Heather Hendershot
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226326771
- eISBN:
- 9780226326764
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226326764.003.0005
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter narrates Carl McIntire’s struggle, and eventual defeat, against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In 1973, McIntire faced another great defeat after being removed by the ...
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This chapter narrates Carl McIntire’s struggle, and eventual defeat, against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In 1973, McIntire faced another great defeat after being removed by the American Council of Christian Churches: his long legal battle against the FCC had drawn to a close, and it ruled that his station, WXUR, has lost its license to operate. The Supreme Court had even declined to review the case, and upheld the FCC’s decision. This catastrophic defeat had a massive impact on his devoted followers all over the country. What brought the station down was its defiance of the Fairness Doctrine, since the station programs did not provide an equal opportunity to create rebuttals for the issues that the conservatives faced. For the conservatives, this doctrine served as a symbol of persecution by liberals.Less
This chapter narrates Carl McIntire’s struggle, and eventual defeat, against the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). In 1973, McIntire faced another great defeat after being removed by the American Council of Christian Churches: his long legal battle against the FCC had drawn to a close, and it ruled that his station, WXUR, has lost its license to operate. The Supreme Court had even declined to review the case, and upheld the FCC’s decision. This catastrophic defeat had a massive impact on his devoted followers all over the country. What brought the station down was its defiance of the Fairness Doctrine, since the station programs did not provide an equal opportunity to create rebuttals for the issues that the conservatives faced. For the conservatives, this doctrine served as a symbol of persecution by liberals.
Bryan Hardin Thrift
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780813049311
- eISBN:
- 9780813050133
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813049311.003.0004
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
The Federal Communication Commission required broadcast stations, both radio and TV, to renew their licenses every three years. Before Helms arrived at WRAL, license renewals were routine, but his ...
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The Federal Communication Commission required broadcast stations, both radio and TV, to renew their licenses every three years. Before Helms arrived at WRAL, license renewals were routine, but his editorials and changes at the FCC meant scrutiny of the station’s political activity. The FCC’s Fairness Doctrine required stations to seek out opposing opinions when they editorialized on controversial issues, and the Equal Time rule obliged stations to offer response time to individuals they criticized. Helms’s political intentions at WRAL meant he pushed what the station could get away with to the limit. His use of WRAL to advance the conservative movement meant challenges to license renewals in 1963 and 1966. North Carolina’s moderate Democrats recognized Helms’s intentions. The FCC investigated the station and issued warnings. WRAL adopted new policies, but little changed. Helms chose whose dissent to air and shaped what they could say. In many cases he managed to use the opposition to conservatism’s advantage.Less
The Federal Communication Commission required broadcast stations, both radio and TV, to renew their licenses every three years. Before Helms arrived at WRAL, license renewals were routine, but his editorials and changes at the FCC meant scrutiny of the station’s political activity. The FCC’s Fairness Doctrine required stations to seek out opposing opinions when they editorialized on controversial issues, and the Equal Time rule obliged stations to offer response time to individuals they criticized. Helms’s political intentions at WRAL meant he pushed what the station could get away with to the limit. His use of WRAL to advance the conservative movement meant challenges to license renewals in 1963 and 1966. North Carolina’s moderate Democrats recognized Helms’s intentions. The FCC investigated the station and issued warnings. WRAL adopted new policies, but little changed. Helms chose whose dissent to air and shaped what they could say. In many cases he managed to use the opposition to conservatism’s advantage.
Bryan Hardin Thrift
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- May 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780813049311
- eISBN:
- 9780813050133
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University Press of Florida
- DOI:
- 10.5744/florida/9780813049311.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
This book investigates Jesse Helms’s pivotal role in advancing the conservative movement of the 1950s and 1960s, first as editor of the Tarheel Banker and then as vice president of WRAL television. ...
