‘Conditioning’ charge

Press, 10 December 1981, Page 3

‘Conditioning’ charge

PA Wellington The Social Credit League has criticised the news media for using the term, “hung Parliament.” The league’s leader (Mr Beetham) said yesterday that the news media use of the

phrase to-describe-the present political situation was “conditioning-the public mind to the notion that it will be Social Credit’s fault if the present situation does not work . . .” By using the phrase, he said, newspapers, radio, and television were “implying that as it stands the Parliamentary system will not work when, in fact, it is highly likely that it may be forced to work much better

with the Government having to argue its case fully and convincingly in open Parliament to win majority support, and with the Opposition being given a more positive and constructive role than the simple negative opposition of the past. “Moreover, the news media, by repeatedly using the term, ‘hung Parliament,’ are playing exactly the game the National and Labour parties want them to play in conditioning the public mind to the notion that it will be Social Credit’s fault if the present situation does not work, when it is much more likely to be the intolerance of the Government or the power-seeking of the official Opposition that causes the present situation to fail.”