OPEN FORUM BROADCASTS TO START NEXT WEEK

Greymouth Evening Star, 15 October 1947, Page 7

OPEN FORUM BROADCASTS TO START NEXT WEEK

(SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT) WELLINGTON, This Day. New Zealanders will hear their first open forum broadcast on controversial matters from Station 2YA, Wellington, on Monday night. This will be the first attempt by the Government to initiate its promised series of controversial broadcasts based on the popular wartime programmes of the 8.8. C. in London.

The idea of broadcasting talks and discussions on controversial subjects, in addition to regular Parliamentary fare, has been considered by the Government for several months’past. Mr J. R. Marshall (Opposition, Mount Victoria) recently asked the Minister in charge of Broadcasting, Mr Jones, in the House of Representatives when this series was to commence. Mr Jones replied that it was hoped to inaugurate the series at an early date. The talks would be on selected controversial subjects by speakers representing different points of view.

Trials and Experiments

Since this statement the talks department of the National Broadcasting Service has been busily engaged with trials and experiments. The first fruits of their labours will be heard from 2YA on Monday night, when four Wellington residents will debate the pros, and cons, of consumer co-operatives. The talk is a recorded one, which is largely impromptu, and the discussion rages around the co-operative stores established recently in the Hutt Valley which have been a subject of political controversy. Officials of the Broadcasting Service with whom I talked today are reticent about future plans, as a statement is expected shortly by the Minister. It is learned, however, that they hope to gather several panels of accomplished speakers by early November when the . series proper will begin.

Of interest to listeners in the country districts will be the second broadcast series, which will deal with the 40-hour week as applied to farm-' ing. It is believed that one of the speakers will be Mr B. Roberts, a former Minister/Of Agriculture. Typical N.Z. Reserve

The principal difficulty facing the broadcasting authorities is to discover sufficient fluent conversationalists who are able to mainain an intelligent uninterrupted half-hour discussion. The subjects will be unrehearsed and the idea is for the chairman to resolve the discussion into several main points, which each member of the panel discusses. The broadcasting officials have already had many trial runs, but in most cases typical. New Zealand reserve and for “er” spoilt many recordings. The broadcasting moguls realise that the public can have too much of these subjects, particularly when the House of Representatives is sitting. The difficulty is to broadcast these open forum talks on a night when Parliament is not sitting. Monday was the chosen night, but the. possibility of future sittings of the House on Mondays may make it necessary to shift to Friday nights. The first of New 'Zealand’s open forum broadcasts may not be on the high level set by the 8.8. C., but experience should make them a valuable contribution to the broadcasting service.