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Show THE AMERICAN WAY IP SO YOU HATE RADIO PLUGS 'O; ' m By Geors Peck mJj2kL HAVE you fallen for the "pap" peddled by the Commies and Left-Wingers who loudly proclaim pro-claim that radio broadcasting would be. greatly improved if only the government could get radio stations away from those terrible individuals who run those horrible sponsored programs pro-grams with those obnoxious commercial com-mercial plugs? If so, before you plump in your vote for govern-iment govern-iment ownership of radio, I respectfully res-pectfully suggest that you take a peek at the radio situation up in Canada. Our good neighbor has both privately-owned and government-owned radio stations The Canadian people have had an excellent opportunity to hear both in action, to compare and to judge between them. THE PRINTED WORD, of Toronto (Canada), widely read and quoted monthly, carries an editorial in its current issue entitled en-titled "New Threat To The C. B. C." This article should convince con-vince anyone that Uncle Sam should keep his paralyzing hands off of radio. From here on I quote it: There is a fairly strong agitation agi-tation in the United States to have the radio stations and networks net-works taken over by the federal government. Which goes to show that some people in that country don't know when they are well off. A government radio in the United States, presumably without with-out advertising, would bring, incidentally, quick starvation to the Canadian government radio. For the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation cannot live on its license fees; it cannot live on revenue from Canadian advertising, adverti-sing, because there simply just aren't enough Canadian advertisers adver-tisers big enough to create e-nough e-nough good programmes for network net-work broadcasting. The Hollywood Holly-wood and New York shows are the meat and drink for the C.B. C. and its listeners. The C.B.C.'s own shows are mainly just the dull table talk with incidental music and much of that is from records. If, before the United States takes the fatal step, they look at radio in other countries, they will learn several things which should give them pause. FIRST is that people prefer to listen to free radio, despite commercial plugs, even the singing commercial; in many parts of Canada radio listeners prefer U. S. stations. FreTr7rtT ' belongs to free countries env ERNMENT RADIO HAS jSi I VAILED IN ALL TOTAn TARIAN COUNTRIES. GovS'l ment radio is subject to govern"' ment propaganda, as witness t present series of programmes h behalf of the Dominion depart, ment of labor. Government radin means that government appoin. tees make the rules for broai casting and interpret them, h means that a change of govern ment brings a change in higher 1 ' officials even if operating people l are protected by civil-service 1 rules. ' Here in Canada, where the gov-ernment gov-ernment networks compete with private stations, the private sta. tions are bossed by the govern, ment radio bossed sometimes reasonably, sometimes capric-iously, capric-iously, sometimes arbitrarily and always with no right of appeal to independent authority. Here in Canada we combine the worst features of both government gov-ernment and private radio, for we are taxed $2.50 per household for the benefit of government radio and still must listen to commercials. Of course, most Canadians can, and many do, tune in the U. S. stations where the commercial is heard in robust ro-bust purity, and undefiled by a sanctimonious attitude of culture. cul-ture. Few say much in favor of British radio, untainted by ad i vertising. The C.B.C. pipes some of the British programs to Can-nda. Can-nda. But if what is heard here of British programs is the best they have, the worst must be poor indeed. in-deed. The King and Churchill are sure to be listened to in Canada. As for the rest, the ponderous pon-derous music is better on a record, rec-ord, and of the laymen's talks, there may not have been anything any-thing good since 1941, B.A. (Before (Be-fore Attlee). when Wickham Steed was telling us that Britons never would be slaves. Junkets of members of the United States Congress are frown i ed on by H'torial writers and other watchers of public men. But a junket to look into Canada's Can-ada's radio, and Britain's radio, probably would convince them that, if the United States must make a mistake in its radio policy, pol-icy, it won't be the same mistakes mis-takes made in this country or Britain. |