FATHER KNOX'S STORY.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 15, 19 January 1926, Page 7

FATHER KNOX'S STORY.

ENGLAND ALL AGOG. BROADCASTING A REVOLUTION FICTION STRANGER THAN TRUTH. (By Cable.—Press Association.—Copyright.) LOXDOX, Janunry IS An ultra-original item in Saturday's wireless entertainment as broadcasted from London has resulted in sharp criticism of the British Broadcasting Company. Father Ronald Knox, a well known Roman Catholic preacher, whoso reputation for wit is equal to that of his brother (known as "Evoe") of "Punch." delivered and broadcasted a skit which professed to described a Communist revolution in London. Father Knox, speaking as wireless announcer, described the receipt of the news that the Houses of Parliament had been blown up, that the National Gallery had been sacked and that the Savoy Hotel had been invaded. The description was punctuated by shoutings of a mob and the noise of explosions. So realistic were these that many listeners-in forgot that Father Knox was a humorist and believed that London was really in the hands of the Communists. Hundreds of listeners-in telephoned to London anxiously inquiring for confirmation of the news. Throughout Sunday inquiries continued to come from the more remote villages, although the Broadcasting Company had long before stated that the address was a skit. The consternation arising out of Father Knox's imaginative bulletins continued throughout Sunday. The Broadcasting Company was forced to continue issuing its reassuring explanations and apologies. A controversy has arisen concerning the wisdom of broadcasting items which are likely to be misleading. The company points out that the bulletins which caused the trouble were so fantastic that they should not have been misunderstood. The newspaper "Sketch" expresses the opinion that the panic was so genuine that the matter cannot be allowed to rest. The company, it says, lailcd to realise that the vcoiie do not sit with their head-phones clamped to their rars all night long, but pick up thi , . phones occasionally, and for that reason they could easily miss the preliminary tnnounceroent. ' The incident showe that everybody does not take the same\?ize i:i jokes. The people now know better than to accept anything as news until they have seen it in print.— (A. and N.Z.—vSuu.")

SHOCK TO WOMEN. LIABILITY OF COMPANY. (Received 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, January IS. (Many women are suffering from shock as a result of Father Knox's broadcasted riot "joke," and the question arises as to the broadcasting company's liability for damages. The non-arrival of the Sunday newspapers owing to enow-blocked railways intensified the alarm in isolated districts, where it is still believed the news is being censored.

The "Daily Express" says that the company's discreditable piece of folly might have had serious results if it had been perpetrated at holiday time, when the newspaper offices are closed, because wireless showed itself incapable of overtaking the rumour.— (A. and X.Z.)

COMPANY COMPLACENT. SCOTS SAW THE JOKE. (Received 12.30 p.m.) LONDON, January 18. The Broadcasting Company regards complacently the outburst against the burlesque news. It received hundreds of appreciative letters, and says it was mainly lowlanders, and not Scottish, who failed \o enjoy the joke. The company asks: "Was it conceivable we should immediately follow the disastrous news with a jazz band? But the fact thta a single individual was deceived js a matter for regret, and we promise to prevent a recurrence." —(A. and N.Z.)