In the years following the first commercial radio broadcast in 1920, citizens were never more connected to politics, entertainment, and the community as a whole. The radio brought live music performances into the home, was the first to report election results, and let sports fans capture the action without having to travel with their team.1 The radio made it so that “more people, whatever their circumstances, had access to cultural events than ever before."2 With more Americans listening and becoming more socially aware, people began speculating that the radio would force politicians to become more forth coming and that musicianship would increase in quality as their music reached wider audiences with more discriminating tastes
Radio’s popularity stemmed from the public’s perception of it as
an egalitarian medium, an aspect not many mediums could claim. In the mid 1920’s,
radio was “seen as democratizing some of the advantages previously enjoyed
by the well-to-do, and bringing all the benefits of high culture to the masses."3
It didn’t matter that only the rich could afford the best seats at an
orchestra concert when everyone could be seated right next to the radio in their
own home. And not only were people being treated to the niceties that their
own community provided, but they could tune into what other communities were
broadcasting in distant parts of the country. The radio was bringing Americans
together as never before, so long as everyone owned one.
Radio’s commitment to serving the whole population excited the public.
People were presented with opportunities they never had before, and its potential
to serve seemed limitless. The product of this excitement led the government
to require stations to provide and designate programs whose sole aim was to
provide the public a service. This is a vague requirement that has been interpreted
in a number of ways over the years. Interestingly enough, the medium contributed
most to the realm of public service in those early years before such requirements,
and even the FCC itself, existed.
1 J. Fred MacDonald, Don't Touch That Dial: Radio Programming In American Life, 1920-1960 (Chicago: Nelson-Hall, 1979) 9-12.
2Susan J. Douglas, Inventing American Broadcasting: 1899-1922 (Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1987) 308.
3Douglas 308.