British Govt’s control of news attacked

Press, 30 August 1984, Page 22

British Govt’s control of news attacked

NZPA staff correspondent London A strong attack on the British Government’s protection of State facts set the scene at the International Television Festival in Edinburgh. In an opening address Granada Television’s chairman, Sir Denis Forman, said the increasing tendency of “Governments to manage news” had become “an obsession” in Britain.

Calling for renewed vigilance he expressed concern about the recent “surge of legal activity” designed to “hamper every contentious programme.

“The resulting suspicion of Government protection is that the motive is frequently not so much to protect the security of the State as the political comfort of Ministers,” he said.

He regretted the failure by British media to cut out “political stunts”, citing the way in which the D-Day anniversary was selected to present a party political broadcast — in particular for “one highly-placed transatlantic politician who is soon to seek re-election.”

“There is something unpleasant in the way this news event was conducted over the dead bodies of the

victims of D-Day.” He said he believed that “the mild Socialist breeze” which stirred in the news media 15 years ago was being replaced by a “brisk wind from the opposite quarter. “This is not yet felt so much on screen but in the draughty corridors behind it. It carries with it a coarsening of the perception of society and a more ready acceptance of Right must be right.” Sir Denis also criticised the Government for its "meagre” £1.5 million stimulus to the film industry.