REPORT FROM REYKJAVIK: A Long-Distance Interview

New Zealand Listener, Volume 14, Issue 343, 18 January 1946, Page 6

REPORT FROM REYKJAVIK:

A Long-Distance Interview

N June of last year, as our readers may remember, we published an article on broadcasting in Iceland, written by Dave Driscoll, a New York radio man who had been there. It made mention of the broadcasts direct from the Althing (Iceland’s Parliament, and the oldest Parliament in the world), and this prompted us to write to the Director-General of the Iceland State Broadcast Service (Rikisutvarpid) with ten questions about political broadeasting there. We now have the reply, with answers to all our questions, from Jonas Thorbergsson (the Director-General). He has also sent us a booklet in English called "Broadcast in Iceland," from which we have taken the illustrations on this page. IMF. THORBERGSSON, writing on November 13, 1945, said he was convinced that "although we Icelanders have not reached as far as you have done in New Zealand, we show in this Tespect more liberalism and broadmindedness than most or all European countries do." Iceland Began First Some of the main points from Mr. (Thorbergsson’s reply are these: Iceland was broadcasting its Parliament six years before New Zealand began, but not the entire proceedings. Regulations lay down ‘what sessions of the Althing are to be broadcast, and the political parties can ask for the broadcasting of other debates not specified in the regulations. The broadcasts displace all ordinary programmes, but "no other programme material enjoys as much popularity." The Icelandic politicians do tend to address their voters when the Althing is on the air, but interjections are not commoner, as all debaters have to mount a tribune (with a microphone), which makes interjections less effective. Organised debates between the qarties are a feature of the lecture campaigns. For the details of these and other points, we refer our readers to the full text of questions and answers, as follows: The Regulations Our first question was "Are the full Mormal ‘proceedings of the Althing broadcast, or qnly selected parts? If geparcte debzetes are selected for broadcasting, who does the selecting, and on what basis?" The answer to this was as Jong as all the other nine answers together, being a summary of the regulations covering broadcasts from the Althing. Here they are: The opening and closing sessions of the Althing shall always be broadcast. {The opening speech on the Budget Bill

by the Finance Minister shall be broadcast and also, if requested, 30-minute speeches by other political parties, in which case the Minister has a right to a further 15-minute reply. When debates are broadcast, the political parties shall have equal time at their disposal and the Speakers arrange that the parties take their turns. At these debates the Ministers have no special rights as to freedom of speech. Independent members (who stand outside the political parties) have also a right to take part in the debates, but each such member shall only have half the time allotted to each party, and if there are more than two, then they shall divide between themselves such time as is allotted to each party. At the continuation of the first debate on the Budget Bill, speeches in the first round shall not be longer than 60 minutes, followed by three rounds of 30minute speeches and three rounds of 15-minute speeches, with which the broadcast debates on the Budget Bill come to a close. The same rule applies to debates on vote of confidence. A debate-round comes to a close when @ member of each party "and all inde- pendent members have spoken. When broadcasting other debates than above mentioned, there are two rounds with 45 minutes for each party. Such debates can be restricted beforehand to three hours, in which case the speeches are curtailed accordingly. If a political party wishes a debate to be broadcast, its leader makes an application to the Speaker, who passes it on to the leaders of the other political parties for their consideration. Debates are broadcast if unanimously agreed upon by all parties. If an agreement is not arrived at, the Speaker gives advice -to that effect to the applicant. If the application be repeated, then tle debates shall be broadcast. The scheduled time of broadcast debates shall be duly announced in the radio as well as in the Althing.

