ABSTRACT
Amid congressional hearings, Federal Communications Commission (FCC) probes, grand jury proceedings, and lawsuits, all three networks launched reorganizations. They revised surveillance procedures: National Broadcasting Company's "continuity acceptance" unit became the "standards and practices" unit, with enlarged duties. CBS president Frank Stanton decreed that everything on CBS must now be "what it purports to be." He even ordered that canned laughter and applause be identified as such, but this was soon rescinded. In the documentary field, CBS announced that it would schedule only its own productions. This was asserted to be necessary in the interest of "standards," but seemed to independent documentarists a determination to corner for its own productions the limited sponsor funds available for documentaries. The other networks announced similar policies. Frank Stanton also seemed at pains to mollify sponsors. In 1960 he explained: Since we are advertiser-supported we must take into account the general objectives and desires of advertisers as a whole.
