N.Z. Broadcasting Service Compared With A Free Radio

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 81, 4 January 1950, Page 5

N.Z. Broadcasting Service Compared With A Free Radio

~AII sections of the community have at some time criticised New Zealand broadcasting policy for not encouraging free discussion of important and controversial subjects. There is little doubt that this is a direct result of the bureaucratic system of control which typifies all Labour organisation, states the New Zealand Financial Times. It is interesting, therefore, to study the Danish system, which provides a State radio where citizens can speak freely and where different opinions can as freely be discussed. In Denmark general control of broadcasting is entrusted to a Radio Council which is responsible to the Minister of Education.

A Radio Council The Council consists of sixteen members: two representing the Minister, one nominated by the Minister of Public Works as the technical expert, one nominated by the Association of Newspaper Editors, one nominated by the Association of Journalists, and six nominated by the Listeners’ Association. The other five are appointed by the five largest political parties. All projected programmes are examined, criticised and approved by the Council, and specialists in every cultural field are consulted. Even the News Service is managed by a special sub-committee consisting of five Council members and five members of a Danish association of newspaper editors. The six Council members representing listeners ensure that broadcasts follow popular taste.