Peter Mansbridge at UPEI

by Wendell Blacket

Television news, is it merely only a glamorizing of the violant nature of mankind? Or is it a re- sponsible body which attempts to give facts and attempts to mir- ror life as it is? This was the fo- cus of a talk given to a capacity filled Duffy Ampitheatre, by one of Canada’s leading figures, an- chorman of the National, Peter Mansbridge, who despite a cold, gave a vigorating defence of tele- vision news.

Mansbridge noted that the subject matter bothered him that come people believe the idea that all television news is a “Mindless excursion into the cheap thrill.” One of the main thrusts of his defence of Television journalism dealt with the actual length of time of a given news cast. The National runs for 22 minutes, as do the other major newscasts when the commercials are taken into consideration. In deciding what will be told in that 22 min- utes a great deal of the news must be left out. Roughly 2000 stories appear on wire machines, plus hundreds from various networks, and the National has their own generated stories. It is thus an impossible task to be able to pull allona newscast. —

With this in mind, Mans-

bridge admits that there will be mistakes made, and it is diffi- cult to prepare for tough deci- sions. He noted several incidents where there was a serious moral dilemma on whether or not a cer- tain shot would be put on the air. One incident dealt with a New Years eve fire in Quebec a few years ago where more than 40 people had died. The lo- cal news station was nearing the end of a news cast and there was a massive rush to give the first pictures of the event. In order to make this deadline sev- eral minutes of unedited footage was roled over the air. Horrifying scenes were shown, and one even thought it was crucial to have the first pictures on the newscast, Mansbridge noted that there was a sense of trepidation by the peo-

’ ple involved as to whether or not

the proper decision was made.

Mansbridge noted a survey done by the CBC which indicated that many people did not want to see violence on television. 20% felt violent scenes should not be shown at all, while 30% believed that violent scenes should not be shown before 11 p.m. Mans- bridge finds it very difficult to ac- cept this idea. He believes that

_ people should see this so they can

understand what life in many ar- eas of the world is really like. He notes BBC anchorman, Michael Burke, who when discussing vi- olence on television news stated, “Grown up people with sheltered lives should see this.”

Mansbridge noted that. the CBC has apologized when they know they have made an error in showing something which of- fended a family member of the victim of a tragedy. Far from be- ing totally contrary to the num- bers of people who believed. much of television news glorifies vi- olence, Mansbridge noted that many networks in the United States have inferior news casts for the benefit of trying to maintain a high rating. However, he noted that while the National is will- ing to take criticism, “Those who ridicule speak from ignorance.”

Following Mansbridge’s talk, a vigorous question and answer session followed. Much of which dealt with last Novembers elec- tion campaign, and the idea that the media played a greater influ- ence than necessary. Other ques- tions ranging from one persons believe that the CBC shows a left wing bias, to the focus on Joe Clark’s errors in public were fielded by Mansbridge.

Notice of Thank-you

The UPEI Student Union would like to thank the following contributors for their sponsorship and support of the Peter Mansbridge lecture held on Thursday, Feb. 9th at the UPEI campus. Your

support was greatly appreciated.

Island Coastal Services

sland Petroleum Products Rodd Inns, Resorts, & Hotels illis & Guimond Architects Inc. PEI Science Department — JPEI Marriot Food Service ittle Christo’s Pizza & Subs sland Construction

tay’s Optical ©

oles Door Systems

oles Bulldozing (1984) Ltd.

PEI President’s Office PRI Bookstore

lurphy Group of Companies

~Bake-It Pigza and Submarine Ltd.

FS/UPEI Carinltten

Thursday, February 16, 1989==

_ Please remember that because of legal reasons, we are unable to print any sub- missions that do not bear the author’s

signature and telephone number.

Public Service Commission of Canada

Be

publique du Canada

Summer Employment

Commission de la fonction

Opportunities for 1989 Y

Veterans Affairs Canada Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island

We anticipate hiring approximately 50 bilingual and unilingual students this summer for an average period of 6 to 8 weeks to handle a full range of clerical and general office duties.

The Environment

We provide support for the economic, social, mental and physical well-being of veterans, certain civilians, and their dependents.

Duties

We will rely on you to perform a variety of administrative support duties such as:

* receiving and assisting visitors

* handling telephone inquiries

* composing and typing correspondence

* maintaining files and records

¢ collecting, recording and processing information

Qualifications

To be eligible, you must be engaged in full-time studies, have successfully completed a minimum of two years of secondary school education (grade 10 in P.E.I.) by June, and be returning to school full- time in the fall of 1989. j

You will be required to take the PSC General Clerical Test to assess and rank: your Clerical aptitudes, skills and-abilities. If you are considered for a job assignment that requires typing you

will also have to pass a typing test.

Language requirements will vary according to assignments; your bilingual capability will be assessed if you declare a good working knowledge of both French and English on your application.

The Treasury Board is expected to approve a special wage rate of $6.25 an hour for these student jobs.

How to Apply

A completed application form PSC-3000, including a statement indicating an intention to return to

school in the fall of 1989, quoting Competition CEC-881212(W3E), must be received at one of the following Canada Employment Centres (CEC) in Prince Edward Island: :

¢ Charlottetown

* UPEI CEC-on-campus

* Holland College CEC-on-campus

*¢ Montague/Morell

¢ Summerside

¢ Wellington

You can obtain PSC-3000 application for employment forms in person from your local CEC or the nearest office of the Public Service Commission of Canada.

A security/reliability check may be required.

Closing Date: 28 February 1989

Personal information you provide is-protected under the Privacy Act. It will be held in Personal Information Bank EIC/EMP-425.

Please note that Veterans Affairs Canada prohibits smoking in the workplace. .

The Public Service of Canada is an equal opportunity employer

Canada

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