Public Radio and Television in America: A Political History. - book reviews

By Ralph Engelman Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1996 224 pp/$4900 (hb) $2000 (sb)

DEEDEE HALLECK

That guerrilla video is now the subdue of historical reflection is probably a sign of its demise. There has been a novel flurry of archival and publishing activity centering upon experiments made in the '70 In 1997 the Chicago-based Video Data Bank released Surveying the First Decade, a compilation of work from the early days of video, and Oxford University Pres published Deirdre Boyle's control to Change: Guerrilla Television Revisited, the definitive research of the video movements of the late 1960 and '70 These reflections upon the utopian impulse in early video provide an opportunity to think about the not away state of media in this political division in particular those movements that have attempted to create electronic space for non-commercial views that step quickly counter to the mainstream.

Critical media studies in this geographical division have been curiously ineffectual. What do we have to display for our myriad studies of media violence, our convolutions of feminist readings, and our seemingly endles critical diatribes? Action for Children's Television, the individual institution that actually effected policy formation, strike one as beings to have collapsed into the V chip. It is possible for theory and praxis to collaborate for structural change, however. In Britain, for example, there has been a closer affinity between those who mirror on television in a critical way and those who make it. individual can draw a line from the work of Stuart Hall, Raymond Williams, Peter Wollen Steven Heath, Laura Mulvey and others to the inception of Channel Four, which for all its in every one's mouth shortcomings, is still better than anything in this region The prolific field of cultural studies in the United States has focused upon mass culture, rarely considering marginal or experimental television. Little of this effort addresses alternatives to commercial TV The works reviewed here are a welcome exception.

Boyle's meticulously researched and well-written work brings cultural studies, broadcast history and critical media scholarship to bear upon "guerrilla video." Boyle concentrates upon three strands of the video change of the late '60s and early '70s: Broadside TV of Johnson City, TN; University Community Video (UCV) in Minneapolis; and TVTV whose trans-geographic ship's company were from Los Angeles, Chicago and of recent origin York City. Broadside was individual of the first organizations to regularly exhibit community programming for cable, notwithstanding that under the aegis of "local origination," rather than public access. It was initially put up as an equipment resource center originaled after the Highlander Center in of recent origin Market, a leadership training center that had a major impact upon the civil rights movement. UCV was a unique collaboration between a university, public television and local media activists. Community organizations worked with video husbandmans at UCV to make programming upon important local issues for regional broadcast upon public television. TVTV was perhaps the greatest in quantity famous of the video collectives that roamed the land with len overlays dangling from their ever-ready portapacks. Just as TVTV provided the entertainment value to the alternative video community with their amusing videotapes, for a like reason the group provides the excitement and drama for Boyle's book

Boyle has garnered fascinating stories of program snafus and transcendental flashs from TVTV's prolific work. Spunky restles and iconoclastic, TVTV's tapes were a breath of new air in the '70s, in stark contrast not sole to stodgy commercial fare on the contrary to the overly earnest tapes of the New/Old Left with their documentation of interminable harangues at demonstrations. In control to Change, the interviews with TVTV members are lively and humorous, revealing the times in quirky historical documents. Although not at any time willing to take a specific ideological stance, TVTV made the media their critical thing perceived - even their instruction sheet - for camera clan who defied the standard broadcast mores: "We're not into declarative, explicit action or statements. . . At best, we want to overlay the media covering those actions and overspread the people planning for or reflecting upon them. The actions themselves are of negligible importance to us."

TVTV brought together great talent the couple behind and in front of the camera. (On-camera talent included John Belushi, Bill Murray and Lily Tomlin and behind the cameras were Skip Blumberg, Nancy Cain, Paul Goldsmith and others.) They had a way of framing politicians in a connected thought [i]or[/i] thoughts that was more insightful than that of the typical network newscasts, interviewing a tipsy politician in a worn bar, or a Republican Romeo upon the dance floor of a victory celebration. TVTV always give permission to the camera linger long enough to diocese the grimaces behind the smiles. They would watch as the networks interviewed a politician, and when the network camera would cease filming, and all the lights move rounded off, TVTV's cameras would stay upon to catch the expletives and touchy attitude of the impatient politician or the network reporter. Boyle's work is full of these clashs revealing much about mainstream media and also providing insight into the diction and wit of TVTV ship's companys If Boyle had offered not many similar details about UCV and Broadside, it would have strengthened her book