight into the bizzarre context of those times (from a book on cold war propaganda):
The latter half of the book is a tighter examination of major thematic campaigns carried on by U.S. propagandists. Osgood analyzes efforts to sell the "Atoms for Peace" program and later stances on nuclear testing and disarmament. The author leans heavily on Atoms for Peace to prove his broader claim that many démarches under Ike's leadership were less substantive efforts to advance global peace than a "political warfare tactic" (p. 155). In marketing terms at least it seems to have succeeded: a traveling Atoms for Peace exhibit lured 100,000 to 200,000 visitors in each of such places as Frankfurt, Kyoto, and Buenos Aires. Osgood concedes that some of this enthusiasm "arose naturally" (p. 177) but remains convinced that the whole project was a highly manipulative PR ploy to domesticate the atom and keep the unthinkable thinkable.
The man who would teach us the "script" for the exhibit was
Dan Q. Posin
He was an instructor in Berkeley's physics department for two years and taught in Panama and at Montana State University before becoming president of the National Academy of Sciences in 1943. From 1944 to 1946, he worked at the Radiation and Research Laboratory of Electronics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
In 1946 he became chairman of the department of physics at North Dakota State College in Fargo, North Dakota, and took a second job as the area's first television weather forecaster, developing his animated on-screen persona. Dr. Posin also had a serious side. He was disturbed by the use of the atomic bomb during World War II and shared Einstein's belief that the fate of Earth would depend upon "decisions made in the village square." So, Dr. Posin began giving more than 3,000 lectures on peace to farmers, business leaders, parent-teacher organizations, Kiwanis Clubs and other groups throughout the United States and the United Kingdom.
In 1955 Dr. Posin and three other North Dakota State professors were fired in an incident he would later attribute in part to McCarthyism.
Dr. Posin took a position a year later teaching physics at DePaul University. He became a consultant to the Museum of Science and Industry and wrote a science column for the Tribune Magazine.
He won six Emmys for his educational series broadcast by WGN and WTTW, including Dr. Posin's Universe, On the Shoulders of Giants and Out of This World. He served as an on-air consultant for WGN during the 1960s space race.
As you might guess this had a big influence on me. After serving my time as a USMC officer I almost accepted the AEC scholarship to study to become a nuclear engineer. The station was the home of
A Series of Firsts
Blending information and entertainment programming, WTTW's low-budget, offbeat offerings quickly escalated in number. On its first anniversary, it was reported that WTTW had doubled its program output, telecasting 43 hours a week. Most importantly during its brief history, the station had scored several television firsts for Chicago and the nation. This new educational outlet had broadcast the first remote from Orchestra Hall, the first language course, and the first series on income tax preparation, which climaxed with a two-hour SPEC-TAX-ULAR special.
Working in conjunction with Chicago's Board of Education in 1956, WTTW became the first station in the country to televise college courses for credit via its TV College. Chicago-area students were now able to enroll at one of the participating junior colleges and attend classes at home in front of their television sets.
Read on below the break to see where this went.
From the Museum of Broadcast Communications:
Broadcasting in the United States evolved as a commercial entity. Within this system efforts to use the medium for educational purposes always struggled to survive, nearly overwhelmed by the flood of entertainment programming designed to attract audiences to the commercials that educated them in another way--to become active consumers. Despite its clear potential and the aspirations of pioneer broadcasters, educational television has never realized its fullest potential as an instructional medium. Educational Television (ETV) in the United States refers primarily to programs which emphasize formal, classroom instruction and enrichment programming. In 1967, educational television was officially renamed "public television" and was to reflect new mandates of quality and diversity as specified by the Public Broadcasting Act. Public television incorporated "formal" (classroom) and "informal" (cultural, children's, lifelong learning) instructional programming into a collective alternative to commercial television. Despite commercial dominance, however, educational initiatives in American television continue to change with the introduction of new telecommunications technology. Cable and new media challenge and enhance the traditional definition of educational television in the United States.
