6 JUNE 1970, Page 25

LETTERS

From Ian Trethowan, W. Hors/all Carter, Surgeon-Captain T. L. Cleave, RN, Clive Bin gley, Jeremy Burchill, Anthony C. Cowdy, G. A. Hodcroft, Desmond J. Shaw, Captain John A. Smith, Yvonne C. R. Brock, Frederick G. Richford, Walter Laqueur, Lawrence D. Hills.

A surfeit of newsak

Sir: Peter Fleming's view (30 May) that there is 'a surfeit of newsak' appears to be based on certain false assumptions.

First, he assumes that all radio listeners sit glued to their seats for hours on end. Some do, but more do not. The majority only tune in from time to time, and they certainly do not listen to all the news and current affairs programmes throughout the day.

Second, Mr Fleming assumes that all the programmes he mentions are of one kind. There is obviously some repetition, for the very reason that many listeners do not hear every one of the programmes, so that each programme must give an account of the main news of the day. But I think most regular listeners would agree that, say, The World at One and The World Tonight are as different as, say, the Daily Mirror and the Times.

Third, Mr Fleming assumes that we do not know whether people have a 'lust for news,' which must be satisfied at regular intervals. But we do know, from the audi- ences. The news bulletins attract the biggest audiences throughout the day and evening on Radio 4, and are closely followed by the news magazines. People vote with their switches. The new PM programme at 5 pm, for instance, attracts a larger audience than the previous programmes at that time.

Fourth, and most fundamentally, Mr Fleming seems to assume that too much news is bad for people. To be fair to him, he is not alone in this view. It is none the less a dangerous argument. There are special interests who would gladly seize on the notion that there is too much news about their activities. They would like nothing better than to be spared public scrutiny of their affairs. But in a mature democracy, surely people expect -the news media to give them a full picture of the society in which they live, with all its trivia and ten- sions. Surely we cannot believe that the public is not to be trusted with the news.

Ian Trethowan Managing Director, Radio, Broadcasting House, London wl