AP answers your questions on the news, from elected senators to the president’s radio address

Ask AP: Elected Senate, president’s radio address

Every week, the president gets behind a microphone — and, these days, in front of a camera — and offers a few quick comments about an issue that he feels is of great national importance.

When did the weekly presidential radio (and now video) address begin, and why was the practice started?

Curiosity about the origin of the weekly speech inspired one of the questions in this edition of “Ask AP,” a weekly Q&A column where AP journalists respond to readers’ questions about the news.

If you have your own news-related question that you’d like to see answered by an AP reporter or editor, send it to newsquestions@ap.org, with “Ask AP” in the subject line. And please include your full name and hometown so they can be published with your question.

In reading about the life of Lincoln I was reminded that, in that period, the position of senator was appointed and not elected. Is that addressed in the Constitution, and when did it change?

Stephan Vertal

Forest Grove, Ore.

Originally, the U.S. Constitution — in Article I, Section 3 — stated that a U.S. senator would be chosen by his state legislature. In 1912, Congress proposed switching to direct election of senators by the people of each state. This change was ratified in 1913 as the 17th Amendment to the Constitution.

History professor Richard R. Beeman of the University of Pennsylvania said the Senate was originally envisioned as a traditional upper house of Congress, “composed of only the most knowledgeable, well-educated, virtuous” people.

“Thus, they were reluctant to have the people elect senators directly,” he explained.

Beeman said that, in time, direct election came to be seen as a more appropriate approach for a democratic nation.

“It was not coincidence that this change occurred during the progressive era, an era of democratic reforms across the states and the nation,” he said.

Rhonda Shafner

AP News Researcher

New York

When President Obama was elected, he started posting his weekly radio address online and releasing it as a video. This led me to wonder: How long has the Saturday radio address been around, and why was it started? Has every president since it got started recorded a weekly address?

Daniel Lippman

Washington

President Ronald Reagan created the weekly radio address. He went on the air from the Oval Office on April 3, 1982, to reassure Americans about the nation’s sickly economy — much as Franklin D. Roosevelt had done during the Great Depression with his series of evening radio addresses that became known as fireside chats.

Reagan was an experienced broadcaster, with skills honed as a radio sportscaster, movie actor, public speaker and radio commentator. In his first White House radio address, Reagan said he wanted to talk about the problems facing the nation and what to do about them.

“I can’t cover all that territory in five minutes, so I’ll be back every Saturday at this same time, same station, live,” he said. “I hope you’ll tune in.”

The radio addresses endured throughout Reagan’s presidency, giving him the opportunity to create news for weekend broadcasts and Sunday newspapers. Every president since then has continued Reagan’s tradition.

Terence Hunt

AP Economics Global Coordinator

An AP White House reporter during Reagan’s presidency

Washington

I’ve heard composers are paid a royalty each time their song is played on the radio or TV. If their song is part of a musical play or movie, are they paid based on the number of times the movie is shown or the number of performances of the play?

Bill Hart

Canton, Ohio

Basically, yes.

A composer may be hired to write the score for a movie or play, write a song for a movie or play, or have an existing song used in a movie or play. A fee is negotiated, generally based on the production’s budget, how the music is used and in what situations, and the duration of its use. It can range from nothing to tens of thousands of dollars, or more.

For a play, that can be the end of the road in terms of payment, although the number of performances is usually part of the upfront negotiations.

But some plays and certainly many movies generate soundtracks and DVDs, and may be shown on television. Songs made for movies also might be played on the radio. Each of those situations will generate royalties for the songwriter, based on a negotiated rate that is related to the amount of revenue collected or the number of units sold.

The work of tracking how one’s music is used is not the job of the songwriter or composer. Music publishers, such as Warner Music Group Corp.’s Warner/Chappell Music Inc., purchase and manage copyrights, farming out song use and collecting money that’s earned. Performance rights societies such as Broadcast Music Inc. and the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers help track use on TV and radio so they can collect royalties, and pay them out to their artist clients accordingly.

Ryan Nakashima

Associated Press Writer

Los Angeles

Have questions of your own? Send them to newsquestions@ap.org.