THE H.B. TRIBUNE TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 1936. BROADCASTING.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XXVI, Issue 149, 9 June 1936, Page 6

THE H.B. TRIBUNE TUESDAY, JUNE 9, 1936. BROADCASTING.

On the assumption which the party at present in power would seem to have made—possibly on rather scant grounds — that the people wish the Government to take the running of all affairs of the country directly and completely into its own hands there is nothing very much at which to cavil in the new Broadcasting Bill presented to Parliament last night. It is quite in line with other powers that have already been taken and are in declared contemplation that our Government should, in addition to fulfilling the functions of the now to be abolished Broadcasting Board, also sart the business of an advertising agency. To this, on the assumption already made, no great exception can be taken. If the Government is to become a business concern and, as such, a kind of universal provider aiming at an eventual monopoly, then broadcasting is an undertaking that lies ready to its hands at relatively small cost, either past or future, for its equipment. It is also a comparatively new enterprise still capable of very considerable expansion and, if properly managed, of being made profitable. If it should prove otherwise it will not be for any lack of authority on the part of the Government to make the most and the best of it, for in this as in other matters the Government has made itself completely master of the situation. That it means to make a thorough-going job of it is shown by the fact that it is intended to create an entirely new department, with a whole-time Minister of its own to supervise and direct its activities. There would thus seem to be all the necessary initial elements for success in this new business undertaking of the State, provided, as said before, a competent head can be found and a fully qualified, experienced and efficient staff organised. As a purely business concern, therefore, its development will be watched with a very great deal of interest, with possibly some hope that it may be mad'- revenue-producing and so relieve the taxpayers of the country of some of the heavy burden they have to carry. It is, however, upon the social side of the ' question that the Government would seem to lay most emphasis, the idea being apparently to provide both instruction and entertainment for the people. Perhaps in this regard it may be that, in the quest for popularity, the factor of profit will be lost sight of. But if, ,as the principles it has adopted declare, the Government’s ultimate purpose is to reduce all means of production, distribution and exchange under its own control, then it is evidently essential that

at least some of its enterprises should be run on a profit-making basis. It is obvious that the more business the Government takes from private enterprise the less will become the taxpaying capacity of the community. In fact, in the end it will be to profits from its own business undertakings that the Government will have to look for the bulk of the revenue necessary for fulfilling its ordinary governmental functions and the many social benefits it proposes to confer. It might be as well therefore if this aspect of the case were kept in view from the outset of this reorganisation of broadcasting services. The Government makes no attempt to disguise that in what it is doing it is very largely actuated by political motives. It is anxious, so the Prime Minister says, that the people should be fully apprised of what it has done, is doing, and is about to do. This no doubt is a quite praiseworthy purpose, but its boast is scarcely in keeping with the very little use the Government has so made of already available means of publicity to let the people know what its financial policy and programme really are. On this, the most important point of all, the people are. just as much in profound Cimmerian darkness as they were when the Government took office more than six months ago. As to the general complaint so loudly voiced by Labour members that the Press of the Dominion has failed to give them the publicity that is their due, that is obviously merely a little poltical and perhaps pardonable trick. It may be left for the public themselves to judge. There has probably never been a time when the sayings and doings of a new Government, both in and out of Parliament, have been as fully recorded in the daily Press. Nor is it to be forgotten that this has been done at very heavy expense. The telegraphic transmission of parliamentary news has already cost the newspapers of the country some scores of thousands of pounds, which, by the way, have all gone co swell the Government’s purse, a little fact which Mr. Savage apparently overlooks. If in his handling of broadcasting publicity he deals as fairly with the Opposition as the Press has done with him and his colleagues there will be little ground for complaint on its part.