Debates shall be broadcast in the same succession as applications were made, subject to other regulations of Althing. The Speaker can make exemptions from this rule when necessary. In broadcast debates the leaders shall represent their parties towards the Speaker. The Speaker decides all matters relating to broadcast debates which are subject to doubt or controversy. Our Questions Answered And here are our nine other questions, with Mr. Thorbergsson’s answers: O During election campaigns, are * public discussions brozdcast, or simply separate speeches by candidates? If political debates are broadcast at these times, who organises the gatherings of opposing parties? A Some time before elections, whether * . municipal, to the Althing, or national vote, debates of the political parties are usually broadcast. The Programme Council and the representatives of the political parties decide when and how these debates take place, and the broadcast time is equally divided between all the recognised parties. The parties themselves select their orators and drawing of lots decides their row. There are usually three rounds, first long opening speeches and the shorter speeches; the debates sometimes last two evenings. Independent candidates are usually allowed to make one speech on the air. Ordinary Programmes Displaced O + Do the broadcasts trom the Althing * dispace ordinary programmes, or is the balance of alternative musical programmes retained during sessions of the Althing? : : A Broadcasts from the Althing dis- * place all ordinary programmes. + Does the Iceland State Broadcast2° ing Service send its recording vans and portable recorders out to meetings and public discussions of

general interest? Or does it report on subjects of a non-controversial character only? + Broadcast news of political meetings are subject to certain rules and give the following details: (a) Name and/or names of persons or parties who hold the meeting. (b) Scheduled time and attendance. (c) Names of chairman and secretary. (d) Main points of regulations. (e) Names of orators and subject of discussion. (f) Proposals and resolutions or extracts from same, (g) Vote. Resolutions from meetings of the various political parties are published if the News Bureau finds them of interest. While Althing is seated no appeals to the legislative body are published in the radio except those made by municipal cr rural authorities, agricultural and fish-industry congresses or other similar congresses, and important public meetings. Effect Upon M.P.’s Does the character of debates in the Althing change when the Althing goes on the air? Do politicians tend to use Althing broadcasts as an opportunity to address their voters? Are interjections commoner or less frequent during the hours when the debates are being broadcast? A + The character of the debates in * the Althing changes when the Althing goes on the air. The speeches are shorter and more concise. The politicians tend to use Althing broadcasts to address the voters. Interjections are not commoner during broadcast hours. All debaters must deliver their speeches from a tribune, which renders interjections less effective. Have you any indication whether * broadcasts from the Althing are popular with listeners? Have you any "Listener Research" organisation such as that which the BBC operates for discovering listeners’ preferences? A « We have from time to time investi- * gated what the wishes of our listeners are as regards programme material, but not with special reference to the political debates. It is a matter of no doubt, however, that no other programme material enjoys as much popularity as these debates. — Semi-Circular Seating How many members are there in * the Althing? What is the shape of their meeting place? How many microphones are used? A : The Althing consists of two Houses, * the upper and the lower. There are 52 members in all. The upper House has 17 members, who are elected by the joint Althing after every election, and the remaining 35 members are in the lower House. Bills are presented in both Houses, are first examined by special committees and later discussed three times in each House. If the Houses are not agreed the matter is taken up in joint Althing. The Budget Bill is only discussed in the joint Althing. The seats of the members form. a semi-circle in (continued on next page) A

(continued from previous page) front of a platform where the Speaker and the secretaries are seated. There are usually two microphones in each House when debates are broadcast, one by the Speaker and the other by the tribune. + Did \ political broadcasting go on "unchanged and uninterrupted during the war? A : Yes. : When did broadcasts from the AIthing begin? Have changes been made in the technique since the experiment first began, or do your arrangements still stand as they did in the first place? Have any proposed changes been held up by the war? Are any further experiments proposed for the future? A Broadcasts from the Althing began * im the very first years of broadcast activities. No substantial changes have been made since the beginning, no proposed changes have been held up by the war nor are any new changes or experiments proposed as yet. Control is Indirect O Is the Rikisutvarpid subject to -~* direct control from the Ministry of Education? Mr. Driscoll says in one sentence that it is an "independent organisation" and also "under the control, of the Ministry of Education." Does policy tend to alter substantially as power shifts from party to party in the Althing? Or do the members of the Programme Council act as a cushion between the service and the politicians? A: The Programme Council ‘consists of "five men who are elected by Althing (proportional representation). The Minister of Education appoints the

