BROADCAST MATTER.

Auckland Star, Volume LXXI, Issue 226, 23 September 1940, Page 4

BROADCAST MATTER.

CENSORSHIP QUESTION. POLICY EXPLAINED. NAPIER, Sunday. The selection of radio programmes for children was largely a matter for parents, said the Minister in charge of Broadcasting, the Rt. Hon. P. Fraser, in reply to the Hawke's Bay Education Board's representations to. have a stricter censorship imposed on unsuitable broadcast matter, particularly radio serials of the thriller type.

The Minister said it was considered by the board that the censoring of programmes of the nature so universally appreciated as serials of the types referred to was difficult, and any drastic action would be likely to cause considerable resentment. Careful attention, he said, was paid by the Broadcasting Service to ensure that vice was not presented in an attractive form, and there was no serious conflict with decent behaviour. Many otherwise attractive programmes were rejected on such grounds. Mr. Fraser assured the board its representations would be brought to the notice of the officers concerned An the choice of programmes. At the same time the service must continue to take into consideration the legitimate tastes of all types of listeners. He felt the solution of the difficulty could largely be helped by parents realising that in the selection of radio programmes, as in all other matters, they had the responsibility.

Disappointment waj expressed by board members at Mr. Fraser's reply. It was decided to approach the Carnegie Educational Research to assess the effect of radio plays upon schoolchildren.