Interest in educational television was expressed early. Educators envisioned television's potential as an instructional tool and sought recognition by Congress. The short-lived Hatfield-Wagner amendment proposed to reserve one-fourth of the broadcast spectrum for educational stations. But the Communications Act of 1934 became law without this specification, although the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) promised to conduct further inquiry into ETV.
The immediate post-war years created a deluge of requests for broadcast licenses. So overwhelmed, the FCC initiated a "television freeze" in 1948 (forbidding the issuance of new licenses) in order to re-organize the current system and to study the ultra-high frequency band (UHF). The period of the "TV Freeze" was an ideal opportunity to resurrect the debate over allotment of spectrum space for educational channels.
FCC commissioner Freida Hennock lead the crusade. She understood that this would be the only opportunity to reserve spectrum space for educational television. When educators would be financially and technically prepared for television experiments, spectrum space might be unavailable. Hennock raised the consciousness of educators and citizens alike, and convinced some of them to form the first ad-hoc Joint Committee for Educational Television (JCET). Financial assistance from the Ford Foundation provided legal expertise, and enabled the JCET to successfully persuade the FCC to reserve channel space for noncommercial educational television stations. In 1953 the FCC allotted 242 channels for education. KUHT in Houston, Texas was the first noncommercial television licensee.
Although this was a major victory, the development of educational television was a slow process. The majority of educators did not have the financial or technical capabilities to operate a television station. Commercial broadcasters recognized their dilemma as a lucrative opportunity.
Commercial broadcasters lobbied against the reservation of channels for education. Although they claimed they were not opposed to ETV as a programming alternative, they were opposed to the "waste" of unused spectrum space by licensees who were financially unable to fill broadcasting time. Persuaded in part by the argument for economic efficiency, the FCC permitted the sale of numerous ETV stations to commercial broadcasters. Many universities, unable to realize their goals as educational broadcasters, profited instead from the from the sale of their unused frequencies to commercial counterparts.
From its inception, then, ETV was continually plagued with financial problems. As a noncommercial enterprise, ETV needed to rely on outside sources for funding. Federal funding created the potential for programming biases and the private foundations, such as the Ford Foundation, would not be able to sustain the growing weight of ETV forever. The 1962 Educational Television Facilities Act provided temporary relief. Thirty-two million federal dollars were granted for the creation of ETV stations only. Programming resources were still essential, however.
Eventually it evolved into Public Broadcasting and
The evolution of ETV into "public television" forever changed the institution. The ETV curriculum of formal instruction was too narrow to entice sweeping federal recognition. As a result, ETV was endowed with a new name and a new image. The mandate of public television was diversity in programming and audience. Public television promised to educate the nation through formal instruction and enrichment programming emphasizing culture, arts, science, and public affairs. In addition, it would provide programming for "underserved" audiences (those ignored by commercial broadcasters) such as minorities and children. Ultimately, public television promised to be the democratization of the medium. Sadly, however, these public service imperatives could never flourish as originally intended in a historically commercial system.
Educational television provides programming which emphasizes formal instruction for children and adults. Literacy, mathematics, science, geography, foreign language and high school equivalency are a few examples of ETV's offerings. The most successful ETV initiatives in the United States are public television's children's programs. Staples such as Sesame Street, 3-2-1 Contact, Mister Rogers Neighborhood and The Reading Rainbow teach children academic fundamentals as well as social skills.
Higher education initiatives in television, "distance learning," boasts an impressive but modest history. Distance learning programs, while significantly more intensive abroad, have been integral to realizing the American ETV "vision." Nontraditional instruction via "telecourse" is an alternative learning experience for adults who cannot, or do not choose, to attend a university.
I wont go further. You get the gist. We are seeing today the evolution of an ongoing struggle between those who believe an educated public is essential for democracy and those who believe that everything has to make money for someone, preferably them.