THE EMPIRE CHRISTMAS BROADCAST

Dominion, Volume 28, Issue 88, 8 January 1935, Page 8

THE EMPIRE CHRISTMAS BROADCAST

One of the most interesting events of the ChYistmas season, the Imperial broadcast which conveyed to the Royal Family am thousands of listeners word-pictures of various parts of the empire has since been the subject of some criticism. Reception of tne messages in 7 the Old Country was on the whole satisfactoiy, but ti e selection’ of the subject matter has given, rise to protests. New Zealand’s principal contribution to the Imperial word-pictui es was a talk on the whaling industry. The Australian contribution, which included' scenes from the. botanic gardens in the State capitals, evoked some sharp criticism. According io the Melbourne Argus, “the content of the Australian items was unspeakably puerile ‘and unconvincing. . . . The Australian Broadcasting Commission ought to have sought outside advice it ■■• coulds think of nothing better to symbolise the Commonwealth than to have a gardener describe children playing at an hour when the gardens were shrouded in the dark 6f midnight.” In the New Zealand picture were included Maori items and something about the dairy industry, but . the British public, .to judge from, the cablegrams, reacted principally to that concerning the whaling industry, which docs not symbolise this country at all. Care should be taken in the futuie to make word-pictures of this kind more symbolic.