SIR,—If Mr. Fairlie does not know the difference between public
opinion and public conscience he does not know the difference between mob law and social philosophy, which means that he has no busi- ness to be writing about the Pilkington Report, let alone politics. He neatly disposes of his own argu- ment by admitting that it. is impossible for commer- cial enterprises to work without commercial 'incentives,' namely profit. Since profits are achieved only by attracting the largest public to feed advertising revenue, quantity of public response will override quality of programme in the minds of ITV management. And if television is so largely in their hands, what happens to the 'freedom' which Mr. Fairlie is championing? What opportunity is there
for the public to make their interest felt? Despite all his polemics about the vocation of this country, Mr. Fairlie jeers at the word 'moral' (which he equates with what is dull) like any saloon-bar yahoo. Very well then. Let him admit that he prefers the immoral, the inane, the sadistic and stop pretending that he has the public interest at heart.
3 Roland Gardens, SW7
HENRY ADLER
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