DID AIR DEPARTMENT ANXIETY TO “TONE DOWN” NEWS LEAD TO OBSTRUCTIONIST TACTICS?

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXXVI, Issue 22850, 21 January 1949, Page 6

DID AIR DEPARTMENT ANXIETY TO “TONE DOWN” NEWS LEAD TO OBSTRUCTIONIST TACTICS?

(P.A.) WELLINGTON, Jan. 20. The submission that the anxiety of the Air Department to “tone down” news of air crashes might well be the explanation of the difficulties encountered by reporters was made by counsel for the New Zealand Journalists’ Association, Mr. W. E. Leicester, addressing today the commission investigating the alleged obstruction of the press at the scene of the Kaka crash on Mount Ruapehu.

Mr. Leicester said the crash was said to have been the largest of its kind yet encountered in New Zealand and. by reason of the fact that the plane had, as it were, disappeared into space with its crowd of passengers, the tension which would normally be felt was of a mounting description and it was no exaggeration to say that practically everybody in New Zealand who kept touch with the news was most anxious to hear of the fate of the aircraft and its passengers.

“In such matters as this and in matters of a similar kind in the past the evidence shows that the discretion and good taste of the press have never been lacking.” said Mr. Leicester. “At the outset I would recommend to you that you consider whether, with that history of good taste and discretion, some reasonable measure of trust should not have been imposed in a similar case by those who had control of the operations of recovering the bodies, finding the plane and that sort of thing.” Considerable Public Interest Mr. Leicester said the fact was that, in New Zealand at all events, considerable public interest had always been taken in air crashes or anything of a startling nature which might happen to an aircraft and one could well understand, perhaps, that the Air Department was reluctant to take the same view as the press as to the importance of matters of the kind. That attiude, be submitted, was illustrated to some extent by a casual remark said to have been made by Wing Commander Kean that there were more people kicked to death by donkeys in the United States each year than died from aircraft accidents. Whereas on the one hand, the press desired to give the public news on a matter that was regarded as of paramount importance in this country, the Air Department, on the other, was anxious, as it were, to tone down the news, said counsel. He submitted that behind that view might well lie the explanation of some of the difficulties which the reporters encountered.

It was clear that on Saturday afternoon at Cowern’s Mill there was considerable hostility to the press. That was known to the police, and news of it had even reached the plateau area, where Senior-Sergeant Taylor himself was aware of it. Colonel Pleasants himself agreed that the press was showing considerable resentment at what it described as the obstructive tactics of the army. That was not helped by Colonel Pleasants compelling reporters to go 22 miles to get passes when he could have satisfied himself on the spot that the men were in fact reporters.

Should Press Passport Be Carried

“On future occasions possibly it might well be sufficient if a reporter carried something in the nature of a passport accredited by his managing editor or something to show that he was a genuine reporter, and he would then have the privilege of supplying news without the necessity of going through the somewhat unnecessary formula to which he was subjected in this instance,” suggested counsel. Mr. Leicester claimed that Colonel Pleasants must have known of the interference w.iicn had taken place and he submitted that it was reasonable to suggest that he and his officers might have done something to assist in straightening out the difficulties. In counsel’s opinion the colonel’s attitude was consistent with the view that no news was to go to the press on instructions, as Captain Slade-Jones put it from “higher up—very much higher up.” “To withhold news as he did or instructed should be done was, in my submission, to take advantage of the' configuration of the country and put reporters and pressmen to a great deal of loss of time and trouble to which they should not have been subjected,” said Mr. Leicester. While he would not go so far as to say that Mr. Nash was “a master of prevarication”—which seemed more tainted with politics rather than criticism—he did _ claim there was justification for, the criticism which was offered of Mr. Nash’s reply to the original Press Association message claiming obstruction, said counsel. Mr. Nash’s “Understatement” Mr. Nash’s reply was a complete understatement of the position and might well justify the criticism that was made of it that it amounted to half-truths. Not one of his statements, in counsel’s opinion, was wholly true. The incidents at the plateau and at the mill, submitted counsel, were not to the credit of those in control, and they certainly did not reflect adversely upon the pressmen, nor did they support the inference that interference at the time was justified. Mr. Leicester then discussed the message which was purported to have come from the Prime Minister’s Department stating that information concerning the recovery of the bodies must not be released until the National Airways Corporation and Mr. Nash had been advised.

Mr. Leicester said the deputy director of civil aviation, Mr. A. Scott, had at the time no reason to doubt its authenticity or origin and was satisfied at the time where it came from. Crossexamination had left in his mind no doubt at all that Mr. Gibson, director of civil aviation, knew of the message, of which he professed to know nothing. Mr. Williams, of the Prime Minister’s Department, had made a sweeping statement that the department had not been concerned with the press, but there was the message of the Thursday. Mr Madden’s (acting commissioner of police) statement that he had sent a message to Constable Phillips at Ohakune on behalf of the department and, later, the discussion between Mr. Nash and- the 'editor of the New Zealand Herald. Mr. Munro. There was no need in this case for the establishment by the Prime Minister’s Department of the information service which operated when other means of communication broke down, said Mr. Leicester. Interviewing of Searchers Prevented He referred to the evidence of Mr. Whitfield, a New Zealand Herald reporter, regarding a conversation he had had with Captain Slade-Jones and the latter’s remark that he had authority which would prevent Whitfield from interviewing returning searchers. Captain Slade-Jones had said, according to the evidence, that all sorts of messages were being received at Cowern’s Mill base concerning Mr. Nash’s department, and he assumed that the department was in charge of the release of the information. M. Leicester also referred to the message stating that Mr. Nasi) was to be advised personally before the release of information to the press. He said the channelling of news through the Prime Minister’s Department was operating on the Saturday. Mr. Gibson had, on the Tuesday prior to the finding of the wreckage, undertaken to give information to the press. Mr. Leicester submitted that that undertaking had not been carried out. Mr. Leicester said Mr. Nash had • recognised the right of the press to obtain news and Mr. Gibson had undertaken to give it. Although it might be submitted that no important information was missed that day, nevertheless the undertaking was not carried out. Mr. Gibson had said his only responsibility was to provide an opportunity for the relatives to be notified first.

As Mr. Leicester understood the evidence of Mr. Gibson, it was intended to be no more than a temporary o i wmA ia order to give that