Collection search - Dunton, Davidson - Interview

Record information – Brief

1

Dunton, Davidson - Interview

Item number (ISN):

304252

Hierarchical level:

Item (Accession level)

Date:

1982-08-16/1982-08-23

Item number (ISN):

304252

Type of material:

Sound recordings

Found in:

Archives / Film, Video and Sound

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Record information – Details

Fonds/collection:

CARLETON UNIVERSITY: INSTITUTE FOR CANADIAN STUDIES

Accession:

1982-0285

Media:

Sound

Part:

3 of 3

Production date:

1982-08-16/1982-08-23

Production company:

Carleton University Institute For Canadian Studies

Production credit:

interviewer, Ross Eaman

Description:

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Ross Eaman interviews Davidson Dunton, former Chairman of the CBC Board of Directors. Dunton discusses: his family background and birth; his early days at school; his university career at Grenoble, McGill, and Cambridge; his trip to Europe and stay in Munich during the downfall of the Weimar Republic; his witnessing of the rise of the "Brownshirts" and Naziism; his studies at the University of Munich; the involvement of students in the Nazi movement in Germany; his interest in journalism and job at the Montreal Star and Daily Express as a cub reporter on the police beat; anecdotes about work on the Daily Express; his year tutoring in Mexico City; his job as a Fuller Brush salesperson in 1928; return from Mexico City to work for the Star in 1935; his responsibilities as a reporter - interviewing foreign visitors, reporting style; John Bird; his promotion to associate editor in 1937; J.W. McConnell's take-over of the Star in 1938; his work on The Standard; reporting style of The Standard; competition with the Toronto Star; WWII joined the militia and McGill C.O.T.C. but rejected due to medical reasons; reporting of the war overseas; changes in format and content of newspapers to meet the needs of war; discussion of political philosophy and editorials; Marxism; search for solutions to social and economic problems; discussion of his personal views on liberalism; Germany and Hitler; and reaction of French-Canadian press to declaration of war.~Dunton also comments on: Duplessis; the invasion of Norway in 1940; war news coverage in 1941; trip to Britain in February of 1941 with shipment of four-engine planes; anecdote about test pilot; Lord Beaverbrook; Ernest Bevan; Vincent Massey; General McNaughton; visit to Canadian troops in south of England, Canadian Military Headquarters; British war effort; organization of information service for Atlantic Ferry Command - ATFERO headed by Morris Wilson, head of the Royal Bank of Canada; visit to Washington to learn about American view of Canadian editorials for The Standard upon return; and secondment by Charles Vining for the recently created Wartime Information Board.~Dunton discusses: how he joined the WIB in 1942; work as head of the Records Branch which dealt with information on farming in Canada; Charles Vining; John Grierson; censorship in the media, specifically the press; propoganda and the WIB; difference between truth and propoganda; promotion to General Manager of WIB in 1943; principal problems of WIB when he took over from Grierson; Quebec Conference of 1943 and Dunton's coordination of press relations; participation in San Fransisco conference as information person; contact with the CBC and Ernest Bushnell; comments on the WIB, later called the Canadian Information Service; WEEKEND REVIEW; circumstances leading to appointment as head of CBC; MacKenzie King; political views of Dunton; appointment as first full-time Chairman of the CBC Board of Governors and reaction to this; his views on public broadcasting; national unity; the state of the CBC, its services and problems, during and after the war; CITIZENS' FORUM; FARM FORUM; competition with private stations; battles over frequencies with private stations; CBC Board of Governors; Augustin Grigon; working relations with the Board and its function of ensuring the CBC's independence from government interference.~Dunton also comments on: freedom of the press and its effects on broadcasting; public access to newspapers; differences between private and publicly-owned systems; purpose of the CBC; Dunton's perception of the CBC's ability to fulfill those purposes; the Dominion Network; the battle between CFRB and CKCL for clear channel given them temporarily by the CBC; concept of private stations as community-oriented; importance of frequencies; relations between private stations and CBC; Aird Commission, 1929; financial and political support of the government; relations between CBC and its audience during 1940s; Parliamentary radio committees; CBC recommendations for licences; CBC regulatory powers; Massey Commission of 1959; balance between regional programming and national programs; CBC WEDNESDAY NIGHT; and the advent of television. <3h 21mn>

Language:

English

Notes:

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1. Recorded in Ottawa.~2. Recorded over three days - 1982-08-16, 1982-08-19, 1982-08-23.

Detailed holdings information:

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Vault ISN:

339710

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C03489

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

339711

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C03490

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER

Vault ISN:

339712

Format:

SOUND

Location number:

C03491

Number of items:

1

Kind of sound:

R/R

Technical description:

POLY

Made from:

FROM LOANED MATERIAL

Status:

MASTER
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Conditions of access:

Open

Reproduction access:

to be cleared with Advisory Committee of CBC Oral History Project until December 1987 - thereafter no restrictions

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Date modified:: 2024-07-24