CONTROVERSY ON THE AIR
SirYour editorial of November 1 seems a little unfair to listeners who enjoy broadcasts of the Brains Trust type. You say that controversy on the air really means "Speakers contradicting one another and quarrelling in front of the microphone." Surely your picture is greatly overdrawn. Many of us really like to hear various aspects of any given question; in fact, one of the charms of your writing is your habit of encouraging the judicial frame of mind in your readers. When we have listened to parsons or persons dealing with the teachings of ‘men who firmly believed, among other beliefs, that the world was flat, would it not be most interesting to hear also the talks and ideas of men trained in
the spirit of, modern scientific research dealing with the same topics which were of vital interest to the men of bygone days. For example, all parsons talk of a spiritual state-"God is a spirit"-yet spiritualism is barred as a topic for broadcasting, as is also everything relating to psychic research. Why should this be? We are not all mental cripples. We can take it-and like it. A questing spirit of controversial curiosity is the’ very salt of life, Sixty years ago authorities. would have prohibited discussion on the marvels of radio and atomic power.
A. T.
SMITH
(Whangarei).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 391, 20 December 1946, Page 5
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224CONTROVERSY ON THE AIR New Zealand Listener, Volume 16, Issue 391, 20 December 1946, Page 5
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