News For Islands.

Increasing Use of Radio,

The term “coconut wireless” is ap plied to items of news (principally of a “hush-hush’’ nature, released in the early morning) to indicate that no re liance can be placed on the information circulated.

But more and more wireless sets of the genuine type are coming into use here and the morning news dissemin ated for discussion is gradually being raised to a better and more reliable level.

As a means of entertainment for is land residents, a radio set is possibly unsurpassed. This was demonstrated to us at Rarotonga by the recent broadcast programmes specially sent for the benefit of the Pacific peoples, during the progress of the Olympic Games at Los Angeles.

These programmes were broadcast from the Olympic Stadium, Vivid de scriptions of the stadium and the events were given nightly. Competi tors from countries in and around the Pacific spoke over the air to their friends and relatives.

The radio is in many ways the next best thing to a daily newspaper. At Rarotonga, we have no daily or weekly newspaper. Our closest association with the printing press is ‘‘The Pacific Islands Monthly.”