During the eight years of President Ronald Reagan's administration, deregulation of broadcasting was pursued at least as vigorously as other attempts of the "Reagan Revolution" to lessen the impact and influence of the federal government. The Federal Communication Commission's (FCC) "one-to-a-market" rule (which limits licenses…

To examine the success of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) 1982 decision not to select a standard transmission system for AM stereophonic broadcasting (instead leaving it to the marketplace), this paper documents and analyzes the first 7 years of the AM stereo marketplace. Following an explanatory introduction, the paper's first…

Provides a historical overview of postal service policy from 1792 to the present on mailing library materials. The current policy debate in response to congressional reassessment of the benefits of the library rate is reviewed. A table presents the percentage of library rate mailings and subsidy by sender and recipient. (143 references) (MES)

Discusses the history, technology, and functions of illegal publishing in Poland from 1945 to 1990, under official and widespread government censorship. Offers some sources for more information. (SR)

Chronicles the development of public broadcasting from early attempts to develop noncommercial radio through organizations such as the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and the Public Broadcasting Service. Discusses the need for federal support and the resulting conflicts. (JMF)

This analysis of government regulation of America's broadcast service provides: (1) a historical view of radio and television regulation, including the doctrines of scarcity and public trustee and other areas affected by deregulation in particular; (2) an analysis of the argument for deregulation; and (3) an assessment of the First Amendment, the…

The Congressional Research Service prepared this compilation of articles and bibliography to facilitate student research on the regulation of mass media in the United States, the 1979-80 intercollegiate debate topic. The selection of articles reproduced in Section A and the citations chosen for the bibliography in Section B are representative of…

Reviews and analyzes a key legislative initiative following World War II which sought to assign to the federal government a role in gathering and communicating scientific and technical information to private industry. Creation of the Office of Technical Services and its eventual transformation to the National and Technical Information Service is…

Belgium's progress in rehabilitation has been the most marked of all the countries devastated by the World War. In resumption of operation of the iron and steel industries, of coal mining, of railroad rebuilding, of the sugar factories, of cotton spinning, of rebuilding residences and communal buildings, the Government, private initiative,…

The tremendous surge of investment capital and research development enjoyed by television under the strong incentives provided by World War II probably resulted in the development of a commercially exploitable television system much earlier than would have been possible otherwise. Cooperation between government and industry in this research and…

The object of this study was to decode the expressive symbol systems attached to broadcasting in the 1920s and to come to an understanding of the significance of the new technology by exploring the utopian dimensions which were tacitly held by the market model, and expressed in a variety of ways by the men and women who were connected in some way…

Reviews recent trends in scholarly micropublishing and preservation microfilming and discusses prospects for the rest of the twentieth century. Areas discussed include the impact of economics and government policies, recent changes in the scholarly micropublishing industry, recent developments in bibliographic control, the national preservation…

The challenge to public service forms of broadcasting posed by the adoption of neo-liberal communication policy strategies by a number of western European governments has presented the left with a dilemma. Traditionally these public corporations have been characterized as ideological instruments of class domination. Today, however, sections of the…

This study presents an overview and analysis of the continuing debate in the United Nations system on freedom of the press and the distribution of information. The three main chapters deal with sequences within that history. The first chapter discusses the debate on Freedom of Information which was pursued, particularly at the United Nations, in…

This discussion of the evolution of the Swiss Broadcasting Corporation (SSR) begins with a report issued in 1953 by a federal commission which strongly influenced the first 15 years of Swiss television. Noting that the Swiss government adopted most of the proposals made in the report, this paper indicates some of the decisions that the Federal…