FREEDOM OF PRESS

Ashburton Guardian, Volume 68, Issue 145, 1 April 1948, Page 5

FREEDOM OF PRESS

United Nations Conference BRITISH DRAFT CONVENTION (N.Z.P-.A -Copyright). (Rec. 11.40 a.m.) GENEVA, Mar. 31. The British delegation at the United Nations Conference on freedom of information formally proposed an international convention to ban Government interference with the free flow of news and with correspondents’ movements. The British draft convention proposals included: — (1) Freedom for all to impart and receive information without Government interference. (*2) No Government interference in the transmission of information inside and oitt of each of the signatory States. (3) Foreign correspondents to have the same accecs to news as nationals of the signatory States. (4) Governments to encourage and facilitate the interchange between countries of foreign correspondents.

The convention excuses governments obeying conditions where the State balance of payments is imperilled, in a case where a government wishes to ban a particular person, and in the case of war.

The French delegation proposed thq abolition of the censorship, ban on newspaper monopolies, and the establishment of an, international information council, which would supervise future international information and press treaties, and issue an international press card to all bona fide foreign correspondents. Knut Thorstein, of Sweden, representing the International Co-operative Alliance at the conference eaid the alliance, which had a membership of 75,000,000 families in the 30 countries, hoped to establish an international cooperative press agency to collect and disseminate news. Its aim would be to achieve the greatest degree of objectivity and freedom of information.