The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1944. “THIS IS LONDON CALLING”

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 201, 23 May 1944, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 23, 1944. “THIS IS LONDON CALLING”

Since the outbreak of the present war the voice of London calling has become a familiar incident in the daily routine of life in New Zealand. Indeed, to such an extent has the 8.8. C. become a feature of popular interest here that it is difficult to conceive of any future recession to its previous remoteness from the general body of listeners, with New Zealand interest confined more or less.to.the smaller circle of 'Shortwave enthusiasts. In -the feeling of intimacy established between London and this country through this daily association a special interest, therefore, attaches to the record of wartime achievement contained in the 8.8. C. Year Book, 1944, a copy of which is just to hand. It is impossible in the space available to touch on every aspect of broadcasting activity mentioned in this interesting publication. From a great many of These New Zealanders themselves have derived both benefit and enjoyment. It is worth while, however, to take note of the spirit and sense of high principle that have animated those to whom have been entrusted the policy and the activities of this world-famous British institution. t . Unlike the at present politically-controlled broadcasting service in New Zealand, the 8.8. C., since 1927, has been, and still is, “a public corporation, composed of a body of governors, appointed by the Crown, who (1), are vested with a monopoly of the service of broadcasting, and with an annual income, normally derived from a percentage of licence fees, to be expended by them on that service at their considered discretion, but (2), are bound.by the terms of their charter to act as ‘trustees for the national interest,’ and to use their monopoly as a means of information, education and entertainment.’” Perhaps.the best statement of the 8.8.C.’s conception of its public role is that given by Sir Ernest Barker, for many years a member of the Advisory Council, in the book under review. Broadcasting, he said,. had added a new dimension to the public mind. “It supplements, without supplanting, the power of the school in educating both adolescent and adult.- It supplements, without supplanting, the power of the Press in informing the public mind and helping to form public opinion. It supplements, without supplanting, the concert hall and the theatre in forming public taste and developing national culture.

“Above all (he adds), it supplements; again without supplanting, the platform—and even Parliament —in the conduct of that great debate, and that give and take of discussion, which is the essence of democracy. . . Alike by its news, by its talks and discussion, and bv the broadcasts given by our major statesmen and the representatives of our political parties, in all these ways, broadcasting has become a new forum and a new dimension of democracy. It would be dangerous to democracy if it could ever be used to make an election,’ or to tune the political pulpit. There has been no sign of that, nor is there likely to be. In our country, broadcasting can onlv serve as a free forum for the expression of different trends o opinion.”

This statement of policy fits precisely and appropriately within sound democratic principles and practice. It emphasizes the difference, between the 8.8. C. and the Government-controlled national broadcasting service in New Zealand, to the disadvantage of. the public in this country from the democratic point of view. The political integrity of a national broadcasting service should be above suspicion. In this Dominioii that is definitely and demonstrably not-the case. K The present charter of the 8.8. C. expires in .1946. No one realizes more'clearly than the 8.8. C. itself,” says the present DuectorGeneral, Mr. Robert Foot, in the chapter in the year took, Looking Forward,” “that decisions on many important and difficult questions affecting the future of broadcasting, both national and international, • may be necessary at an earlier date than that.” This conviction unquestionably has been enforced by the revelation of the possibilities of world broadcasts in a great variety of languages as adopted by the BBC. in wartime. “We have seen,” says Mr. Foot, how broadcasting can be used as an instrument of aggression and warfare. But paradoxically, its use in the service of mutual understanding and friendly exchange between the peoples has also grown immeasurably during the, war, largely as the result of the immense power and world coverage of the broadcasting systems of the United Nations, and the way in which broadcasting has beep used as a bond between the. free-dom-loving peoples. ‘Nation shall speak Peace unto Nation, is. a motto that is still to be made good.” This brief reference to an ins P ll ' . in? record of 8.8. C. achievement may be appropriately ended with the final sentence in Mr. Foot’s statement of policy: As long as the 8.8. C. has the job of conducting this great service, he says, we shall never forget that it belongs to the people—all the people—of our country, and we shall try and run it in the kind of way that we believe the people as a whole would want and expect it to be run—responsibly, independently, without fear or favour, and as near first-class in a fields of broadcasting as human endeavour can make it.