THE PRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

Evening Star, Issue 19892, 14 June 1928, Page 12

THE PRESS AND FOREIGN AFFAIRS

RESPONSIBILITIES GRAVE AND FAR-REACHING

Mr J. A Spender, a distinguished British editor, writes an interesting article in the ‘ Yalo .Review ’ on ‘The Press and International Affairs.’ Alluding to “the journalist who deals with foreign affairs,” lie says: " Suppose the case of a leader writer, an editorial writer, on the staff of au important newspaper required suddenly to express an opinion on something that has happened in Paris or Berlin. He does it to the best of his ability after consulting his colleagues, and thinks no more about it. Two days later ho may find that what he has written, or the principal part of it, has gone round the world on the wings of Pouter, Havas, or the Associated Press, and possibly that the foreign correspondents in Ins own country have cabled a considerable part of it to their newspapers abroad. “ Thus his article, improvised at a few minutes’notice—a thing to which possibly lie himself attached no serious importance —has had a world-wide publicity, a publicity far exceeding that obtained for any other item, however sensational, in the same_ day’s paper. A very few statesmen might obtain a similar audience for a speech in Parliament, or on the platform, made with deliberate intention after careful preparation, but the journalist has obtained it for an improvisation imposed upon him in the course of his ordinary duties.

“Nor is this all. His articles may give rise to innumerable other articles, it may bo suggested that his paper would not have spoken thus unless it has been prompted by its Government, and what its Government meant by giving it this prompting at such a moment may now become a subject of anxious conjecture. “ The habit of Press-prompting is so ingrained in Continental Europe that scarcely anybody will believe that the journalist was just doing his best with : his daily job in conditions which made it impossible lor him to consult any official person. But ouec the hall has been sot rolling disclaimers arc useless, and if made are not believed. “ This again and again has been my experience, and, 1 suppose, tho experience of all writers who have dealt with foreign affairs in newspapers which arc quoted outside their own country. An editorial article which 1 wrote in November, 1905, commenting on tho German Emperor’s visit to Tangier, stirred the German Press for weeks; and two years later, when I. visited Berlin, 1 was faced with it by the famous Baron Holstein, who put me at considerable disadvantages, since Ire apparently knew it by heart and 1 had forgotten all about it. . , . . “Another article, which 1 wrote in 1912 was supposed to presage a new departure in British policy, and was made the subject of a vohiminous-com-mont by the German Emperor which is published in tho life of Herr Baihn. A third, at tho time of tho Agadir crisis in 1911, played a useful, but, so far as I was concerned, entirely unpremeditated,' part, for it was wholly unprompted, whereas it was’construed .as a demarche on tho part ot tho British Government Sinco all these articles wore anonymous ,there was no question of my personal importance; it was simply that tho paper 1 was editing was supposed to bo in close touch at the time with tho British Government, and it seemed incredible to foreign newspapers and foreign diplomatists that it could say anything on foreign affairs without being inspired. American journalists will believe mo when I. say that this was not the truth, but the European assumption being what it is, no American or British journalist can write on foreign, affairs-in any newspaper of standing without running the risk of being thought to he speaking on official inspiration. “ Thus writing on foreign affairs carries with it liabilities.which attach to hardly any other subject, and to disclaim them is to make the case worse. If you go out of your way to say wat you are not inspired, the inference is drawn that your inspiration was more than usually direct. This disclaimer is so much the common form with newspapers which arc notoriously at the disposal of their Governments that all others who employ it conic under suspicion. “There is nothing, then, for the free journalist to do but to bear the probable consequences in mind and weigh his words accordingly. • At tho best ho is beset w.ith a peculiar difficulty. He is addressing not one audience, but two or more audiences, cacli of which may draw different inferences from what he writes, and possibly quite different inferences from' what ho . intended. “Tims if I were to go home and write articles upbraiding the British Government for spending too much on its naval programmes, it is quite probable that what I wrote tvould be quoted by American ‘jingo’ papers, if there are such tilings, and cited as proof that onr Admiralty was building on n scale which required your navy to enlarge its programme. . . . Almost everything that can bo written in criticism

of a Government on foreign affairs is liable to a similar distortion. “ i am not for a moment suggesting Mi at tho journalists should bo deterred by this considcratiou from criticising his Government. Jf ho does his duty ho must often criticise his Government, and, so far as ho can, ho should contribute his own independent ideas. But ho must know tho ground he is walking upon and choose between tho different ways of_ saying that which is least liable to uuconsidered reactions; be must be like a surgeon who can operate safely because ho knows his anatomy and where the sensitive nerves lie.”

“Editors seldom initiate policies which trouble the world,” says Mr J, A. Spender in conclusion. “Their part as a rule only begins when tho lines of policy have been established. But from this point onwards their responsibility is undoubtedly a heavy one. Between them they may exacerbate opiniou or keep it in restraint, force issues which are latent, or prepare tho public mind for their gradual and peaceful adjustment. “ In these ways the Press wields immenso power, the exercise of which must, if tho nations are to live at peace, be governed by more than commercial considerations. JS'o'ono in looking back on past years in Europe can doubt that the Press recriminations, which were chronic for long periods before the war, embittered the relations of otherwise friendly peoples; no one’looking forward can doubt the importance of; keeping this source of trouble within bounds. Journalists and newspaper proprietors who take themselves seriously have always to bear in mind that what is at stake in this sphere is not ordinary poliitcal controversy which will be settled by tho ballot box, but veritably tho lives of millions of human beings, not excepting women and children.

“ Wo may plead, then, tor a men,' careful stpdy both by poliitcians and by journalists, of tho consequences of setting the Press in motion, which means tiro mass psychology which a largo*part of it more and more reflects. Put as between Britain and America 1 would ask for something more. We are, through our use of a common language, an open book to each other as lire no other two nations in the world. “That may, and I hope will bo, ot great advantage for a.common understanding, but it also entails the consequence that all the disagreeable things wo say about each other obtain a far wider publicity than they would otherwise enjoy. , “Invective in a foreign language generally fails to penetrate, but in the vernacular it has formidable piercing l finalities. Let us, so far as wo can, he friendly and forbearing in the use ol our common vernacular. And let us also, if wo can, extend the range ol our observations beyond the -subjects called political, which arc too often a •pretest for-recriminations, and endeavour to present to our readers a human and kindly'-picture of our respective countries and their ways of life. “1 am pleading for no mawkish sentiment. Candor in controversy,, frank facing ot difficult issues, even at times warning of trouble ahead', ‘'must' bo counted among the duties of journalists. Hut it makes all the difference in the world when' the moment of stress comes, whether wo speak .to each other after tho manner of friends or are bringing some chronic discontent to a sensational climax. “The unkindness, the bitterness, the lack o( charity which have clouded human relations in recent years must weigh heavily on tho thoughts of those wluT make, international politics their study. Above and beyond all polities, it may very well bo tho aim of those who interpret the nations to each other to mingle judgment with charity, and bring a little of the warmth of common kindness info their dealings with each other."’