The NBC Radio
Network program America's Town Meeting of the Air was an early form
of electronic "townhall" democracy--perhaps the very first
such electronic forum. In May of 1935 the program began what would
become a 21-year run. (In later years the program would be broadcast
on the ABC network.) The format of the broadcasts pitted two prominent
experts in a debate of some aspect of public policy. The program was
unique for its time in that it also featured questions from both the
live audience and from the listening audience around the country.
In this broadcast from December 1935, Secretary
of Labor Frances Perkins is defending and explaining the recently
passed Social Security Act, while journalist George E. Sokolsky is
attacking the new legislation. |