Early Experiments in School Television Production by ERIC BARNOUW (2003)

Early Experiments in School Television Production
by ERIC BARNOUW

In his foreword to The Children of Telstar, the noted TV historian
recounts overlooking a revolution in his own backyard.....

The postwar decades, when television was on the rise and bringing
dislocation and mini-revolutions to many aspects of American life,
were a painful time for school systems. Administrators and teachers,
sensing erosion of their traditional status - and of their influence
over students - groped for ways to cope with the monster. As one
observer put it: "Television is like a strange animal that has come to
live with us. We cannot domesticate it; it domesticates us."

Attempts to hold the creature at bay used various strategies,
including indictment - which tended to follow earlier indictments of
film, comic books, and radio (in regard to violence, sex, and the
debasement of cultural values). The attacks could, once again, cite
impressive documentation in the form of scholarly studies and
government reports on crime and delinquency. But these had little
control over children's television viewing, especially after the
multiple-set home became standard.

Others began to put hope in "media literacy." If viewers were aware of
the complex assembly lines of television — the influence of investors,
advertisers, distributors, pressure groups, regulators — would this
not make for more sophisticated viewers, less likely to succumb to
slick appeals and simplistic drama? No doubt — but how does one arrive
at such sophistication?

In the following pages Kate Moody describes an unusual project that
for two decades galvanized the school system of Mamaroneck, New York,
and attracted attention from educators in many states. Many educators
today find her account fascinating, informative, and relevant.

In an interesting visual irony, a student stands on textbooks (!) to
focus his video camera in the first TV studio constructed in an
elementary school in the US – Murray Avenue Elementary, Larchmont,
NY.The project was not without its critics. My wife and I were at the
time Mamaroneck residents; our children had gone through its schools.
We were aware that things were stirring in the school system and that
not everyone approved. We heard that a group of enthusiasts had
persuaded the school administration to allot space for a television
studio and persuaded others to donate television cameras, control room
equipment, and then monitors for every classroom. We heard of students
busily involved in set building, special effects, announcing, and
various performing specialties. Some students, it was said, liked
nothing better than pushing video cameras around the studio, stalking
the action. Was this what was needed-more amateur theatricals,
diverting time, attention, and funds from educational basics? Were
Mamaroneck schools actually embracing the monster? We heard before
long that a day at Mamaroneck High began with a telecast from the
studio to all classrooms, by students. It might include world news
highlights, local news, and details of the school schedule for the
day. We heard of students staying up to all hours of the night to
prepare for the next day's telecast, and others getting up at 4:00
A.M. to complete the work.

Let Kate Moody tell you how all of this evolved, how support was
found, how a courageous school superintendent decided to give the
green light, and how students, faculty, and parents responded. Her
account is full of detailed case histories, of bright students and not
so bright students, including some who had been troublemakers and
others with learning disabilities. She will tell you what became of a
number of them. The experiences of teachers are also described in
illuminating detail.

Today's teachers cannot use all this as a blueprint. Once again
everything is in a process of flux. But the present period offers
parallels to the earlier one. Again school systems are baffled as to
how to prepare for an impending communications upheaval. That
interactive communications superhighway-how will relate to it and
share its benefits? I think many teachers will find ideas here-and
inspiration.

Though a Mamaroneck resident, with special interest in the media, I
did not become involved in the school television venture. In the 1960s
and 1970s I was busy with communications form Oxford University Press,
which began with a three-volume history of broadcasting in the United
States. It kept me on the go, to New York, Washington, Hollywood, and
points between. I now realize I missed an important chapter that took
place under my nose in Mamaroneck public schools.

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Eric Barnouw, Professor Emeritus of Dramatic Arts, Columbia
University, is the author of A History of Broadcasting in the United
States (3 vols.) Documentary: A History of the Non-Fiction Film, Tube
of Plenty: The Evolution of American Television (1104), The Sponsor:
Notes on a Modern Potentate, and Media Marathon.

© 2002-2003 Center for Media Literacy