UNFAIR REGULATIONS

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 392, 29 November 1932, Page 4

UNFAIR REGULATIONS

Arrangements have been made for his Majesty the King to broadcast a Christmas message to the Empire on December 25. This will be His Majesty's first broadcast direct to tbe vast dominions over which he reigns, and exceptional interest attaches to the event, not only among radio listeners, whose name is legion, but to the many millions of His Majesty's subjects whose legion is greater still. The ingenuity of the radio engineers has achieved another triumph in the design of devices which will record the words of the speech and make it possible for the listener in any part of the Empire , to hear the message at the same hour by the clock. It is all very - interest ing and wireless enthusiasts will await the broadcast ; with pleasant expectations ; but | the cruel part of the business is ; that unless some newspaper publisher cares to risk a fine of £10., with the alternative of a month in gaol, the message will not he available to persons without wireless sets, unless someone goes to the expense of cabling , the message out. The cable is slow and expensive compared with radio communication, but the New Zealand Government, with a mentality more suggestive of the Stone Age than the ; 20th century, insists that the I telegraph revenue must be pro- ( tected. Newspapers are prohibited from ayailing themselves of radio broadcasts. The object is ; to compel 'them to continue utilj ising the cables which can only provide them with stale news after the listener-in has been served, and consequently has lost interest in the subject. Government interference in business is slowly and steadily encom- : passing the ruin of private enI terprise in New Zealand, anc. : perhaps newspapers cannot exi pect to escape being involved in | movements which tend to bring all social and commercial activiI ties under the control of the | State. The Government monojpoly of broadcasting enables it | to be "first with the news." It i exercises its monopoly in the i tyrannous and arbitrary f ashion ! characteristic of State monopol- ] ies ; and in putting it out of the | power of the newspapers to sup- | ply anything but stale news, it has struck a blow at the newspaper business, the significance

of which is hardly recognised by the publie. However eagerly the King's message may be awaited, New Zealand will enjoy the unenviable distinction of being. the only part of the Empire which has made it a penal offence to take his Majesty's words off the air and print them in a newspaper. The politicians have recently displayed an increasing interest in the possibilities of the radio for disseminating their views, and feeling in the matter has waxed high as witness the recent acrimonious discussion in the House between the Leader of the Opposition and the Minister for Internal Affairs. Xt is the politicians, however, who have permitted the imposition of these ridiculous regulations upon the press of the Dominion, while at the same time permitting broadcasting stations, State controlled, to release news which is properly the province of the newspaper. By utilising the resources of radio, unhampered by unnecessary and harassing restrictions, the press of the Dominion would be able considerably to augment its service to its readers. The anomaly which will exist with regard to His Majesty's Christmas message, is one exanaple of vthe eff^ct of these regulations, but they have been a source of irritation for some time pqst. The policy of the Government, apparently with regard to the newspapers,- is to us.e them as