Censoring Broadcasts

Press, Volume LXX, Issue 21124, 27 March 1934, Page 8

Censoring Broadcasts

Those who lisiened on Sunday night to the broadcast of Mr Shaw's t»lr.y " Androcles and the Lion " did not miss much through the omission of the epilogue at the order of the broadcasting authorities, "he epilogue is not one of Mr Shaw's happier efforts; and it is difficult to believe that those who were in charge of the programme on Sunday night would have included it had they been able. Nevertheless, there are two aspects of the incident which deserve attention. The first is that the epilogue is not banned, as it might well have been banned, because it would offend many listeners without adding to anyone's enjoyment or understanding of the play. It was banned for the preposterous reason that it was ' controversial." The ban on controversial matter is understandable I

as a means of preventing politicians and interested persons from using broadcasting facilities to influence public opinion on current political issues, even though, as we have frequently pointed out, its strict application must heavily restrict the usefulness of broadcasting as a medium for educating public opinion. It is significant that the British . Broadcasting Corporation considers it better to give both sides of a controversial issue rather than to ignore it. But the attempt to apply the ban on controversial matter to literature and art is unreasonable and absurd. If the gentleman who censored the programme on Sunday night had been consistent he would have forbidden the play as well as the epilogue. He would also have informed those in charge of Station 3ZM that he could not allow the broadcast of any of Mr Shaw's plays or, indeed, of almost any serious play written in the last 50 years. The second aspect of the incident which requires attention is that the censoring was done by the district radio inspector, who, as the title of his office implies, is concerned primarily and mainly with the technical and administrative side of broadcasting. The same arrangement, apparently, applies throughout the Dominion. It is surely unreasonable to expect district radio engineers to pronounce authoritatively on art and literature and to thrust upon them the most difficult task that confronts any broadcasting organisation: the task of deciding what is suitable and what is not suitable to be broadcast.