STRONG CRITICISM OF BROADCASTS

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22512, 21 September 1938, Page 10

STRONG CRITICISM OF BROADCASTS

——♦ —- ITEMS CONSIDERED UNDESIRABLE "DEGRADING TO ADULTS

AND CHILDREN"

ACTION BY FEDERATION OF

SCHOOL COMMITTEES

"Absolutely degrading both to adults and children," was the description given to certain unspecified items broadcast by Government stations, by Mr A. A. Buckley, an Auckland delegate to the annual conference of the Dominion Feder-ation-of School Committees' Associations, which opened in Christchurch yesterday. The conference agreed that the description was correct- but there was some dispute about whether the National Commercial Broadcasting Service or the National Broadcasting Service was to be blamed, and whether a remedy should be sought from the authorities or in the home. Mr Buckley moved the following resolution: "That the attention of the Minister for Education and the Minister in charge of Broadcasting drawn to the undesirable nature of some broadcast programmes put over the air by the National Commercial Broadcasting Service. This conference is definitely of the opinion that 'American gangster, murder, and kindred programmes,' are detrimental to the morals of the rising generation, as is often demonstrated by the records of crime among youth in our Police Courts." - Commercial Stations Defended After- some heated disagreement among delegates the reference to the commercial stations was deleted; also the reference to crime records. The resolution, as amended, was that the Ministers' attention be drawn to "the undesirable nature of some items on broadcast programmes, which adversely affect our children." "Who can tell what damage is being done to the characters of children?" asked Mr Buckley. An effort was being made to eliminate offensive magazines: and if these "diabolical magazines" were being dealt with, it was time action was taken against similar matter on radio programmes. "It is absolutely degrading both to adults and children," he said.

"Why pick on the national commercial stations?" asked Mr A. E. Morgan (Greymouth). "They are not solely responsible for all the tripe that comes over the air." He asserted that the YA stations were equally responsible.

Mrs F. W. Mountjoy (Auckland): I do not think that is so. Ido not think the others are so bad. They do not put over the diabolical rot we hear from the commercial stations.

"I think "we are on dangerous ground," said Mr T. Nuttall. "Are we to set ourselves up as censors of public morals? If we are going to criticise the programmes of the commercial and the YA stations—and my personal experience is that I have heard more blood-curdling rubbish over the YA stations—then to be consistent we must condemn a lot of the literature that is printed—" Several delegates: We do. Mr Nuttall said that the parents should take the responsibility of keeping harmful matter from their children.

Mr Morgan: Sometimes we have got to save the children from their parents' indifference in the matter.