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This book investigates Jesse Helms’s pivotal role in advancing the conservative movement of the 1950s and 1960s, first as editor of the Tarheel Banker and then as vice president of WRAL television. Before his 1972 election to the Senate, Helms was a significant figure in U.S. political history for two reasons. First, he forged a new form of southern conservatism that made it possible for movement conservatives, grounded in the South and the Republican Party, to win power. He rooted conservatism in private enterprise as the vanguard of a modern, progressive society—one that could simultaneously provide prosperity and maintain traditional values. Avoiding discussions of “race mixing,” Helms made white supremacy “safe” for conservative campaigning. Second, Helms pioneered the attack on the “liberal media” and, critically, the building of conservative media. During Helms’s time as vice president of WRAL-TV in Raleigh, his commentaries and news department undermined Democrats, advanced conservatism, and challenged the forces advocating change. WRAL helped him become something new—a conservative TV personality. Helms intended to use WRAL’s influence to elect conservatives. His commentaries anticipated Fox News’s barely disguised conservative advocacy. Risking WRAL’s broadcast license, he defied the Federal Communication Commission’s Fairness Doctrine on behalf of the conservative movement. His work at WRAL-TV helped channel the 1960s anti-liberal backlash in North Carolina into a powerful voter coalition supporting conservative Republicans. In 1972 Helms left WRAL to run for Senate. As senator, Helms advocated an unbending conservatism that recognized no moderates and preferred stalemate to governing.Less
This book investigates Jesse Helms’s pivotal role in advancing the conservative movement of the 1950s and 1960s, first as editor of the Tarheel Banker and then as vice president of WRAL television. Before his 1972 election to the Senate, Helms was a significant figure in U.S. political history for two reasons. First, he forged a new form of southern conservatism that made it possible for movement conservatives, grounded in the South and the Republican Party, to win power. He rooted conservatism in private enterprise as the vanguard of a modern, progressive society—one that could simultaneously provide prosperity and maintain traditional values. Avoiding discussions of “race mixing,” Helms made white supremacy “safe” for conservative campaigning. Second, Helms pioneered the attack on the “liberal media” and, critically, the building of conservative media. During Helms’s time as vice president of WRAL-TV in Raleigh, his commentaries and news department undermined Democrats, advanced conservatism, and challenged the forces advocating change. WRAL helped him become something new—a conservative TV personality. Helms intended to use WRAL’s influence to elect conservatives. His commentaries anticipated Fox News’s barely disguised conservative advocacy. Risking WRAL’s broadcast license, he defied the Federal Communication Commission’s Fairness Doctrine on behalf of the conservative movement. His work at WRAL-TV helped channel the 1960s anti-liberal backlash in North Carolina into a powerful voter coalition supporting conservative Republicans. In 1972 Helms left WRAL to run for Senate. As senator, Helms advocated an unbending conservatism that recognized no moderates and preferred stalemate to governing.
Heather Hendershot
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226326771
- eISBN:
- 9780226326764
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226326764.003.0004
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter focuses on Carl McIntire who is an outspoken Nixon hater that saw the president’s rapprochement with China as nothing more than high treason. McIntire used his radio station, WXUR, his ...
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This chapter focuses on Carl McIntire who is an outspoken Nixon hater that saw the president’s rapprochement with China as nothing more than high treason. McIntire used his radio station, WXUR, his weekly newspaper, the Christian Beacon, and his nationally broadcast program, the Twentieth Century Reformation Hour, to attack his wide-assortment of enemies: the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, the AFL-CIO, the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches, the Pope, Billy Graham, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). McIntire hated the FCC the most as the government commission succeeded in dismantling his radio station in 1973, using the Fairness Doctrine as a basis. Historians and religious scholars have generally viewed McIntire as a distasteful icon of the old-fashioned fundamentalism, and media scholars ignored him entirely.Less
This chapter focuses on Carl McIntire who is an outspoken Nixon hater that saw the president’s rapprochement with China as nothing more than high treason. McIntire used his radio station, WXUR, his weekly newspaper, the Christian Beacon, and his nationally broadcast program, the Twentieth Century Reformation Hour, to attack his wide-assortment of enemies: the NAACP, the Anti-Defamation League, the AFL-CIO, the National Council of Churches, the World Council of Churches, the Pope, Billy Graham, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). McIntire hated the FCC the most as the government commission succeeded in dismantling his radio station in 1973, using the Fairness Doctrine as a basis. Historians and religious scholars have generally viewed McIntire as a distasteful icon of the old-fashioned fundamentalism, and media scholars ignored him entirely.
Marcel Chotkowski Lafollette
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226921990
- eISBN:
- 9780226922010
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226922010.003.0010
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This chapter, which examines the history of the conflict between news and science television broadcasting in the United States, discusses the role of television news in reframing science's public ...
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This chapter, which examines the history of the conflict between news and science television broadcasting in the United States, discusses the role of television news in reframing science's public image and cites a survey result which reveals an increase in mass media coverage of science, technology, and personal health stories. It explains that communication about risks identified by or related to scientific research posed special challenges for television, particularly with the passage of the Fairness Doctrine. The chapter also considers the link between declining enrollments in science courses and the state of science on television.Less
This chapter, which examines the history of the conflict between news and science television broadcasting in the United States, discusses the role of television news in reframing science's public image and cites a survey result which reveals an increase in mass media coverage of science, technology, and personal health stories. It explains that communication about risks identified by or related to scientific research posed special challenges for television, particularly with the passage of the Fairness Doctrine. The chapter also considers the link between declining enrollments in science courses and the state of science on television.
