[BC] Another history question

[Steve]

Donna...

We went through the same crapola at WRR (Dallas) when trying to put together
a history of the station. I've since seen conflicting data. I know your
frustration and that's why I "try" to stick with my own personal history and
that's getting a bit "foggy". :)

Steve


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Donna Halper" <dlh at donnahalper.com>
To: "Broadcast Radio Mailing List" <broadcast at radiolists.net>
Sent: Monday, December 26, 2005 2:47 PM
Subject: [BC] Another history question


> At times, members of this let get caught up in debating aspects of
> broadcast history, so I have a question.  First, let's discuss what we
know
> versus what is legendary yet generally accepted as a "fact".  The best
> example of myth overtaking fact is the KDKA story, in which some of KDKA's
> very real achievements were magnified by the Westinghouse publicity
> department with great success.  As we know, one of the fundamental
> assumptions about radio history was that KDKA was the first commercial
> station to broadcast-- Westinghouse publicity used to say "first in the
> world", conveniently ignoring Canada and Argentina which were broadcasting
> in 1918-1919.  Today, research has shown (and while some of the research
is
> mine, I am not the only one to document this) that KDKA was NOT the first
> station to broadcast, and no it did not have a so-called commercial
> license.  Yet books still insist KDKA must have been first because so many
> sources say that.  I can tell you that, sadly, few authors do original
> research-- it's easier to cite previous sources, even if those sources
were
> wrong (we are seeing this same phenomenon on the internet now-- somebody
> writes something, it's erroneous, but it's spread all over the internet
and
> even in internet encyclopedias like Wikipedia).  Anyway, a long prologue
to
> a serious question.
>
> Another truism we all accept is that the late Reginald Fessenden was the
> first to broadcast voice and music over the wireless, on Christmas eve
> 1906.  But doing some newspaper research from that era, I find none of the
> major newspapers mentioned it. I understand that the major newspapers were
> quite anti-technology, believing it could harm newspaper circulation, but
> still, you'd think that *somebody* would have reported it. Further, in
> researching the 5 major newspapers of that era, I find that several other
> people claimed to have successfully broadcast voice and/or music via the
> wireless before 1906.
>
> Regarding Fessenden, the one source I can find for the December 1906 date
> other than what Fessenden himself claimed in interviews years later, seems
> to be a 1940 biography of his life, written by his widow.  But does anyone
> know for certain that this event did in fact take place on 24/25 December
> 1906?  Interestingly, the NY Times attributes the broadcasting of voice by
> Fessenden to 1907, and in his obit in 1932, the Times says he was "among
> the first to give radio wings to speech."  Notice-- AMONG THE FIRST.  So
> evidently even then, others had laid claim to what today we all attribute
> to Fessenden.  Fessenden himself said he first did it successfully in
1902,
> but that's another story for another time.  Anyway, the many myths of
radio
> history could fill a book... hmmm, perhaps I ought to write one about
it!!!
>
>
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