THE RACING GAG.

Radio Record, Volume II, Issue 4, 10 August 1928, Page 6

THE RACING GAG.

THE effort that is being made by the racing authorities to gag broadcasting and completely prevent the public from receiving early news of results will certainly not win public fayour. The volume of correspondence which we have received since the restrictive aims of the two cottferences was made public, quite sufficiently shows the tenor of public opinion, A selection of those letters is published elsewhere in this issue. They qtite abundantly show the authorities concerned that the public is not deceived by the reasons advanced, and is dis‘appointed at the failure of the conferences to weigh adequately ail factors and give due regard to the unquestionable interest developed in racing on the part of distant listeners, atid the joy thereby given to a wide circle of those who are loyal supporters of racing in their own locality. e [T was represented in connection with the decisions of the . conferences that while they were prohibiting the broadcasting of descriptions of the races, facilities equal to those afforded the Press would be available to representatives of the company for the collection and distribution of information. This proves not to be so, Correspondence which has passed between the conferences and the company show that there is a tag attached to the "liberty" proposed to be given. The condition sought to be imposed is that publication of the information gathered shall not be made until the evening sessions, by which time, of _coutse, every person in the country interested in the result will have secured the news from the evening papers. — This is a. most extraordinary attempt to suppress and delay information. In declining to avail itself of the proffered privileges while so restricted, the Broadcasting Company has done the right thing it would have definitely failed listeners had it done otherwise. "THE Press exists. primarily as a medium for the distribution of news, and in the larger centres ol population those papers secure the greatest measure of public favour which are most active in their enterprise and carry the news first to the public. . No journal would ever consent to be bound, in its report of public proceedings, to allow hours to elapse before publishing news it was entitled to publish. The history of journalism: is full of stories of dashing enterprise and resourcefulness in securing and publishing news‘ of value. . The first fournalist who defied an order. for suppression was John Wilkes.

ote The House of Commons forbade the reporting of its proceedings. \Wilkes defied the House). and successfully asserted the rights of the people to news-and early news. : 4 THE Broadcasting Company is quite -within its :rights in announcing that to serve the listening public -with. the-news ¢ te of public events to which if is entitled, it will broadcast as.soon ¥ as available the results of races at meetings which are of suffi- © cient public interest. More, it will win the-favour. of listeners | if it shows enterprise in securing those results: with’as little. detay.~.-.. as possible. The action of hte racing authorities in proposing special treatment of broadcasting is not likely ‘to be approved by the public. The proposal is illogical and unfair. If the authorities are desirous for their own purposes of preventing all information as to proceedings leaking out till afterwards, it should at least do: the job properly, and prohibit the afternoon Press from publishing early results ; further, all telephone com-. munication between the ground and the outside world should be cut off: even a forty-foot board fence might be erécted ‘round every course. in the country! Without these measures in’ stpport of the policy of suppression, the demands of the racing authorities look suspiciously like victimisation of broadcasting. Why should broadcasting be penalised in this. fashion’. . -_-_-