Editing Wide Area Telephone Service (section)

==Civil Rights Movement==
During the [[Civil Rights Movement]] in the U.S., activist organizations such as [[SNCC]] used WATS as a convenient way for eyewitnesses on the ground to convey information quickly. Notes from these phone calls were compiled into "WATS Line Reports" and mailed to civil rights leaders, the media, the Justice Department, and others involved in the events.<ref>{{cite magazine|last1=Stephen|first1=Bijan|title=How Black Lives Matter Uses Social Media to Fight the Power|url=https://www.wired.com/2015/10/how-black-lives-matter-uses-social-media-to-fight-the-power/|access-date=22 October 2015|magazine=Wired|date=October 2015}}</ref> WATS was also how organizations communicated with local leaders across the country. A "Bay Area Friends of SNCC" newsletter in 1965 described WATS:
<blockquote>The WATS (Wide Area Telephone Service) line is the heart of all SNCC security and communications. For a flat monthly rate, an unlimited number of calls can be dialed directly to any place in the country — or the state — depending on what line one uses. The Jackson office has a state-wide line, the Atlanta office has the national WATS line. Both run on a 24-hour basis. A project worker can call in news of any incident, threat or major activity to the Jackson office. The WATS operator there takes down the details and relays it to Atlanta if the event is of national importance. In the case of a threat or incident involving Federal laws, Jackson will notify the FBI and the Justice Department. Atlanta uses its national WATS line to notify SNCC groups around the country.<ref>{{cite news|title=WATS Reports|url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/view?docId=kt0199n3r6;NAAN=13030&doc.view=frames&chunk.id=d0e193&toc.depth=1&toc.id=d0e193&brand=oac4|access-date=22 October 2015|work=Bay Area Friends of SNCC Newsletter|publisher=Online Archive of California|date=February 1965}}</ref></blockquote>