Description

In the early days of Boston public broadcasting, MIT was a main supporter of WGBH, whose Channel 2 television effort began in space rented from the Institute near the current Stratton Student Center. MIT and WGBH jointly produced MIT Science Reporter, a pioneering effort to ask scientists and engineers to explain their work to a general audience on television. The program, hosted by deep-voiced MIT science reporter John Fitch ('52), offered lengthy but easily understood interviews. The fact that the programs had to be shot with only few takes required intensive planning. Candid correspondence between WGBH and MIT indicates that some of the 'talent' (aka the faculty) were more adept than others at giving a good interview. The goal was to increase public understanding of science and technology not only through broadcasts of the program, but also through a special lending library that made 16mm film copies available to schools and libraries across the nation.