GREAT NEWS SERVICE

Evening Post, Volume CVIII, Issue 149, 20 December 1929, Page 6

GREAT NEWS SERVICE

THE PRESS ASSOCIATION

JUBILEE CELEBRATED

(By Telegraph.—Press Association.) CHRISTCHURCH, 19th Dec. To-day is the fiftieth anniversary of the establishment of the United Press Association, Ltd. The present chairman of the association is Mr. A. G. Henderson, managing editor of the "Christchurch Times," and to-day Mr. Henderson issued the following statement in connection with the jubilee: "The United Press Association, which to-day reached the fiftieth anniversary of its foundation, is probably unique among the newa-gathering organisations of the world. The idea of co-opera-tion amongst newspapers was not actually new fifty years ago, but the idea of a complete organisation for all tho newspapers in a country was without parellel. Even to-day the great cooperative'associations of other countries are exclusive, not inclusive, and they have developed as aids to competition, whereas our organisation is comprehensive, and its object from the beginning has been to give the best possible service to the public under the most economical conditions. "It is often claimed that New Zealand has the best news service in the world to-day, and in many respects the claim is sound. No country at all comparative with the Dominion can match its daily summary of the news of the world, and it_ is quite safa to assert that nowhere else in the world are people better informed regarding foreign affairs or kept more closely in touch with affairs in their own country. . ■ "For this satisfactory, condition the United Press Association is mainly responsible. In conjunction with Australian news services it has acquired the right to use all the main news services of all countries, and its daily summary from London, which is the news centre of the world, covers the principal current events in every country. In addition, agents in America send messages regarding the United States and Canada, and whenever necessary special correspondents in other countries send early reports of unusual happenings. "Every year," Mr. Henderson continued, "sees an expansion of reports. The cablp messages received by the association and distributed to newspapers now aggregate a million words a year apart from, official British wireless reports, which also are handled by the association. The whole system is one of mutual self-help so far as the newspapers are concerned, and it works on the whole admirably, and whatever its shortcomings may be its .merits are outstanding. "During its fifty years of existence the association has sometimes been subjected to sharp and even bitter criticism, and an entirely wrong impression of its operations has occasionally been created. The association ha 3no party ' colour; it indulges in no comment; its function is purely that of a reporter, and it aims at distributing news that is accurate and dependable. Like every other institution that is humanly conducted, it is liable to error, some times through an excess of caution sometimes through an excess of zea' on the part of individual correspond ents, but its mistakes have been amaz ingly few. Prom its nature the aeso ciation is bound to allow its corres pondenta a full measure of discretion and it is obvious that no system tha: did not encourage the initiative an< sense of responsibility of its agent; could possibly succeed. "The beginnings of the associatioi havo been described by the late Si t George Fehwick, who was in fact th k prime mover in its actual foundation * It is a cause of great grief to newspape | men that Sir George Fenwick did no I live to preside over the jubilee mccl ings of the association."