FREEDOM OF PRESS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23514, 31 May 1938, Page 9

FREEDOM OF PRESS

POSITION IN UNITED STATES A PROFESSOR’S WARNING RECOGNITION OF DANGER There has been during recent months a tendency on the part of President Roosevelt and one of his chief henchmen, Secretary Ickes. to belittle if not directlv attack the press of the United States. The attitude arises pot from any failure of the newspapers to broadcast Presidential and Congress doings throughout the nation, but because the New Deal, as it is called, has received scant editorial support from even journals that have steadily voiced the Democrats’ viewpoint. There is a marked resemblance neiween the position in the United States to-day and that developed in New Zealand during recent mopths Its danger has been recognised by many independent leaders of thought, and a good deal has been written on the subject. A brief extract from a short article by Professor Eliot Jones, of Stanford University, is. therefore, worth reproducing:— Certain Disquieting Signs “In a large part of the world," writes the professor, “the agencies of public communication are either controlled by the Government or are subject to a certain amount of Government censorship and intimidation This is true of practically all of Asia, half of Europe, and half of South America. No country, it would appear, may regard itself as entirely tree from this danger. “ in the United States the danger of press censorship now seems remote, but there are certain disquieting signs, such as attacks on the press by the President and a prominent member of his Cabinet. "Last December, the president, at a press confrence. accused a large percentage of the press of inculcating a psychology of fear, which was in large part responsible for the business recession. When asked what the newspapers would gain by fostering fear, he said that was what he had been wondering. It is obvious, of course, that the newspapers have nothing to gain from the prevalence of a fear psychology, and therefore the President’s remarks were apparently intended to discredit the press. ‘‘ In his Jackson Dav speech last January, the President, referring to President Jefferson, said: “ ‘Against him were almost all the newspapers and magazines of the day. And so. to disseminate their policies in every hamlet and town, his associates resorted to printing leaflets and pamphlets. The handful of printers and editors who helped them were harried and arrested with the approval of the great papers and ma'gazines of the day. This was the first effort, with the cooperation of the owners of the press, to curb the essential freedom of the press.’ “PRESERVE ESSENTIAL FREEDOM ” "This sounds as if the President meant to suggest subtly that the newspapers were trying to hamper him in his dissemination of messages to the people, whereas the fact is that the newspapers, no matter what their general attitude, make a special point of giving space to the President’s messages and views, even when his remarks are uncomplimentary to the press . “In December, Secretary Ickes referred to certain ‘kept’ newspapers. “ The ‘ kept ’ newspapers are presumably those opposed to the New Deal. And since most of the newspapers are critical, apparently there is much opposition to the New Deal. But it is absurd to say, as the Secretary does, that ‘a few lords of the press' have almost exclusive control of and censorship over the dissemination of news and ideas. Altogether there are at least 13,000 newspapers in the United States, more than 2000 of which are dailies. There is thus a large number of independent publications. “Though the remarks of the President and Secretary Ickes may not fairly be taken as indicating a desire or intention to censor the press, it should be realised that a necessary preliminary step for any Government that has such an objective is to discredit the newspapers and magazines. The people must therefore be on their guard to resist the slightest move toward curtailing the essentia) freedom of the press.” _ The comment by Professor Eliot Jones in the last paragraph seems to cover fairly the ground as far as New Zealand is concerned.