MUST BE SIGNED.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue 263, 5 November 1937, Page 8

MUST BE SIGNED.

POLITICAL ARTICLES. REGULATING N.Z. PRESS. GOVERNMENT'S SCHEME. (By Telegraph.—Parliamentary Reporter.) WELLINGTON, this day. Legislative action against the newspapers of tlie Dominion is contemplated by the Government. It will be in the direction of requiring newspapers to disclose the identities of those responsible for certain classes of written matter appearing in their columns. Those who supply articles and. reports dealing with political subjects will be obliged to sign their contributions. This proposal will apply only to political reporters and commentators, although during an election campaign all reported speeches will have to be signed by the persons reporting them. Another object of the proposed bill is to prevent the publication of anonymous correspondence and interviews dealing with questions of a political nature. During the present session a good deal has been heard from the Government side of the House about the alleged unfair treatment accorded the Government and Government members by the newspapers, and the proposed legislation, which is intended to operate from the beginning of the coming year, is the outcome of representations made by members of the Government party for disciplinary action as far as the newspapers art? concerned.