The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1941 Censorship In New Zealand

Timaru Herald, Volume CXLIX, Issue 21969, 22 May 1941, Page 4

The Timaru Herald THURSDAY, MAY 22, 1941 Censorship In New Zealand

SINCE there are bo few occasions upon which the censorship system operating in New Zealand can be discussed, Sir Cecil Leys was justified in creating such an occasion for himself in his address to the annual meeting of New Zealand Newspapers, Ltd., yesterday. The functions of the Press in wartime are twofold. First, the public should be provided through the newspapers with a constant stream of reliable news. The only limitation on news should be the suppression of items which might give useful information to the enemy, thereby prejudicing the safety of the country, or the safety of any persons engaged in war duties. The second function of the newspaper should be to interpret the news with a reasonable degree of accuracy. The third function should be to help in the maintenance of the spirit of the people. This may be done in a variety of ways. Needless alarm can be dispelled and Increasing faith can be engendered in the ability of the British Empire and its allies and friends to meet any challenge coming from the dictator-ridden countries. In the exercise of these legitimate and necessary functions the Press must have, and is entitled to expect, the maximum assistance from official quarters.

It is admitted that some degree of censorship is necessary in wartime, but how it is to be a applied is another matter. The newspapers themselves are not members of an anti-social or subversive organisation. Newspapers in this country are controlled by men who are determined that the cause espoused by the nation shall triumph. The Press, therefore, would not publish anything likely to prejudice that Cause. Except for matters of detail requiring to be fixed officially, they could be left to exercise on their own account a censorship which would be prudent enough to meet most of the requirements of war. Censorship in any form is distasteful to British people and it is on this account that the control of news imposed in other parts of the Empire has created frictions most of which, after a process of tidal and error, have been greatly reduced. The New Zealand censorship system, however, has remained unmodified.

Matter appearing in the Dominion newspapers is supervised by the Publicity Department which is under the control of a Director of Publicity. The original purpose of the department would have been to assist the Press in furthering the nation’s war effort in addition to prohibiting the publication of matter which might be harmful to that effort. However, because the department is being maintained on an extremely economical scale, its negative function is exercised much more frequently than its positive and helpful one. Sir Cecil Leys fairly stated that his criticism was directed against a system, not against an individual, and he said further: “no man, however able, painstaking and industrious, should be expected to exercise such wide powers.” The powers of the Director of Publicity are for practical purposes unlimited. This power is conferred Upon him by statute and there is no appeal from his ruling. He is expected by the Government to be the man who knows the answer to everything, and the newspapers must abide by his answer, whatever it may be. The truth is that the Director of Publicity has been set an impossible task, a task which no other Government has entrusted to one man.

The Commonwealth Department of Information, the counterpart of the New Zealand Department of Publicity, has eight officers drawing salaries of more than £l,OOO a year. Eight others are paid more than £7OO a year, and seven others from £574 to £664 a year. The number of these men and the salaries paid to them is sufficient evidence of the importance the Commonwealth Government attaches to the work which has to be done. The regulations prevent specific reference to matter which has fallen under the censor’s ban, so the question must be discussed only in generalities. Nevertheless, it can be stated that the present system is unsatisfactory and largely so because the Government does not appear to have a proper appreciation of the true functions Of the Publicity Department.