DISTRIBUTION OF NEWS

Dominion, Volume 36, Issue 95, 16 January 1943, Page 4

DISTRIBUTION OF NEWS

Problems In Wartime

Having visited Australia as chairman of the Imperial Communications Advisory Committee, Sir Campbell Stuart, a director of the London “Times,” arrived at Wellington yesterday by air from Auckland, and will be tlie guest, of the Government, witii Lieut.-Colonel Marcus Zambra, secretary of the committee, and Mr. IL J. I*. Harvey, of tlie British Treasury, for about a week. He is to discuss communications problems with members of the Government.

Sir Campbell is greatly impressed with the scenery he saw on the flight from Auckland, specially among Hie mountains and volcanoes of the island. In an interview last, night lie said lie had not seen anything like it in any part of the world. “When the war is over," said Sir Campbell, “New Zealand will be within a week’s travel from London, and there will be a great development of the tourist traffic to your Dominion. Hitherto you have been too far away to be reached easily, but preparation by way of advertising in pamphlets on a larger scale than up to now will bring you an extremely valuable trade. The comfort of air travel, even under war conditions, is excellent and after the war this will be still better.” The production of newspapers in Britain in wartime was very difficult, Sir Campbell said. “The Times” had .been compelled, through shortage of newsprint, to reduce its size, in common with tl.ie other papers, and advertising revenue had fallen considerably. Far more news was offering than could be printed in the space available, and consequently the task of selecting the items to publish was very difficult. “We are till concerned over the delay to news cables coming to Australia and New Zealand,” said Sir Campbell, when the resolutions of the annual meeting of the Overseas Correspondents’ Association in London were placed before him for comment.

“The matter was discussed last week in Australia, and a committee of four prominent citizens, headed by the chairman of the Australian Newspaper Proprietors’ Association, Mr. Henderson, who is also chairman of the Australian Associated Press, has been set up. They Mill go into the delays, and it is hoped that improvement will follow their report.” Sir Campbell said that the relations between the Press and the 8.8. C. were excellent, and “The Times” had not been affected by radio news dissemination. The news services to London from all parts of the world had been wonderfully maintained, despite the war’s effect in cutting several normal lines of traffic. Asked about the working of the censorship in Britain, Sir Campbell said that the Ministry of Information, under Mr. Brendan Bracken, was extremely well conducted, ami the problems of the Press were much easier.