News Service Expansion

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31001, 5 March 1966, Page 20

News Service Expansion

GV.Z. Press Association) QUEENSTOWN March 4. Plans for expanded coverage of world news, including the appointment of a fulltime staff correspondent in South-east Asia, were announced by the chairman of the New Zealand Press Association (Mr O. S. Hintz, of Auckland) at its annual meeting in Queenstown. Mr Hintz said New Zealand was remote from the main sources of world news. Tbe old days when foreign news could be handled in leisurely fashion had gone forever. Radio and television offered instant news summaries deal-

ing with events in distant lands. They whetted the public appetite for news in greater depth and detail which only newspaper could supply. This demand for topicality in news had produced its own revolution id communications. “Pooling” Essential The old commercial services by cable and radio could not cope with modern press traffic, either in volume or speed or for reliability. The trend had been toward leased channels of communication and they were very expensive. “No newspaper can afford to maintain its own leased channels of communication to all parts of the world,” said Mr Hintz. “Pooling alone can make swift and comprehensive world news services economic. Hence the growth of great international news agencies which between them provide the basic foreign news cover for all the major newspapers of the world.” “Our basic foreign news service comes from Reuters,

In which we are partners. We draw also from all the other major agencies of the world. We insist, as Reuters insist, on the objectivity, reliability and honesty of our news. If human errors occur, we admit them. “Two of the most responsible posts in the Ixmdon headquarters of Reuters are held by New Zealanders. Several of the ablest correspondents in the South-east Asia area today are New Zealanders. “These men hold their appointments not because of nationality but because of their professional standing, achieved in international competition. “That is not to say that we should be satisfied with things as they are. "Because of the economics of growth we must put more New Zealand journalists into foreign service. The important thing is to deploy them most usefully.” For ' the last year the N.Z.P.A. had had a staff correspondent in Vietnam. He

had been primarily a war correspondent, concentrating on the activities of the New Zealand Army contingent in Vietnam. The board of directors had decided to go a step further and base a permanent staff correspondent in South-east Asia, with a roving commis- ) sion to cover a wide area. Expanding Scope Mr Hintz said the N.Z.P.A. hoped to develop recruitment and training tn match the expanding scope of news agency work. Direct overseas representation must be expanded, not only on permanent location as in South-east Asia, but also for specific assignments which commanded a special New Zealand interest. “Now as always the integrity of our news must be our first consideration,” Mr Hintz said. *“We must adapt ourselves to a growth economy if we are to claim that the New Zealand public, through its newspapers, is as well informed as any in the world