The Atlanta Constitution from Atlanta, Georgia • 162

i UWiLM i 1 HUH) UJJimQDUiipD Su I pi ft vf i 'Cinema Showcase' a local production features internationally known actors, direc-. tors and producers, is syndicated for airing on' the 80-station Southern Regional Network; 4 'Sesame Street' produced by the-Children'' 2 Vv Television Workshop, offers young public vision viewers entertaining roads to educa tional enrichment. 1 i1- 0 I. Public broadcasting in Atlanta WABE-FM and WETV (Channel 30)-marks its 25th year in What does it have to show for it? It can show you how to get to "Sesame Street." It. can help you make things grow your children as well as your garden.

It can take you on verbal escapades with William F. Buckley or Bill Moyers. It can help you relax with classical music or exercise. And it can bring you into City Hall or the School Board meeting where important decisions are being made. Atlanta's own public radio and television stations were created to serve the school children of Atlanta and Fulton County.

Through the assistance of the Rich Foundation in 1948, Atlanta became one of eight cities in the nation to engage in an experiment in educational technology called "educational broadcasting." Radio station WABE-FM emerged from that experiment. Today the station provides 35 different radio series tailored to the needs of students. It also offers nearly 1 00 hours of public radio programming each week, including the only nighttime classical music on the Atlanta air waves. Other musical programs featu.e jazz, complete operas and music from foreign nations. For the past two years, WABE-FM has been offering "All Things Considered," a 90-iminute daily news and public affairs program from the new public radio network, National Public Radio.

The station says this program is the one most often mentioned as "the favorite" In surveys of WABE listeners, and has won the Peabody Award. The most convincing evidence of WABE's growth came recently when figures from the American Research Bureau, the audience rating service used by all commercial stations, revealed that WABE is one of the 20 most-listened-to public radio stations among the more than 150 in the nation. When it is remembered that 30 hours of air per week are devoted to instructional radio, this achievement becomes even more impressive. In 1 958, television became a part of the educational broadcasting system in Atlanta. Television brought an important new visual dimension to instructional programming and has become widely accepted in Atlanta and Fulton County classrooms.

In addition to a broad range of programs produced by television teachers, WETV now offers such nationally recognized programs Continued on Page 2F ic i 55 A. ff so-H 7 it I I 1 lWx Awf rf jar1 i it if jS 1' ,1 ws mm il Ait. 4p I J. vl i I'll' ,5 1 3 vf 5 ff-Wf'i Jt's Your is one in a series of local public affairs programs produced by WETV-WABE. This series gave candidates for city government an opportunity to speak directly to the voters.

'Friends ofWABE-WETV' provide voluntary assistance in allphases of the station's day-to-day functions. Volunteers come from a variety of professions and backgrounds, but all have a dedication to the idea of noncommercialpublicbroadcusting..