"TWISTING OF MINDS"

King Country Chronicle, Volume XXXI, Issue 4514, 3 July 1937, Page 3

"TWISTING OF MINDS"

CONTINENTAL NEWS. ANTI-BRITISH INFLUENCES. A British official wireless message received on Tuesday referred to questions in the House of Commons referring to Italian anti-British propaganda in Palestine and Arabia. Mr. Anthony Eden, the Foreign Minister, replied that representations had been made to the Italian Government by the British Ambassador in Rome, and by himself to the Italian Ambassador in London. One of the broadcasting services from Bari had lately shown an improvement. He also said that an undertaking had been given by the Italian Government, and that it was against international custom for propaganda to be indulged in by a country with which the nation was at peace. "Subsidised foreign news services that aim, directly and indirectly, at British interests, have become a serious menace," declares the "Round Table," according to a cable message to the Sydney "Sun." "A twisting of minds has been adopted," it says, 'as a successful alternative to the slaughter of bodies, which accomplished so little in the Great Wiar. Impartial news has almost disappeared in the Far East. The Italian, German, and even the French Governments support news agencies which supply the Chinese and Japanese Press with services at a fraction of the cost of the British, and the wonder is that news from Britain has not disappeared altogether. The "Round Table" quotes numerous items published in newspapers in the Far East—dated from London, but really emanating from the Continent—which emphasise British timidity and weakness, with the object of showing that Britain is becoming a second-rate Power. It also cites German Government instructions to agents abroad that they "must throw discredit on news agencies hostile to Germany and damage their relations with important foreign newspapers." Undermining Influence. Attention is also dnawn to Italian propagandists in the Levant, who are assiduously spreading the doctrine that Britain evei'ywhere is on the run, and that the Empire will shortly break up. The secretary of the British Chamber of Commerce in Brazil is quoted as stating that almost all foreign news in Brazil is received from French and American sources, which naturally are not interested in presenting facts favourable to British prestige. Italian, German, French and Russian wireless services to Egypt, the Levant, Afghanistan, and elsewhere, it is asserted, are all working to Britain's disadvantage, seeking to undermine her influence. These services also supply tendentious news to all the European Press at nominal—even derisory—rates, thanks to Government subsidies, with the result that everywhere Britain is being discredited. Interested Powers, declares the "Round Table," are winning greater victories through the dissemination of falsehood than could be possible by force of arms, and it is suggested that Government subsidies may be necessary to enable Britain to regain her pre-war control of the dissemination of impartial news.