MORE DOMINION NEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 232, 1 October 1925, Page 6

MORE DOMINION NEWS.

It is an old complaint that little Dominion news is published in the newspapers of the Motherland. Anxious to improve matters, the Empire Press Conference has carried a resolution, moved by the representative of Eeutcr's world-wide service, that members pledge themselves to see that more Dominion news is published in their papers. One of the greatest benefits we may expect from the present Conference is that members will have gained a first-hand knowledge of the Dominions, and this cannot fail to influence the British Press generally. Mr. Kiernan, a member of the Victorian Legislative Council, said, just before leaving England, that he was surprised that the only references to Australia in the English newspapers concerned the activity of the Bolshevik element there. An old proverb tells us that no news is good news, but often from a newspaper point of view bad news is good news. That is why events such as strikes, earthquakes, railway disasters, shipwrecks, and what the Prayer Book calls "battle, murder and sudden death" occupy such a large space in newspaper columns. Yet at a time when there is such a strong movement in favour of Imperial preference and Empire foodstuffs, and consequently such a need for information regarding the resources of our Empire, more is required in the way of news than sporting information and records of disaster. To many Englishmen the Empire is represented by India, and there is a surprising lack of knowledge regarding the conditions of life in the Dominions and their resources. It is true that the Wembley Exhibition has done something to dispel this ignorance, but much more remains to be done. If we are to get the right class of immigrant we must get immigrants who are well-informed as to the conditions of life in' the different parts of tho Empire. At first it might be difficult to send news of a general nature that should rival in interest some of the sensational happenings which form a large part of the daily papers at Home. But it should be recognised that it is a part of the function of the Press to disseminate information on matters of vital interest to the prosperity and well-being of our Empire. Tie pledge of members of the Press Conference to use their utmost effort to sec that more Dominion news is published cannot fail to have a good effect. The British public will realise the essential kinship that exists between all parts of the Empire if it is given information showing something of the everyday happenings in the life of the Dominion communities. If the Empire is to be. drawn closer together few things could be more effective in accomplishing this end than such dissemination of news as the Press Conference has advocated.