This updated version of a 1977 manual provides information about the television industry, communications regulations, and citizen recourse to improper broadcasting procedures for use in training Parent Teacher Association (PTA) volunteers to work for effective change within the television industry. The first section discusses the operations of the…

Competition between cable television systems (CATV) and regular broadcast stations concerns pay-TV and distant signal importation. The pay-TV that CATV provides competes with the networks by "siphoning" away sports and feature films, while the distant signals that CATV imports to a local market "fragment" the local audience and…

This paper examines the government's authority to regulate indecent broadcasts, beginning with a historical overview of the Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) involvement with broadcast indecency and its application in case law. First Amendment considerations are discussed and some suggestions are made regarding how the Commission should…

Industry structure studies prior to 1968 are briefly reviewed, and an overview of industrial and technological developments up to the present is provided through synopses of more recent studies. Areas covered include overseas telephone and record carriers; the creation of the Communications Satellite Corporation; the current regulatory and…

A national effort has emerged to foster ownership of broadcasting facilities by members of racial and ethnic minorities. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the courts, the executive branch of government, and members of congress, have all backed the case for more minority ownership in the broadcasting industry. Special interest groups,…

The Department of Defense (DoD) is committed to meeting the need for child care among military families. DoD supports the largest employer-sponsored system of high-quality child care in the country. Through accredited child development centers (CDCs), family child care (FCC) homes, youth centers, and other after-school programs, DoD currently…

In spite of apparent successes, it remains questionable whether communications reform groups have had significant impact on public policy toward broadcasting and its role in American society. Historically, the progressive movement and the rise of government regulatory apparatus underlie the communications reform movement. But the effectiveness of…

The fairness doctrine states that broadcasters must devote a reasonable amount of time covering contrasting views of public issues. The debate over abolition of the doctrine has largely ignored the possibility that public broadcast stations licensed to government entities may be subject to political and constitutional pressures that would warrant…

Suggesting that the transition from a paper system of news distribution to an electronic one moves the press from a relatively regulation-free environment to one encumbered with broadcast and common carrier regulation, this paper reviews communication law as it applies to the electronic publisher and considers whether this form of publishing might…

The rationale for broadcast regulation has undergone some changes over the years. At first, the rationale for such regulation was based on the concept that the airwaves are owned by the public and that the regulatory bodies act as agents for the public in controlling what is transmitted. In 1943, the United States Supreme Court built a rationale…

This report surveys the basic research on how children understand and respond to television advertising messages in order to determine whether regulation is necessary. The implications of the research findings for likely marketplace developments in an unregulated environment are discussed, and it is concluded that there is no sound basis to expect…

A compelling argument can be made for the "public forum doctrine," which states that public broadcasting stations licensed to government bodies have a greater obligation than commercial stations under the First Amendment to transcend political and personal biases in making programing decisions. It is also equally important that…