TENDENCY TO CENSOR NEWS AT SOURCE

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume LXXVII, Issue 14788, 29 September 1948, Page 6

TENDENCY TO CENSOR NEWS AT SOURCE

VIEWS OF DOMINION PRESS

Requests Made To Staff Of Newspapers

Semi-Public Bodies Not Immune

A growing tendency among local bodies to attempt to censor news at its source was noted with concern by the Newspaper Proprietors' Association at the half-yearly meeting says a Press Association message from Wellington. The president, .Mr R. D. Horton, said that the tendency would be firmly resisted by all newspapers. "This matter,'' said Mr Horton, "has been brought to our notice by the retiring president of the New Zealand Journalists' Association, Mr D. K. Gunn, whose members have experienced, with increasing frequency, rulings by local bodies that reporters must exclude from their reports certain portions of proceedings or discussions held in open meetings.

"Some of these 'rulings' are by a chairman, others come in the form of an aside from a member or members: 1 don't want this reported.' Unhealthy Tendencies "Secondly, journalists have experienced a growing desire among semiprivate bodies that reports of their proceedings be either supplied by, or submitted to, the chairman or secretary. "These are unhealthy tendencies in a democracy," Mr Horton continued. "They amount to a censorship of news at its source, which is the most deadly form of censorship. A local body, publicly-elected, and administering public funds, has no right to attempt to hide anything. Still less has it the right to bring pressure on a journalist to become a party to an attempt at concealment. "It is true that by custom some proceedings of local bodies are held in committee and are not reported. This custom is not necessarily contrary to public interest, although there is a marked tendency nowadays to abuse it.

"But when proceedings are not in committee, newspapers should have full freedom to report them and to publish a report subject only to the discretion of the editor. This discretion, in the vast majority of cases, is wisely exercised.

Support For Journalists

"Member newspapers of this association will, I am confident, give full support to the journalists they employ in resisting attempts to interfere with honest reports,*' said Mr Korton. "It is desirable also that when a semi-private body, for reasons which seem good to itself, excludes the press from its meetings, but later supplies a report of its proceeding's, the press should clearly indicate to its readers that the report has, in fact, been 'supplied.' "If this is done invariably the public will have no difficulty in assessing the value of a report which is the work of a newspapers own staff as compared with the kind of report which journalists know as a 'handout.' The fewer 'handouts' published by the press the more will its news service be respected." Criticism Supported

Support for the opinions expressed by"Mr Hortcn was given by the Mavor of Auckland, Mr J. A. C. Allum, according to another Press Association message. He said that if democracy was to be preserved, the public must be told what v/as happening in public affairs. "I thin': it is the responsibility of all who are elected to public positions to acquaint the people with their views on public matters, and also to let them know what is transpiring," said Mr Allum. "I agree entirely that the tendency to shroud public affairs with secrecy is a bad thing, and I am sure members of the City Council will join with me in that view. When there is evasion and concealment we begin to lose our democracy." Mr Allum said that, naturally, there should not be premature disclosure of matters which might result in advantage to individuals or "roups of individuals. He also realised that expressions of opinion did not always make a public man popular However, the welfare of the public should be the chief consideration, not a seeking after popularity. "The tendency referred to by Mr Hortcn is certainly not confined to local government," said Mr Allum. "We find a great deal of it in the Government of the country."