PUBLIC INTEREST

Radio Record, Volume I, Issue 27, 20 January 1928, Page 5

PUBLIC INTEREST

DEMANDS BY TELEPHONE

MORE CONSIDERATION WANTED.

The intense interest displayed in the trans-Tasman flight, and the reliance placed upon the Broadcasting Company, by the public for information in con« nection therewith, is indicated by the extent to which the telephones of 2YA' were bombarded by the public during the evening of Tuesday, the 10th, and the morning of January 11. Although the station was endeavouring to give the public the fullest possible service by broadcasting on relay from Trentham all news as it came to hand, so’ that listeners could be kept closely in touch with the situation, hundreds of © non-listeners bombarded the station by, telephone, and in many cases, although courteously given such information as wads available, undertook argument in ~ the hope of extracting more than could at first be stated. This is an evil which afflicts all | sources of information at times when events of moment are under way, and in the case of many newspaper offices forces the announcement on such oc casicus that telephone inquiries will not be answered. In the case of the Broadcasting Company, its first duty is to its listeners, who pay for the service it is able-to render, and in the case of non-listeners who ring the Broadcasting Company, the first re« ‘quirement might reasonably be a cours teous application and a ready accept~ ance of the information that is given Throughout the whole period of public anxiety in connection with the aviators, it is literally true that an employee wag stationed at the telephone to answer ine quiries. Inevitably under the stresg of the demand occasioned by public curiosity, there were long periods wher certain individuals on frequent ringing found the telephone engaged, and it is on record that some such persons, om eventually getting through to the come pany, were inconsiderate enough to res pay the company’s courtesy by alleging that the telephone receiver had dee liberatley been left off. Listeners who were in touch with 2YA and 3YA (which rebroadcast 2YA! on that occasion) will appreciate the special efforts made by the company to inform their clients and the public in general of the fortunes of the aviators, and will, we think, have little sympathy, with behaviour of the type we mene tion. It can be taken for granted that. it is the aim of the Broadcasting Com pany to give listeners, and the public in general, the fullest possible service through the medium that it has st command, and it is at any rate unreasonable for the execution of the service to be hindered by an unduly heavy demand on the part of the non-listening public for additional information per tele« phone.