In 1966, WPSX-TV General Manager Marlowe Froke and retired professor of education John McAuley created a non-commercial public education program that now reaches 15 million children across the country.
Begun on a single, local channel, "What's in the News" now appears in a news program format on 100 public television stations in 23 states and is shown on video at the American embassy in Reykjavik, Iceland. Several school districts also use the program as a teaching supplement.
The gradual transition from just an educational program on public television to that of a classroom supplement went fairly smoothly, said current producer and director Tim Swartz.
"What you have to remember is this is not a news show," he said. "It's what the news is about. We use current events to teach social studies, geography, vocabulary and writing skills."
Although some teachers fear instructional television may "take over" the classroom, Katie O'Toole, the program's host and writer, said no danger exists of instructional television supplanting the teaching process.
"The teacher explains what we don't. The program does stand by itself but it is so much more effective with a teacher," Swartz said.
O'Toole said the program is just another instrument for teachers, like a chalk board or a school book, bringing to the classroom something the teacher could not otherwise provide.
Staff consultant and School of Education professor Murry Nelson said a judicious use of video is useful.
"It is possible for a teacher to become dependant on video, but most educational shows are designed to enhance a curriculum, not replace it," he said.
Nelson said he could not see anything wrong with video unless it is used at all times without anything else.
Froke said, "Television works as a part of informal teaching. I don't see where it decreases interaction between the student and teacher. No one accuses books of decreasing interaction between them; in fact I think they're more static."
The use of media in University classrooms has not yet effected the curriculum significantly, he said.
"I wouldn't want an entire curriculum based on video, you can take this stuff too far. When you do that you begin to deny human existence and that's when you lose interaction," Froke said.
In the past 24 years, public television has expanded rapidly and "What's in the News" has taken advantage of the expansion.
"With the creation of the Pennsylvania public broadcast stations in 1972, we were able to reach a much wider audience in the state," Froke said.
He said a separate "What's in the News" science unit is currently in the planning stages. Made possible by a grant from NASA, the program will provide education on space science to children.
Nelson took the program to the American Embassy in Iceland in 1986 and would like to see the program go to every U.S. embassy. "The State Department has reviewed the program and said they were very supportive," he said. "They do have tapes of the program at the embassy school's library but the embassy schools are independent. The State Department does encourage the show's use but it cannot mandate it."
O'Toole, said she would like to see the Armed Forces Network use the program for children overseas with their families. "Some kids stay away from the country so long, they forget what the country's like," she said.
As interest in the show has increased, Froke and Swartz have been able to enhance the show's look. "We started out with just a talking head on the screen and some still photographs," Froke said.
Two on-air hosts, computer generated graphics, and video footage taken from network news shows have replaced the program's old presentation.
The production of "What's in the News" is made possible through use fees from public television stations and an underwriting grant from Trident, a subsidiary of Warner-Lambert Co.
