NO RADIO WAR.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 57, Issue 244, 27 July 1937, Page 7

NO RADIO WAR.

8.8. C, DIRECTOR ON TOUR. OBJECT OF HIS VISIT. (Per Press Association.) AUCKLAND, July 26. Mischievous and misleading reports gave rise to the statement that the main reason for his visit to various parts of the Empire was to find ways of counteracting subversive propaganda over the German and Italian shortwave stations, said Mr J. Beresford Clark (director of the 8.8. C. Empireservice) who arrived on the Mariposa. He said it was not the intention of the 8.8. C. to indulge in a radio war for supremacy over European countries. “There has been a lot of nonsense talked about my trip,” said Mr Clark, “and as recently as last week an Australian weekly paper published an article which attempted to show that the British authorities were agitated about foreign propaganda among Empire listeners, and would take appropriate steps to combat it. The paper went to the length of saying that most Australians tuned their sets to German stations. Actually in the various Empire countries I have visited I found almost universal; satisfaction expressed with the programmes sent from Daventry.” No Political Significance. Mr Clark went on to Suva to-day and will return from there to make a survey in New Zealand. He was not here to indulge in anti-Nazi tactics, as one English paper had expressed it; but to discover how the British transmissions were being received, and in which direction they were found to be lacking in quality and interest. His visit had no political or international significance whatever. Political broadcasts from foreign stations bad been studied in the last two years or more, continued Mr Clark, and in the opinion of the 8.8. C. the best way of countering the propaganda was to develop a justified reputation for the accurate reporting of news in»a completely objective way from a very broad Imperial standpoint. To counter propaganda in a direct sense would be ridiculous. “We are not aiming at serving New Zealand all day long,” he said. “We are now broadcasting 18 hours a day, split into six periods of .transmission, each one primarily directed to some part of the Empire, at what is likely to be a convenient time for local listening. It is impossible to cater for differing tastes in different parts of the Empire simultaneously; but in other parts of the Empire the over-all verdict is that the new transmitters have given improved reception. I am surprised to learn that in New Zealand most listeners prefer the German short-wavei programmes.” '