REPORTING THE WAR

Greymouth Evening Star, 2 November 1939, Page 12

REPORTING THE WAR

WHERE AMERICA LEADS Since 1914 the American Press has developed a huge organisation abroad and much use is being made of it for Empire news, now that the war has begun. One reason for this, of course, is that, as neutrals, the Americans are able to place correspondents in places which are barred to Allied journalists. Another is that the American newspapers are not subject to the same censorship rules as the British and Dominion papers. But another reason is the sheer size and excellence of organisation which the Americans have developed. The “New York Times,” which is often cited in messages, is now as much a national institution as the Times of London. It. used to receive in peace time a daily average of 12,000 cabled words a day from its own correspondents.

This is in addition to the American Associated Press messages (which are now available to New Zealand newspapers, because they are purchased by t’m British Associated Press). Naturally, also, these cabled words, transmitted h- skeleton form, fill much more space by the time they arc “filled in,” captioned, and displayed in the newspaper. In moments when history is made the “New York Times” or “The Times” as Americans call it, can rise above any competitor. In the Battle of Danakil in the Ethiopian War. Herbert Matthews, its correspondent with the Italian forces, cabled 16,000 words. When the Munich Agreement was announced the London .“Times” printed 14A columns about it. The New York “Times” printed 38 columns.

These things are possible because of the great size of American newspapers the beneficial postage rates they enjoy. and, in part, because many correspondents have become well-known figures, and what they have to say commands attention. The American correspondents. both in reporting and interpreting events, are well ahead of their British and Continental competitors and there is not a more newsworthy or reliable paper in the world than the “New York Times,”