Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Thursday 7 October 1954, page 4


OFFICIAL SAYS T.V. WORSE THAN BOMB

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Television was more dangerous than the atom bomb, the supervisor of children's pro-grammes for the Australian Broadcasting Com-mission, Mr. John Appleton, said yesterday.

He said the atom bomb destroyed both body and mind, but the worst feature of television was that it des-troyed the mind and lett the body whole.

Addressing a lunch-hour meeting of the N.S.W. division of the Arts Council of Aus-tralia, he said he was speaking as a private individual and as

a father.

"Television can alter a whole civilisation," he said.

"It can alter morals, modes and manners, and it is the most powerful magnet for the unthinking and the juvenile mind ever invented.

"the sole purpose of com-mercial television is to pro

mote sales, and there is no thought of service to the pub-lic in any way "

Mr Appleton said that hundí eds of "canned" TV films were stored in Sydney awaitinc the diy when com

MR. JOHN APPLETON I

mercial television was in-augurated.

These films were of the "crime, violence and sex" kind, he said.

They were typical of T.V. films of the worst type which were syndicated very cheaply.

Local productions would have no chance whatever against competition like this in Australia, he said.