There was great harrumphing and clearing of throats at the 25th Peabody Awards luncheon in Manhattan last week. Each year, bronze medallions are supposed to be handed out for "distinguished and meritorious public service rendered by radio and television."
But the committee found a bone in its throat. "1964 was not a vintage year for broadcasting," blurted Peabody Juror Paul Porter, onetime Federal Communications Commission chairman. It was, he continued, "a year when the intelligent adult television audience has been consistently shortchanged by networks wooing teen-agers." In sum, a year of...