Viewers’ views

Press, 7 July 1977, Page 15

Viewers’ views

Rodney Bryant Sir, — It is not normal practice for TV2 to answer viewers’ letters to newspapers because people are entitled to express their opinions. However, the letter written by your correspondent, H. Bond, and published on Monday, July 4, is so wide of the mark that it needs some help in the interests

of accuracy. I was allowed by 3ZB “to take up most of the time” on the talkback show because I was invited by the producer precisely to take up most of the time — in endeavouring to field listeners’ questions. I did not go on to the programme to explain why Mr Bryant left South Pacific Television to take up a better paid job. Mr Bryant quite properly provided his own explanation in a recorded interview. I did not “forget to mention that South Pacific Television had already offered Mr Bryant a lower paid job than the

one he already had.” In fact I answered two questions from the show’s host (Graham Billing) on that topic. Replying to the first question, I said, in part, “As Mr Bryant said in last night’s newspaper, he was offered a staff job in the Christchurch newsroom and, after some negotiations, I understood it had all worked out. However, he told me yesterday (the day he resigned) another company made him an offer he could not refuse.” To the second question on the same topic I replied, in part, “In no way were we going to shake Rod-

ney’s hand and watch him go down the road. That is why we opened the way for him to negotiate a staff job in our news service.” South Pacific Television did not ask Mr Bryant to take a cut in salary as H. Bond again wrongly recalls. Mr Bryant does not work for this organisation on salary. He works on contract and most contract figures throughout the television world are higher than salaries paid to staff. — MAURICE SMYTH, Programme Manager, South Pacific Television, Christchurch.