HIGH MORAL LEVEL

Taranaki Daily News, 12 July 1929, Page 18

HIGH MORAL LEVEL

THE NEW ZEALAND PRESS REIPLY TO CRITICISM. OPINIONS OF CHURCHMEN. The press of New Zealand has come in for a certain amount of criticism from representatives of the church following on a complaint from the Rev. J. D. Smith at a meeting of the Dunedin Presbytery, that church people were very disappointed with the attitude taken up by the newspapers on subjects affecting the view point of the church. Mr. Smith declared that the newspapers were putting moral questions to one side and were concerned only with more dividends. He urged that business men of the church should obtain an interest in newspapers so that the view point of the church should have adequate expression; “The press does not create public morals,” stated the Rev. J. Robertson, Who is in charge of the Oxford Terrace Baptist Church, Christchurch, in an interview with a reporter. Everyone recognises that the newspapers are commercial enterprises. This does not prevent their maintaining high ideals of public service, but it has to be remembered that they are intended to serve the whole community and not merely one section of it. On the whole, our newspapers are sympathetic towards the great moral question of the day. It ill becomes public men to indulge in sweeping condemnations of any institutions of our social life. At the same time, there is a strong feeling that the newspapers generally have a bias in favour of their largest advertisers. The success of the newspapers shows that they give the public what the public demands, namely, an efficient news service.

“If the newspapers believe the publication of dividends will decrease gambling they are entirely wrong in that judgment. Gambling is immoral and an anti-social practice, and should not be legalised by any State.

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“If the churches were to run the newspapers it would be a public disaster,” declared Mr. Robertson, in referring to Mr. Smith’s recommendation that the church should have more influence in the policies of the newspapers. The Rev. M. A. Rugby Pratt, connexional secretary of the Methodist Church of New Zealand, interviewed, ■said that generally speaking he thought the New Zealand newspapers attained a fairly high moral level and it was only on the rarest occasion that their pages were soiled with anything of a prurient nature. That was much to be thankful for. Moreover, he held that very few leaders in the moral and religious domains took the trouble to get the viewpoint of tho journalist. They often assumed an antagonism that really did not ex-ist and complained that small space was devoted to the interests they represented. “My experience,” said Mr. Pratt, “is that abundant space is always available for good copy supplied in an attractive and readable form.” Nevertheless, he added, there was widespread opinion that on grave moral issues one could expect little sympathy from the newspaper press. The papers generally lagged behind enlightened public opinion. For example, licensing legislation that had produced an undoubted improvement in the conduct of the liquor trade had usually been placed upon the statute book in the face of either antagonism or aloofness of the papers. Scarcely any influential newspapers ’had given any encouragement to efforts calculated to lessen the enormous volume of gambling in the Dominion, although this practice was, at a time of grave economic crisis, diverting vast sum from the avenues of productive industry.

MORAL REFORMS.

It had 'been often remarked, continued Mr. Pratt, that When correspondents bccaine involved in a controversy with a newspaper on matters of moral con-pern the daring critic of editorial opinion had received less than that measure of fair treatment which was supposed to mark the attitude of combatants to each other. . In all branches of sport or controversy the average Englishman could be relied upon to “play the game” and congratulate a successful opponent, either in the combat on the field of sport or in a wordy warfare, but it had become a commonplace to say that the newspapers were not to be expected to be

“sports” and that journalistic opinion was always right and could never make an admission of the possibility of fallibility. “The papers are perhaps not so much antagonistic to moral reform as indifferent to it,” Mr. Pratt continued. “It ia not too much to ask that papers which cater for readers of all shades of opinion shall not always give the weight or their influence to one side. In one direction the papers are taking the lead with increasing effectiveness. I refer to the effort to promote world peace. In this connection they are showing less ■tender concern for vested interests than they are credited with doing in other circumstances.”

The Moderator of the Christchurch Presbytery, the Rev. John Miller, stated that the press generally stood loyally ■by the church and was apparently concentrating on the advancement of the community. On the other hand, however, he believed the amount of space given to reporting sporting and other meetings was out of all proportion compared with the space allotted to the work and meetings of tho church. LEGITIMATE DIFFERENCES. In stating that facilities for gambling should not be increased, as gambling was a menace to the community, Dean Julius said that though he had not gone into the whole question of amendments to the Gaming Act it seemed that such would be increasing the facilities for gambling. Taken generally, the facilities were already quite sufficient and encouragement would add nothing of value to the community. If the press was really convinced that gambling was not, to say the least of it, beneficial to the community, and if it then supported it, it would bring itself within the range of the Rev. J. D. Smith’s charge that dividends and not public morals had first consideration. If the facilities were increased more gambling was apt to develop. The speaker would not, however, like to impugn the apparent motives of the newspapers as there might be wisdom in their contention that that telegraphing of bets to the racecourse would to a great extent drive the bookmaker out of business. Dean Julius continued that the press had a certain attitude towards the questions of racing and the prohibition of liquor traffic. Those in authority on the newspapers were quite at liberty to take any view they liked on the subject on which there might be legitimate differences of opinion among good men.