Regional cover cuts criticised

Press, 2 September 1977, Page 11

Regional cover cuts criticised

Cuts m television’s regional coverage in New Zealand have drawn sharp cticism from the ditor of TVl’s newsroom in Dunedin, Alan Brady. He has resigned his post, for personal and professional reasons, after two and a half years and will farm 16 acres of land in Central Otago and work part-time on a weekly paper in Queenstown, ' .Mountain Scene." One of his reasons for leaving television has been TVl’s down-grading of regional news, particularly in Otago and Southland. By ROY MURPHY "Television is losing contact with people at grass roots, and this is where it should count,” Brady says. The length of regional programmes has been cut and reductions in budgets mean that some stories are not being covered. Regions receive only seven minutes a night during the week, and 15 minutes on Sunday night, once a month. Alan Brady considers this is not enough. "I have never been satisfied about it, and have brought it up at every conference of regional heads we have had. “I have never felt we could do the region justice in seven minutes during the week — this is an area of television being seriously neglected in New Zealand.” Mr Brady says that telvision still covers major news, but now thinks twice about covering events in outlying areas that involve air travel or overnight accommodation. Sometimes, the decision is made not to cover the particular story. Alan Brady sums up the present approach to news and current affairs regionally by saying that television will bring viewers as much news as it can afford. He agrees that TV should work to a budget, but strongly disagrees that regional programmes should get the axe first. He believes strongly that television is there to serve the community, and maintains there is a huge audience interest in ‘‘parish pump” affairs. “Most items we do would lend themselves to longer treatment,” Mr Brady says. “They would be better if they were extended. Seven minutes is too short a time to be shaped into a programme — you cannot give it any style or shape.” Mr Brady is an experienced journalist. Aged 41, he worked for news’ papers in the United Kingdom and for the "Otago Daily Times” in Dunedin. He transferred to television in 1970, worked initially for news, and spent two and a half years in current affairs, first on a s h o r t-lived programme called “Saturday,” and then making 30-minute documentaries for the weekly programme, “Inquiry.” The change from the N.Z.B.C. opened the way

for new ideas and creativity, he said. “All sorts of energies were unleashed that had been restrained before by the N.Z.B.C. and kept under wraps. The new setup gave confidence to voice them.” But he considers the situation is slowly going back to what it was previously. People are much more cautious, and decisions take longer. “It is hard for a public corporation to retain the energy we had,” Mr Brady says. “It is inevitable that it becomes bureaucratic — you spend a couple of years in a job and begin to protect your position instead of being adventure

ous.” From criticisms he has received from the public while in the job, Alan Brady feels people do not understand television’s role or how it works. “People see a one-min-ute report of a conference on television and think they have seen it all,” he says. “They have not, and have to go to the newspapers for detail.” Television, however, has the greatest impact and can show’ things as they actually happen. But its major limitation is time; the story has to be told in less than two minutes. This means that the reporter has to make a lot of judgments under pressure, based on his knowledge and his instinct as a journalist. "There are inevitable limitations,” Mr Brady says. “Too often, reporters are blamed for biased editorial selection when it is the technical limitation of the medium itself that is to blame.” But he considers TV is now much better at condensing and summarising events. During the last two years a first generation of television journalists has emerged, and for the first time journal’ ists working i the medium have been thinking exclusively in TV terms and developing the necessary skills. Now it is back to the grass roots for Mr Brady himself, to “where little things, politics on a small scale, and community affairs are very important.” He will be doing what he likes best, ferreting out interesting local stories and personalities.