BBC and the public interest
Sir: If Mrs Brock (Letters, 26 July), as a member of BBC Advisory Council dies not recognise the power of broadcasting as a propaganda medium. for good and tl then it is small wonder that many of us feel that the time has come to reconsider the struc- ture and effectiveness of these Councils. As to the existence and threat of the `per- missive society' one only has to refer to the recently published statistics for 1968-60 per cent increase in drug addiction; 52 per cent increase in VD; 24 per cent increase in crimes of violence in the Metropolitan area. No one, certainly not us, is going to hold broadcasting wholly responsible for these developments, but 'evidence' as to the part played by radio and television in the development of this situation is readily available to the discerning viewer and listener.
It is a pity that Mrs Brock has not fol- lowed more closely the persistent and cal- culated attempts to undermine established morality and the tenets of the Christian faith—even from time to time within those programmes so euphemistically termed 'reli- gious broadcasts'. She might also be inter- ested to find out which 'avant-garde' play- wrights. producers, and even, now 'Schools' broadcasters, are associated with Black Dwarf, Oz, and International Times, and how many of the 'big' names in broad- casting and -ry criticism are members of the militant British Humanist Association, whose parliamentary members, supported by a powerfully organised and often quite unscrupulous 'lobby', have successfully sponsored one 'permissive' reform after another.
Mrs Brock is worried about the possibil- ity of being put under 'pressure' were she appointed as representative of some organ- isation. One would have thought her job would have been to speak for them and not just for herself. Perhaps she should be more worried about the 'pressure' now being exerted on the shape of our society by in- dividuals and bodies of whose activities she seems unaware.
Mary Whitehouse Hon. General Secretary, National Viewers' and Listeners Association, Triangle Farm House, Far Forest, Kidderminster, Worcestershire This correspondence is now closed.—Editor, SPECTATOR.
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