chairman among the elected members and hence the chairman usually is of the same political party as the Minister. Some alterations may take place as power shifts in the Althing, but as a rule the Programme Council acts as a cushion between the Service and the politicians. The News Bureau and the Advertisement Department are under the management of the General Director. He is appointed by the Ministry of Education and must have the Ministry’s sanction to engagement of employees and all pecuniary matters. State Sales Monopoly In the booklet "Broadcast in Iceland" and a supplement which Mr. Thorbergsson has sent us there are several other points about Iceland’s Service that have some interest for us in New Zealand. (The booklet, incidentally, seems to have been produced about 1943, possibly for the information of the occupying Americans, and the supplement is dated October 12, 1945.) When the Service.was established in 1930 there. were only about 450 receiving sets in the country (population 118,000) of about 100 different. trademarks. Importation was haphazard, and it soon became apparent that spare parts for all these makes of receiver tvould be hard to supply, and there could be no efficient repair service, so a sales monopoly on radio receivers was decided by law. Profits from this monopoly go to the State Broadcast Service, spare parts are obtainable, and the repair service operated by the Corporation is éfficient. Young men from various parts of the country were taught repair work, and repair tours were arranged. The Corporation has also subsidised battery-charging units in rural districts. The result of all this State assistance to listeners is'that in 13 years the number of receivers rose from 450 to 28,000, or 22 per cent of the population. They are expected to reach 30,000 when imports begin again. The Corporation has its office in Reykjavik. There are three transmitters, a powerful long-wave station at Reykjavik (100 kilowatts) whose’ programmes are relayed on medium wave from Eider, and a short-wave station at Reykjavik. Neutral but Sovereign Here is Mr, Thorbergsson’s report on the News Service (from the supplement to his booklet): "When the Broadcast Corporation was established the local newspapers had a a news bureau of their own, which had © reporters in most parts of the country. At first the Broadcast Corporation had co-operation with this bureau, but soon found that independence in this as well as in other respects was essential. "The political struggle has always been rather harsh here in Iceland as in most ‘countries of small population, and the news from the political parties was therefore usually not suitable for broadcasting. The Iaw pertaining to the Iceland ‘State Broadcast Service decides that the Service shall maintain strict neutrality towards all political parties, public viewpoints, Tee and _Private men, "It has not bens easy ‘to mainthin this rule and to avoid criticism from the

disputing parties. The News Service and the management of the Broadcasting Corporation are sovereign, i.e. they decide what news and advertisement are fit for broadcast publishing and even the Government of the country must abide by their decisions." Advertising Communications are still very difficult in Iceland. There are no failways, and even in summer some remote districts have no communication except by sea, so the radio is much used to break down this isolation. Broadcast advertisements, Mr. Thorbergsson. says, "enjoy everincreasing popularity," and they occupy 5.6 per cent of all broadcast time. The advertising revenues in 1944 were about one-third of the Corporation’s. total revenue. The licence fee is 60 kronur a year at present, and is to go up to 100 kronur to pay for a new broadcast-house now being planned. There are about 15 kronur to the New Zealand £. There are about 2,400 broadcast hours annually, or 46 hours a week, and the programmes are similar to those of other Scandinavian countries. Four languages are taught: Icelandic, Danish, English and German. One or two talks or a reading are daily features, and radio plays are broadcast once a week most of the year. The Corporation maintains a small orchestra and choir, and local singers and instrumentalists are engaged. The Icelanders have become very dependent on their broadcast service, by now. Most of them depend on the sea for their sustenance either from merchant ships or fishing boats, and radio has kept | them all in clpser touch than was possible before, Mr. Thorbergsson says. It has "bridged great distances, increased the knowledge and education of the most isolated inhabitants and urged cultural progress." Times Change Mr. Thorbergsson betrays no feeling of nostalgia im his final paragraph: "From early times it has been a national custom in Iceland that during the darkest winter days the families on the farms and in the rural parts of the cointry would gather in their living quarters with their handiwork, while someone would read aloud to them from the Sagas or some other literature of interest. This custom is abating somewhat, due to altered conditions, but the radio is now providing entertainment and education on broader lines with the aim of increasing the happiness and independence of each home and to strengthen the unity of all Icelanders into one national family, sounder and happier than ever before."