RELEASING THE NEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 218, 15 September 1939, Page 6

RELEASING THE NEWS.

As the character of the war news published in Xew Zealand is directly influenced by the censorship in the United Kingdom, New Zealandera have a close interest in the debate in the House of Commons on the work of the Ministry of Information. It can he taken for granted that any censorship will err on the side of suppression rather than on the side of liberality, for the sir/lple reason that the average official knows that if he "passes" an item which should not be passed he will not be praised by the public, but he will certainly be blamed by his superiors. Therefore he will prefer to "play safe." Protests against the rigour of the censorship have been heard early in England, but probably there is less justification for them than there was at the same stage of the war in 1914. Tben the opposing armies immediately "got to grips" in Belgium; this time, on the western front, they are apparently still in the manoeuvring stage. Mr. Chamberlain, replying to the hearty attack by Mr. Greenwood, by implication admitted that an error had been made by the Ministry in its handling of the news of the British troops' arrival in France, and attributed it, in effect, to inexperience. It is exasperating that such news should be unduly delayed, but it would have been tragic if premature disclosure of the movements of the expeditionary force across the Channel had resulted in loss of lifo through submarine and air attack. Mr. Chamberlain stated the principle which he said would be given effect by the Ministry, but his statement appears to have taken insufficient account of the fact that there are neutral countries, notably the United States, in which news from all sources is published. Thus, in the case of the expeditionary force, if news of its arrival had been published in any other } country there could be no excuse for i suppressing it in England. The object was j to keep the news from the enemy, not from ■ British people. In the "last war ! the public soon grew tired of the reports of the "Official Eye-Witness," and we must hope that soon the communiques of the Minister of Information will be supplemented by the descriptive writing of war correspondents of repute. There are ' plenty, and they have had plenty of experience.