BRITISH CENSORSHIP

Dominion, Volume 37, Issue 198, 19 May 1944, Page 4

BRITISH CENSORSHIP

Reply Tq Director Of Publicity (Bv Telegraph.—Press Association.! AUCKLAND. May 18. In reply to the Director of Publicity the following statement on the subject of British censorship was issued today in the name of the newspaper editors who recently returned from Britain; — “The' director’s reply is twice the length of our statement. Ont of consideration for newspapers struggling against the handicaps imposed by newsprint restrictions. we shall not take n similar liberty. "The director describes the question at issue as one of misinterpretation of the manner in which the British censorship works. Our description of it as a voluntary system was based on an official memorandum. The director reproduces part of this memorandum, including the first paragraph, the meaning of which is surely crystal clear. Then he introduces category (f), which refers to copy for distribution by news agencies, concerning which, though it is only subject to voluntary censorship, there is a gentlemen’s agreement. . “It was unnecessary for him to reproduce categories (e), (d), and (e), which do not refer to the newspaper Press, but why did he not reproduce categories (a) and (b), which, being placed first, would ordinarily be regarded ns of primary importance? We shall repair his omission. Category (a) read's: ’Copy for publication in the national and provincial Press.’ Category (b) reads: ‘Photographs for publication in the national and provincial Press.’ “The first, covers in general nil copy which hns been written by the reporting staffs of the newspapers. This in volume far outweighs the copy received from any other source. Of this the memorandum says, ns it says of all matter for publication within the United Kingdom, that it is not subject to compulsory censorship. This is what we said in our original cabled articles, and this we repeat.”