The Press and the B.B.C.
In his speech to the Empire Press Union on Tuesday, Sir John Reith, the Director-General of the B.B.C., made some exceedingly sensible remarks on the relations between broadcasting and the Press. It is certainly true that the impartiality of the B.B.C. news service is a valuable restraint on Sensationalism and inaccuracy ; and that, by arousing interest in current events, it increases rather than diminishes the circulation of newspapers which treat them at greater length. Sir John might have added that it is precisely the more responsible newspapers which gain in this way. The co- operation of the two institutions is not one-sided. It is just as fru& that by its criticism, which is sometimes 'harsh, the Press keeps the B.B.C. in touch with and responsible to the public ; it might indeed be said that the criticism of the Press does more to ensure the independence of the B.B.C. than any formal guarantee in its Charter. What Was most gratifying in Sir John's speech was his evident appreciation that in some respects the Press and the B.B.C. performed the same service of forming an instructed public opinion independent of Government influence.
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