Correspondence

Manawatu Times, Volume 63, Issue 183, 5 August 1938, Page 8

Correspondence

In Defence of the Press (To the Editor.) Sir y it is time Government members realised the futility of attempting to place discredit on the Press of this country. To all observant readers it is apparent that our newspapers, and the “Times” in particular, are giving Labour a very fair run, a far better run, generally speaking, that was given to the recent Coalition Government.

To suggest that news columns of a journal in a democratic country may be used for propaganda purposes is ridiculous in the extreme. The primary function of a newspaper is to satisfy the public demand for information and a paper which publishes untrue, incomplete or otherwise misleading reports will lose its circulation and will rapidly become insolvent. The only opportunity afforded to influence public opinion is in editorial comment. After reading most of the dailies of any standing, it will be seen that there is only one which is at all unfairly biased. The influence of this one journal is more than counter-balanced by that of the two Left-wing weeklies, the Labour Standard and the Communist Workers’ Weekly, and of the dozens of trades union periodicals. As far as news is concerned, it is perhaps the completeness of reports which gives Government supporters their casus belli. After all, bright remarks about carpenters’ pencils and postage stamps will not go far towards solving the country’s problems. The Prime Minister has gone so far as to criticise cartoons. The leaders of ihe Coalition Government were subjected to fully as much lampooning at the hands of cartoonists as tho present Ministers, but they did not complain. For that matter, editorial comment on Mr. Coates' measures was frequently of an adverse and even unfair nature, but it may be said to his credit that ho realised that an essential feature of democracy is liberty of the Press. On the eve of a hard-fought electoral battle, it is only natural for both parties to be apprehensive as to the final result, and perhaps it is to be expected the Government will seek a scapegoat in case of possible failure at the polls. In pointing an accusing finger at the Press, they are looking in the wrong direction. The more vitriolic and bombastic their remarks, the more they succeed in emphasising that honesty and dignity for which the newspapers of this country have long been noted.—l am, etc., INDIGNANT READER. Palmerston North, Aug. 4.