FROM THE ARCHIVES:The appointment of Erskine Childers to the ministry which controlled Radio Éireann gave hope to the station's staff that its stultifying atmosphere might change, according to the Irish Timesradio critic known by the initials G.H. – JOE JOYCE
REPORTS FILTERING through from Radio Éireann suggest hope has recently begun to stir once more in the unhappy, frustrated hearts of many artists and staff. Of late, I am told, footsteps have been lighter in R.É., gloomy nods of mutual commiseration have given place to bright smiles of greeting, and a pleasant atmosphere of expectancy inhabits the main corridor and studios.
The reason is the interest said to be displayed by Mr. Erskine Childers, the new Minister for Posts and Telegraphs, in broadcasting affairs. Mr. Childers, it is said, has begun well by asking a lot of questions, and it is generally felt that some sort of reorganisation of the broadcasting services must inevitably result
Much of the dissatisfaction over R.É. is caused by the fact the basic structure of the service is seen to be faulty. However much we may be assured that the authorities are anxious to provide us with as good a broadcasting service as possible, we must doubt the good faith of these assurances until steps are taken to organise the service in a way that will permit it to function impartially and efficiently.
It cannot be said to function thus at present since it remains under the direct control of the Government, and is conducted without any reference to the views or reactions of the public. The evils of direct Government control of a monopoly system of broadcasting are too obvious to need stressing. It has never been suggested, of course, that any of our successive Governments has harboured sinister motives in retaining control of broadcasting.
The service remains in the hands of the Government partly because it was originally found that it could be run at a handsome profit, partly through a lack of interest in its potentialities when conducted by an independent body enjoying the confidence of the public, and partly because of the well-known reluctance of Governments to interfere with the status quo, except in response to overwhelming public demand. But, inevitably, Government influence has made itself felt in the selection of programmes and in the editing of news.
Stories at all likely to embarrass the Government are debarred from the microphone, and since such topics are usually of public interest and concern, listeners are thus deprived of a great deal of the kind of information and enlightenment which it should be one of the first duties of a monopoly broadcasting service to provide.
The fact the R.É. Authorities have no way of telling whether programmes are reaching the audiences aimed at, or of sounding audience reaction, means the station is working entirely in the dark. This accounts, to a large extent, for the poor quality of so many of the R.E. programmes.
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