Film and TV Technician (1957)

FILM & TV TECHNICIAN January 1957 IS IT OUR BUSINESS ? This article expresses the personal opinion of the writer, which differs considi rably from the standpoint officially taken on the subject by A.C.T.T. We print it because we h,liin that Film and TV Technician should be a forum for controversy as well as a vehicle for conveying official news and views. The Editor will be glad to hear what readers think about this con1 1 m ( rsial subject. A recent A.C.T.T. press statement on the I.T.A. Government grant, in which the quality of programmes was criticised, has led to the impression in some quarters that A.C.T.T. was accusing the commercial TV companies of producing worthless and trivial programmes. This has stirred up considerable controversy, both as to the correctness of the implied criticism and as to whether even if it were true it was expedient for the Union to express it. At the TV Producer-Directors' Section meeting on December 21st this subject was given a rather warm airing. Opinions seemed to be divided as to just how trivial the programmes were and how far the B.B.C. had sunk in competitive pursuit of the mass audience. Comparative estimates of the cultural value of Jungh Jim as against Ask Pickles, or the relative value of Fabian of the Yard and Dragnet are entertaining but rarely instructive. One point of view which so far does not seem to have been expressed — and one that in the writer's estimation could be considered — is that such matters might be said to be outside the province of trade unionism. It is widely held that a Trad.' Union exists for one purpose only — to ensure fair working conditions for its members. Should these conditions be affected by the actual work produced then it is undoubtedly right for the union to consider this "end product". But not otherwise. The union acting for the makers of those hideous plaster doggies would scarcely venture to criticise them from an artistic point of view. If the plastei is difficult or dangerous to work, that is another matter. But surely the individual trade unionist should restrict his artistic judg ■By Vivian Milroy ment to refusing to buy the doggies once they are made? And surely the same rule should apply in the entertainment business. Take those popular weekly panel shows " Do you trust your kids " and " Take your pick of your wife's money ". If the work of the technicians involved is more dangerous than Panorama or more arduous than The Brains Trust no one would deny the Union's right to express an official opinion. But can it really do so if the working conditions are more or less the same — or at anv rate are unaffected by the artistic content of the programme? A cameraman's job on The Tempest is not fundamentally different from his colleagues on Noddy. In fact, from a trade union point of view a bad programme employing a lot of technicians is better than a good programme employing only a few. To suggest that it is not part of a trade union's province to criticise the artistic standard of its members' output is not to say that the individual members should not do so. We are all citizens as well as trade unionists; viewers as well as technicians. And if the standard of some programmes is thought to be inclining slightly towards a new low of footling and futile inanity the weapons of a free democracy are there for the using. He can write to the newspapers and inflame public opinion; he can persuade his M.P. to raise the matter in Parliament; he can bombard the guilty organisation with letters; and he can even — if he gives twenty-four hours' notice to the Metropolitan Police — march an army of like-thinking democrats from Golden Square to Kingsway by way of Wardour Street waving insulting banners and shouting rude words. But if after all this he is offered a job on that same " Take your pick of your wife's money ", as a good trade unionist no one will blame him for accepting it or even for liking it. It is strange how differently it can appear from the inside. THOSE IN FAVOUR The laboratories nia.ss meeting, reported in our last issue, VOtea for the new agreement I Picture bj Chi istophei