The Dominion FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1929. A STRIKING REVELATION

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 133, 1 March 1929, Page 10

The Dominion FRIDAY, MARCH 1, 1929. A STRIKING REVELATION

Since a very large proportion of the general public takes its serious reading from the newspapers, it follows that popular impressions of other countries are mainly created from this source of information. In a general way, this should be a reliable foundation. There are exceptions, however. One in particular is our American news service, which very strongly reflects the tendency of the bulk of the Press in that country to broadcast only what might be described as sensational features. _ . ~ , , Gangster outrages, floods, fires, divorce in high places, and political scandals are familiar features of the news which comes from the United States. An anti-British speech by a prominent personage is regarded as a more sensational item than one made by an American citizen extending the hand of friendship across the Atlantic, and is therefore made the feature. The cumulative effect of this policy is to create in our own minds certain impressions not altogether favourable to a sympathetic understanding of the respective points of view of the two great English-speaking nations. It does not matter very much that this policy is probably influenced- very strongly by the ambition of . the American newspapers to boom their circulations by making sensations their main selling lines. The fact which remains is the influence of the printed word upon readers who do not know, the country. These observations are prompted by the publication in the London Observer of some remarkable personal impressions gained by Sir George Armstrong during a recent tour of the United States with a party of British journalists. Some of these are worth noting. The first refers to an incident in New York Cathedral on that “one hundred per cent.” American national festival, Thanksgiving Day. The British party had expected a demonstration from which everything except that which related solely to the United States and its people would be excluded. To their “intense surprise,” the Bishop’s procession was preceded by two choristers carrying aloft, respectively, the Stars and Stripes and the Union Jack. , The Bishop himself concluded his address with a moving appeal for “the bringing together of the two great English-speaking nations,” and called upon the vast congregation to rise while he voiced an eloquent supplication to God to “behold, visit, and relieve thy sick servant, George, King of Great Britain.” As this address was broadcast, its ultimate moral effect must have been widely extended. Another refers to that American newspaper celebrity, .William Randolph Hearst, who travelled three hundred miles by special train to welcome them at Los Angeles: “Now,” says Sir George Armstrong, “it is futile to Ignore the fact that Mr. Hearst’s great group of newspapers throughout the United States were coloured for a long time past with distinctly anti-British bias. In view of such circumstances, his presence at such a reception was remarkable. Yet, more significant still, he took this particular occasion to deliver one of the most eloquent and closely-reasoned pro-British speeches that we had the pleasure of listening to throughout our tour; and in order to show that his words and action were deliberate, his own journal, the ‘Los Angeles Examiner,’ the next morning published his speech in heavy leaded type.” The writer adds that it is no disparagement to Mr. Hearst, or to the generosity of the sentiments expressed by him, to say that if he were not satisfied that these were thoroughly attuned to what he knew to be the trend of national feeling, their ears would not have been gratified with the declaration made by him. All their individual experiences were entirely in keeping with these demonstrations of good-will. “The meetings and parties at which we were entertained,” he says, “were as diverse in character as it is possible to imagine. Yet, at the conclusion of every one of them, we found ourselves surrounded by hosts of men and women greeting us with almost embarrassing expressions of friendship and affectionate regard for our native land. ... It was left to the King’s illness to lift the curtain of ignorance and reveal to the world something of which it had, hitherto, little or no cognisance.” Sir George Armstrong, as described by the Observer, is a representative Englishman, who had never visited America before. It may be presumed, therefore, that his mind was previously coloured by just such ideas of America as those of the average reader abovementioned. What was the result? Surprise and pleasure are the predominant notes of his impressions, the publication of which is a contribution to the efforts being made on both sides of the Atlantic to promote amity and good-feeling.