THREATS TO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

Wanganui Chronicle, 18 February 1949, Page 6

THREATS TO FREEDOM OF THE PRESS

A CALL FOR VIGILANCE NEW PLYMOUTH, Feb. 16.--“Events everywhere threatening the freedom of the Press from arbitrary control are the concern of the Press everywhere,” stated the annual report of the chairman, Mr. W. A. Whitlock, at the annual meeting of the New Zealand section of the Empire Press Union today. In many countries old liberties had been stamped out completely, the report added. “Although the principle of a free Press is not openly challenged in any British-speaking country, the need for vigilance against the tendency of governments to restrain newspaper freedoms is very real," it stated. The report stated that the union had performed a most valuable function in this respect. It was an agency by which its members were kept informed of developments that directly o r insidiously threatened the freedom of newspapers. Opinions expressed regarding controls imposed on newspapers in some colonial territories revealed an alertness to the danger of acquiescing in arbitrary interference with the Press, Mr. Whitlock added. Certain events in New Zealand emphasised the need for alertness of this kind if newspaper freedoms were not to be undermined. After reviewing the preparations made by the union fo r Press coverage by representatives of the Dominion newspapers of the .Royal tour, he expressed the hope of members that the King would recover his health and that the visit would eventually be made.

The report added that the council of the union, meeting in London, had interested itself during the year in the restrictive ordinances imposed on the Press in Uganda and in the operation of others in Cyprjis, Malta and Bermuda. Officers elected are: Chairman, Mr W. A. Whitlock committee, Sir Ceci Leys, Messrs. R. H. Billens, R. D. Horton, R. P. Furness, T. M. Geddis, L. C. Young, C. W. Earle, John Rhodes, E. A. Blundell, W. R. Sinclair, J. M. Hardcastle; secretary, Mr. G. B. Brunton.