PUBLIC OPINION

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 22, 16 December 1927, Page 4

PUBLIC OPINION

BROADCASTERS, LISTENERS AND PRESS

LIGHT BEHIND THE SCINES.

(By

D.M.

E.

Let us be fair. That the opinions and desires of the broadcast listeners -of New Zealand are, worthy ,of .consid, eration by the Radio Broadcasting Coimpany of New Zealand is :ndisputable. ‘he Broadcasting Company cannot fail to realise that its own prosperity .and the general success of broadcasting in the Dominion is inseparable from the desires of the people it-serves.. But to gauge ‘the opinions and: wishes of its patrons is no easy matier for the company. ‘The position is calculated to become more complex and _ baffling when the opinions and desires of a few obtain wife publicity per medium of the. Press Association and daily Press. . As a concrete example let us instance the case of a recent meeting of the Amateur Radio Society of Wellington. At the. outset we cannot but commend the enthusiasm and good intentions of the nucleus of its members, who have kept that body alive despite the inexplicable apathy of the general body of listeners during the four or five years of its existence, Attractive and instructive lecturettes and demonstrations have been given from time to time at the meetings of the society, but despite this, ont of a population of some 8000 broadcast listeners in and around Wellington the membership of the society is less than 100 In cold figures this means that at a 100 per cent, attendance of members they represent only one listener out of every eighty resident in and around Wellington. Nobody could ;easonaby caim that such a mecting was duly representative of the Wellington listeners. But the worst. has yet to be told. The recent meeting of the societv, the resolutions from which gained Dominion-wide publicity, was attended by only 24 members, or about one-quarter of the full membership, and, in comparative terms, represented one out of every 320 local listeners without any mandate cr expression of opinion from .the 7976 listeners who were not present. Yo stress the matter further, at the said meeting exactly six members took any active part in the discussions of ventured to voice any opinions or wishes. The remainder of those present displayed a docile apathy in the transactions of the meeting; indeed,.a pro: portion never troubled to raise their hands for or against the resolutions which were ‘carried nunanimously.’’ Again, I must emphasise my sympathy for the live spirits who are fighting vear in and year out to awaken the interest of listeners. They merit more generous support, for it is only through combined effort and interest upon the part of listeners . generally that the popularity of the broadcast service can he stimulated.

Indeed, the Broadcasting Company has plainly stated that it welcomes and desires to forward the formas tion of listeners’ leagues and so= cieties. I'he executive of the Wellington So‘iety is blameless in the matter; the lame actually attaches to the vast yody of unattached listeners themselves. It is a matter for regret, also, that the New Zealand daily Press generally appears to regard broadcast: ing with more or less antagonism, frequently stressing every com: plaint whether supported by fact or not. Possibly the management of some papers faiuously consider. broadcasting as a menace to the Press, but if they were to investigate the relations between the Press aud broadcasting in countries abroad they would find that there is a hearty co-operation between these two great servants of the public, with undoubted and frankly admitted mutual advantage. Nearer home we find in all the Australian cities a liberal news service broadcast through the co-oper-ation of one of the daily papers in each centre. It has been definitely established that rather than reduce the circulations of the papers concerned broadcasting has increased their sales. The time is over-ripe for the Broad: casting Company to devise some method of getting into closer touch with listeners, so that a greater measure of satisfaction to the geieral body of its patrons can be attained. It is up to the company to move now. In the meantime listeners must not be misled by the cultivated Press dissemination of so-called ‘‘unanimous’’ resolutions, which frequently express nothing but the view of one man and the apathy of a few associates. ERP aa ee ee pe Se a