They Want Their

Argument Over P-Ng

News Broadcasts

News More Often

Some of New Guinea, ap parently, is still dissatisfied with the radio news service it gets from the Australian Broadcasting

Commission.

A MEETING of the Morobe Dis trict Advisory Council in August took the ABC to task for re fusing to agree with its request for a mid-day news broadcast.

The ABC manager in Port Moresby had said that a P-NG news bulletin already was broadcast at 7 p.m., 9 pm. and 7 a.m., and to repeat exactly the same bulletin again at noon—17 hours after the original reading—would not be progressive.

The council disagreed with this reply and has now asked the ABC to reconsider its decision.

The New Guinea Courier, Lae’s new weekly newspaper, threw in its let with the council, and in an editorial referred to the ABC’s “urban thinking”, adding that it was “highly probable that a survey would disclose a sweeping prefer ence for mid-day broadcasts, even as a substitute for the late evening session.”

It also talked about the ABC’s

“responsibilities”.

Long Arguments

I Personally, I hope the ABC stays firm.

Arguments over the broadcasting of P-NG news bulletins have been going on for years now. Most critics seem to miss the real point, which is that you can’t do anything to improve the service until you in crease the number of news reporters.

Until that is done, it is merely fiddling with the matter to change broadcast times. .Only one ABC journalist compiles the P-NG bulletins. He works longer than a regular working week, and is constantly being handicapped by poor communications in a country which always has had a cwnmunications problem (although mg strides have been made in the tast few years). . Ke can produce only the one Bulletin a day, and the reason this is repeated is that some Territory radio listeners are unable to get clear reception at all times.

But you could knock me over with a radio beam if a survey disclosed A peeping preference for mid cay broadcasts.”

When, for my sins a few years K a n Job of producing the NG bulletins, there was a noon

repeat bulletin of the news. But after a few tours about the Terri tory, during which my ears got redder and redder, I found that this broadcast drove to distraction more listeners than it satisfied, because most already had heard it three times before.

But the ABC didn’t take my word for it. It invited listeners’ views on whether the noon bulletin should be retained.

"Irritating"

This invitation was broadcast for three weeks, just about every hour on the hour and it became as irritat ing as those noon broadcasts.

All this publicity drew, I think,

seven replies, one of which told the ABC what it could do with all its nows sessions.

Another, from somewhere in the Highlands, around Minj or Hagen I think, explained that they were un to receive any but the noon bulletin.

The other replies all said the noon bulletin was simply more convenient because they were doing other things at earlier news times.

This response could not be re garded as one of overwhelming enthusiasm for a continuation of th Q noon broadcasts. Yet, the ABC still could not make up' its mind to drop them.

It sent round a technician with

a box of tricks to see what the re ception really was like. He reported that there was nothing wrong with mid-day reception if the customers in diificult places would take the ordinary precaution of putting aerials on their sets.

And having digested all this, the ABC decided the best way of avoid ing accusations of doing the wrong thing was perhaps, after all, to do nothing. So the broadcasts stayed!

Eventually the broadcasts were dropped, but not in my time. There can be no point in restoring them now unless they can contain some fresh news, and for that there has to be another journalist.

There are tinpot towns in Aus tralia with two ABC reporters, yet P-NG, which can be likened to a State, and which the special dif ficulties of news gathering, three newspapers, and a full-time corre spondent to watch the interests of the AAP-Reuter newsagency, has only the one.

For one man, he does a first-class job. But these days one man can’t properly carry out the important task of giving all the news to such a vast territory.

If the ABC falls down on the job of supplying more staff, then will be the time to remind it of its re sponsibilities. But it’s not a fair accusation on the present issue.—

Stuart Inder.