NEWS FAMINE AND THE CENSOR

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2273, 6 October 1914, Page 6

NEWS FAMINE AND THE CENSOR

IMITATION IN AMERICA

"COLOURING " OR "SELECTION"

England and America both are suffering through the recklessness of a yellow press and the strict censorship of real war news (says an American review). "Wo have been treated to accounts of North Sea battles, of sinking ships, as well as of victorious fleets that are contradicted within the same day. Besides the publication of news that is no news; the Gorman element of our population complain bitterly in letters to the Press of the colouring of news in a way unfavourable to the Fatherland.

Tho New York "Tribune" speaks for itself and other American papers in declaring its purpose to give authentic news on tho progress of the war. News from the Continent cannot be guaranteed, however, "when all normal means of communication are in the hands of the military authorities and a strict censorship is maintained." Readers are asked to bear in mind that "under such conditions a newspaper cannot verify the accuracy of all the reports reaching it, and yet must print them for what they are worth."

The New York "Times" sjoes more into detail in explaining the vicissitudes of the war news in its passage through many bands beforo reaching it:—"A peculiarity of t the war news, as it comes to the American papers, is that-prac-tically all of it, except that relating to England, has to pass two military cen? sorships, and in the ca.se of the news from Germany or Austria each censor has objects in view that are different fromy as well as antagonistic .to, thos« of the other. , "The correspondent in London is the nearest to free, though even his liberty is much restricted. Ho can send to us any news he can fret from any source., providing it mcmtos official npproTal as mnkinjr no untimely revelation concerning the British forces and , intentions, and as not injurious to British Allies. The gatherer of the information in France h»s to submit his 'copy' to a like, but probably more' rigid, scrutiny before what is left of it is sent on to London, whonce . Mono it can comn to America. But it is the man in Berlin who, for ' the present, at least, has the ■ hardest time, for there the. idea of a censorship takes tbo form of a determination to suppress not only all news harmful to German interests, but also all that is not, in tho opinion of, the authorities, in one way or. another distinctly helpful to those interests. That, of course, makes the Berlin dispatches few in number, but in addition it makes more than probable that when they reach the hands of the British censor he will decide that their publication would be undesirable.' In other words, lie is apt to object to them for tho very • reason that made them pleasing to the German censor. These are the facts that account for what a few of our readers mistakenly call tho 'colouring' by us of, our war news.. 'Colouring' is not the right. word for what happens, since nowhere ie. there compulsion on our correspondent* to Bend untrue or distorted ncTrj, end tlier am .thoroughly well aw«re that suoh news is not wanted from them, oven when tho alternative, as it is just now. in Berlin, may be next bo no news at all. Tho right word is 'selection,' and, unfortunately, the- selecting in time of war is done with military, not journalistic, ends in view. Still, what the censors accomplish is.not the suppression of the news, but the delaying of it. Sooner or later tho truth all gets out." The newspapers themselves have a ground for complaint in common with t'hoirreaders; The Now York "World," in ono editorial, reviews the same difficulties mentioned above and points out the astonishing thing that, "in , spite of the almost insurmountable obstacles that belligerent governments have placed in the way of the Press, the American newspapers have been able to do ,so well." yet in another, place ex-claims:—"The-brutality with which European officialism has undertaken to suppress public and private information should be noted by the people of every nation. What is called censorship has been wanton destruction. The result, has been hardship, suffering, and falsehood, with probably few. advantages to anybody. In England measures have been taken to introduce common senso into the system, and in this country restrictions upon ths use of the wireless which put it out of service in some cases have been modified. Perhaps in the course of time, public opinion in air lands, will compel governments to. exercise intelligent discrimination in such matters: Whenever political or military power assumes to say what people shall read, how they shall think, and what conclusions they shall reach, it usually goes about 'the business clumsily, and thus defeats'its own objects. True censorship, even in war, demands knowledge and wit. _ In this instance it .has depended chiefly [ upon muscle." ' ,