Journalists Will not Attend National Painty Conference

Grey River Argus, 10 May 1948, Page 4

Journalists Will not Attend National Painty Conference

(Special to Argus) DUNEDIN, May 9 With the completion of the New Zealand Labour Party's 32nd coneterence, the last of the major conferences planned for Otago's. Centennial year has come to an end. There is, howover another, important political conference planned for next month, when the National Party will try to match a programme which, in their opinion might provide more bait for electors next year. But the journalists, whose exclusion from th*e Labour Party and Federation of Labour conferences (a custom preserved through the years) has been the subject of much unfair press comment will not attend. Most of the members of the large team which has invaded Dunedin for the past fortnight, left to-day tor tneir nomes, and indicated tnar they wouid not return for the National rartys meeting. it was explained that the National Party conferences were attended by a number or the party's puoiiuity experts, who would “hand out” to the newspapers such information as to conference proceedings as was deemed advisable. With the Labour Party’s conference, each visiting and local journalist was given the full lis; of remits, and the conference’s press spokesman, at each press conference, gave to all reporters the decisions on each remit. This, from the reporters’ point of view proved highly satisfactory. and if any explanations of reasons for rejection of adoption were requested, these were freely given.