B.B.C. VISITOR TO DOMINION

Pahiatua Herald, Volume XLXII, Issue 15242, 7 January 1943, Page 3

8.8. C. VISITOR TO DOMINION

TO ENQUIRE INTO PROGRAMME REACTION AMAZING DAILY TASKS OF CORPORATION. •A STOREHOUSE OF KNOI'WLEDGE.” Electric Telegraph—press Association WELLINGTON, Jan. 7. I am licit here to tell tile people about the 8.8. C. but to get peopie to tell me what they think about it. said Mr N. C. Tritton, who cam e from the London offices of the 8.8. C. to inquire into tine reactions to its programme, assess public taste in England and ascertain whether anything can. be done to .improve the service to this country.

An Australian, Mr Tritton was private secretary to Air Alenzies, Prime Miuister of Australia, when the latter went to London about two years ago and Air Tritton remained as an officii of th c Pacific service, oi tli<. 8.8.C'. He said that broadcasting was very expensive to British taxpayers and in these days of difficulty of manpower it was necessary to be as efficient as it could be. Ihe measure of efficiency was the extent to .which the service provided was satisfactory to tlio audience and Hiat was what lie wa« trying to ti.ua °nt. That applied, of course, on»> to Empire and Allied countries ; “there are some countries to which we talk whether they like it or not,” lie said.

The 8.8. C. transmitted 107 regular news bulletin* daily in 10 different languages and every time ’t vvetfit on the aii-, whatever was said was said to all peoples although transmissions were zoned to different parts of the world a,t different times. Tile broadcasts were aud,ibi»j 111 many - different) countries and news had to be framed in world *»v*. spective It is the belief of the 8.8. C. that tine underlying necessity of a public broadcasting service was that its news should be true and if put that belief into practice. News was collected f; om news agencies and departments of State in London and from foreign broadcasting tions.

lo monitor foreign broadcasts the 8.8.C 1 . had a staff of more than 500 people who. because of the shortage ol manpower. worked 12 hours a day. They monitored every station receivable in Britain. in all languages and recorded over a million words a day. Information thus eo.» veyed was reduced daily to « 50,000 word precis, which went to service departments and the* foreign office and was used by the 8.8. C. itself • a the composition of its own bulletins and to combat Axis propaganda. Tile staff of the 8.8. C.. which was the largest broadcasting concern in the world, numbered nearly 10,003 and there were many New Zealanders on it. It performed other se* vices besides broadcasting, its monitoring work, for example, was of great value to the country aiul in addition <t was a storehouse oi knowledge and iinformation of every aspect of broadcasting. Since tin* outbreak of war its technical facilu ties had been strengthened enormously. alternative transmitters and studios had been built as a precaution against war damage to any one building and despite heavy bomb damage, the 8.8. C. had never been off the :\ir. a claim neither Berlin» nor Rome could make. On, one occasion pieoes of concrete dislodged by a bomb fell about a news reader ass lue delivered a bulletou but. apart from a slight pause, there was no break in his reading. People in the building were killed by that explosion but next morning breakfast was prepared for 500 ]h*oplo on duty by nameless heroes whose only eookiug apparatus were two |>rimus stoves. Mi* Tritton emphasised his anxiety to hear New Zealand comment on the service and letters addressed to him. care of the National Broadca*ting Service, would be very welcome.