A place claimed for TV violence

Press, 10 July 1979, Page 19

A place claimed for TV violence

NZPA London It would be irresponsible to censor real-life violence from television news programmes, a 8.8. C. chief has claimed. Richard Francis, the 8.8.C.’s director of news and current affairs, said that to cut out the “raw’ suffering of innocent victims of war and repression would be sanitising the truth.” He claimed that the real question about violent scenes was not if, but at what time of day, for how

long and with what warning they should be shown. Mr Francis, speaking at a dinner in London to celebrate the 25th anniversary ' of 8.8. C. television news, cited the case of A.B.C. reporter Bill Stewart. Stewart was shot by soldiers in Managua three weeks ago. Mr Francis said “that one act of barbarity,” shown in millions of homes around the world on the same day, proved to have sealed the fate of

President Somoza, such was its impact on American public and political opinion. “Those 45 seconds of television illustrated that television news does not just provide a view of history in the making, but sometimes it cannot avoid contributing to the history that was made,” said Mr Francis.“It would have been irresponsible of the 8.8. C. not to show the death of that courageous reporter,” he said.