Television was only just on its way out of being a novelty – a pricy, intriguing gadget of the wealthy–in the mid 1950s. The device was in the midst of a 10-year run in which its presence in US households rose from a paltry 9% in 1950 to 90% in 1960 – a staggering increase of 900% – when its innocence was swiftly lost at the mid-decade. Approximately fifty percent of families owned one by 1954 as the appliance continued a dazzling rise to the mainstream.
In the early 1950s United States, fear of an imminent communist upheaval hung thick in the air of the American public. Politicians eagerly and widely exploited this fear to garner influence and sway voters, but only one dared publicly try to attach purported communists to the institution – his name was Joseph McCarthy. A February 1950 speech in Wheeling, West Virginia spurred a meteoric rise to fame for Senator McCarthy, who had won a Senate seat in 1946. It was during this speech that McCarthy claimed to have names of 205 federal employees who were members of the “fledgling” communist party. Although his numbers of “loyalty risk” caliber citizens fluctuated wildly over the course of the following month (to as low as 57 – his advisors seemingly censoring the list as inquiries flooded in), the surprising fame did its part in ensuring his re-election to the Senate in 1952.
Despite the creation of the Federal Communications Committee in 1934, television itself had limited censorship up until this point in time. From 1948-1952, the FCC had actually frozen granting of new channels as existing VHF channels (2-13) were deemed insufficient for television service and the tight grouping of the channels had resulted in widespread interference amongst existing and new communities. In short, the FCC had limited content in circulation to worry about censoring. When the freeze was put aside in 1952 thanks to the “Sixth Report & Order,” one must figure that the FCC was buried in requests for new channels and content which constrained resources to dedicate to the thorough evaluation of content. As McCarthy’s infamy gathered steam and the government (specifically the Army) responded in kind to his 1953 investigations, the FCC agreed to ABC’s request to televise the now famous “Army-McCarthy Hearings” from April-June of 1954 (36 days in total). It would be a decision the government would regret and a spectacle that left an indelible impact on the public’s perception of the inner workings of congress.
The “Army-McCarthy hearings” began as a proving ground upon which Joseph McCarthy would substantiate his claims of communist activity in the US Army Signal Corps at Fort Monmouth (the subject of McCarthy’s 1953 investigations). They ended with the Senator’s reputation destroyed and his Senate seat hanging by a thread. With a staggering 80 million total viewers over the course of the series, most of whom this was their first observation of US Congress, Joseph McCarthy was unable to substantiate any of his claims and was thrust on the defensive for disputed preferential treatment of a servicemen during the investigation. As the hearings drew to a close in early June, McCarthy was backed deeply into a corner – he was challenged by the Army’s counsel, Joseph N. Welch, to reveal his infamous list “before the sun goes down.” McCarthy, grasping at straws, proceeded to slander a young recruit of Welch’s firm. Tired, emotionally drained and eyes full of tears, Welch punctuated his response with the now legendary words: “Have you no sense of decency, sir, at long last? Have you left no sense of decency?”
The destruction of a vindictive, reckless and power-hungry man determined to crush – once and for all – a dissenting opinion to whole-hearted capitalism was all but complete. Those with social and civil concerns rejoiced; those with industrial interests celebrated the resounding success of what would become reality television; those with political interests, machinations and revelations wrung their hands…and the TV, for the first time in its brief history, noticeably shook.
No comments:
Post a Comment