Broadcasting Oct 31 - American Radio History

eporting of the invasion of Grenada where,
with the absence of pictures, the unfolding
of the crisis became more of an audio news
event. Radio did its job through actualities of
monitored ham radio operator conversations
with medical students trapped on the island.
ABC Radio said its first report, for its six
networks, on the Beirut bombing was filed
by Mike Allen, in New York, at 1:07 a.m.
NYT, quoting a Reuters wire story that an
explosion had taken place near the U.S. Ma-
rine compound at the Beirut airport. ABC
fed its first live report from Beirut by corre-
spondent Al Dale at 2:35 a.m.
CBS Radio went on the air at 1:53 a.m.
with a Net Alert headline report by anchor
Paul Lockwood that "more than 20 Marines
were killed in Beirut blast." At 4:30 a.m.,
CBS aired a one -minute special report from
the Pentagon with correspondent Bill Lynch
and 17 minutes later, affiliates received their
first live report from the scene by correspon-
dent Larry Pintak.
NBC Radio's first report on the bombing
occurred during its 2 a.m. newscast an-
chored by George Burgeson, with reporter
Chris Drake feeding the first live report from
Beirut during the 3 a.m. newscasts. Special
three- minute hourly reports were fed
throughout the day beginning at 5:20 a.m.
According to NBC, a shared telephone line
with the BBC was used to feed reports to
London where they were sent via satellite to
New York. The line was kept open all week.
Mutual Broadcasting's overnight news
staff was first alerted to the incident at 1:45
a.m., when Beirut Radio was quoted as say-
ing that two car bombs had gone off near
French and American troops. A news bulle-
tin was aired over the entire network at 2:22
a.m.
Correspondent John Winters broke the
story over the RKO Radio Networks (RKO I
and II) with a bulletin at 2 a.m., which was
immediately followed by on- the -scene re-
ports from RKO correspondent Susan Hack.
'Iivo days after the Beirut crisis, radio net-
works had to spring into action again when
word came that U.S. military troops were
invading the island of Grenada. Initial infor-
mation, for the most part, came from ham
radio operators around the country.
ABC Radio aired an almost -on- the -scene
report from correspondent Mark Potter on
Barbados -100 miles from Grenada -who
reported that an airport on the island had
been seized and that U.S. troops were prob-
ably involved. Correspondent Kate Doordan
anchored a special report on Grenada at 8:13
a.m., with hourly special reports airing all
day Sunday from 8:50 a.m. to 8:50 p.m. and
Monday through Thursday from 5:50 a.m.
to 9:50 p.m.
Affiliates of the NBC Radio Network re-
ceived the first report during their 7 a.m.
newscast, anchored by Alan Walden, with
the first report from Barbados by correspon-
dent Dennis Murphy during the 8 a.m.
newscast. Three- minute hourly reports on
the invasion began airing at 10:20 a.m. and
ran into the night.
Mutual also came on the air with the story
during its 7 a.m. newscast, quoting Radio
Free Grenada that foreign troops had landed
on the island. From 10:06 a.m. until 8:06
TOP OF THE MEEK 1
p.m., the network aired special hourly up-
dated reports that lasted anywhere from five
to 15 minutes in length.
RKO Radio Networks' first news bulletin
was aired by correspondent Gil Gross at 6:50
a.m., with a live report from Barbados filed
by Frank Pardue.
ABC, CBS and NBC all aired excerpts of
tape recordings from returning medical stu-
dents during morning newscasts last Thurs-
day (Oct. 27). The recordings were made by
some students who described what was tak-
ing place in the school during the initial
More debate debate
phase of the invasion on Tuesday morning.
By Thursday night, the three networks also
had reports from Grenada as well.
The Grenada invasion also sparked some
interesting reports on the local level, with
stations making use of updates from area
ham radio operators who were monitoring
transmissions from medical students on the
island.
At all -news wroP(AM) Washington, Joe
Connolly, assistant director of news and pro-
graming, said a telephone line was kept open
for seven hours last Tuesday between the
With the FCC preparing to act on Nov 8 on a proposal to permit broadcasters to
sponsor debates among political candidates, the League of Women haters last week
called a news conference to focus public attention on the issue -and to make its
case for maintaining the status quo, under which sponsorship of presidential de-
bates, at least, is a league monopoly. League President Dorothy Ridings said the
league is concerned that the heavy attention being paid other matters before the
commission -notably the proposal to repeal the financial interest and syndication
rules -has diverted interest from the question of whether the broadcasters -that is,
the networks -should sponsor as well as cover candidate debates without being
subject to the equal time requirements of the Communications Act.
"This issue has not gotten the attention it deserves," Ridings said, in talking with
reporters at league headquarters, in Washington. "Other issues have diverted atten-
tion. But the question goes beyond regulatory bodies and Washington. A clear
public interest is served by league sponsorship. The public wants to know, but they
have not been told."
The league is swimming upstream on the issue. The commission staff is under-
stood to have prepared an item providing a legal rationale for holding that broadcast-
ers may sponsor political debates, and recommending that the commission adopt a
policy statement authorizing such sponsorship.
Under the commissions interpretation of the equal time rule adopted in 1975 -the
so- called Aspen rule- broadcasters are free to cover debates without subjecting
themselves to equal -time demands from all other candidates, provided sponsorship
is by a third party. In 1976 and 1980, the league filled that role in the presidential
primary and general election campaigns, and it is planning to fill it again in 1984. It
has already announced plans for four debates among Democratic candidates dur-
ing the primary season, and Ridings said all seven announced candidates have
accepted invitations to appear in the first two, in New Hampshire (at a site and date
still to be set) and in Atlanta, on March 11. She also said the league intends to hold
four presidential debates during the general election.
But, she said, the league faces a "challenge from the networks." ABC, CBS and
NBC have made clear, in testimony before a Senate subcommittee, their interest in
presenting as well as sponsoring presidential debates, if the commission, acting on
a number of petitions, amends the Aspen Rule to permit it (BROADCASTING, Oct. 3).
Ridings has been arguing the league's case -that sponsorship of debates and the
decision to broadcast them should be separate functions -in meetings with commis-
sioners and commission staff, as she did in the same Senate hearing at which
network officials testified, and as she did in her meeting with reporters last week. She
said the "potential for bias" for or against candidates would exist in the broadcast of
debates by those who arrange them. "The scope and power" of broadcasters in
election coverage would be expanded, she said. And she warned that networks
would be faced with a "conflict of interest" between journalistic responsibilities and a
need to provide the kind of program designed to attract audience. "The present
system works well," she said. "Why change it ?"
The commission staff, however, feels the league is not raising legal arguments and
that its principal concern, simply, is losing the influence it wields as sponsor of
presidential debates. "The FCC must start from the point of determining how may the
public get the most information from debates and then what is possible under the
equal -time rule," one official said. The staff's conclusion, after considering those
points, was that the public would benefit from broadcaster sponsorship of debates -
and that the equal time rule does not pose a legal obstacle to such sponsorship.
A commission decision adopting that recommendation would not necessarily end
the matter. Ridings, asked at the news conference what the league would do in the
event the commission ruled in favor of the broadcasters, said it had at least two
options -an appeal to the courts and an effort to obtain relief from Congress.
Broadcasting Oct 31 1983
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