Thatcher, the IBA and Death on the Rock

Since its beginnings in the 1920s. broadcasting in these islands has always been considered by the vartous governments of the day. whatever their political complexion. to be too important to be left solely to the broadcasters. Successive administrations have attempted to regulate and control what is heard or seen over the airWaves by a series of acts of the British Parliament or Dail E!reann. These acts have been drafted so as to give designated ministers the power to decide on the composition and membership of the Authorities. Boards of Governors or Commissions established by law - and to dismiss them if deemed necessary as happened in the Republic in 1972 under a Fianna Fail government - to set the parameters of what may or may not be broadcast and effectually exert financial control over the broadcasters, a control that can have:: a dc::cisive influence. Government power does not however end here, for there are the many formal and informal contacts between ministers and senior civil servants and the Directors General. Programme Controllers and editors that make up the higher echelons of the broadcasting organizations.