Attack on Press

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 66, 5 April 1937, Page 7

Attack on Press

r Press Assocla tion. >

COMMERCIAL RADIO Friendly Road Talks of "War to the Death" "DICTATORS NECESSARY"

iBy Telegrapb-

AUCKLAND, This *Day. An attack was made on newspapers by Mr C, G. Scrimgeour uuthe course of a Friendly Road sessiqn froin Station 1ZB last evening. He aaid that ▼ery serious attempts ha-d been made to block the ideal of cominercial' broacleasting, and the Friendly Boad had found that the opposition came froni the newspapers. He could not understand the opposition until he learnt the-* real position of the newspapers, Eveir | in a littje cpuntry like New Zealand newspapers for years had dominated every public man, whether he was 3 politician or a member of a public body They held the whip and could damn a public man at any time. Public opinion was moulded by the Press, which was too astute to say any thing wrong. When commercial broad castihg was started the Newspaper Pro prietors' Association decided that il would not accept any advertisements ealling attention to radio programmes by fixms unless they paid double rate. They had tried to kill Tadio, but had, failed. There waB a war to the death between cerfain newspapers and commercial radio, and commercial radio was golng to win. If the papers continued the war they would have a shot at giving a proper news servicc — one that would give the truth, not opinions backed by big interests, and not eoloured truth. Mr Scrimgeour read captions which he said came from the billboard and the contents of a weekly newspaper of the length at which papers were publishing filth and dqgrading and sorrow-producing • *njatter. There had been a BLd before Parliament to prohibit the pubfication of Divorce Court news, but it " had been shelved time after time by the tremendous inflnence of the newspapers. Mr Scrimgeour endorsed a quotation which he attributed to ' ' John Swinton, ' ' who, he said, was a fojmer New York Times editor. Mr Swinton had stated that no independent Press existed in America; that journalista dare not'write as they wished, and that they were intelleetual prostitutes. Mr Socimgeour quoted a passage by Mr Bernard Shaw about the scandalous venom se4rve'd by newspapers. The case of the ex-King was one of the worst things he had ever conxe wcross, continued Mr Scrimgeour. The power of the Press to besmirch a man's ltame and drag his honour in the dirt and get away with it wae a little beyond him. It was this kind of thing that made dictators necessary. Edward had won the admiration of all and was deposed by newspaper publicity. » "When they can't geb you one way they get you by publishing something which may in other circumstances.be all right," said Mr Scrimgeour. He himaelf had been warned: "Don't let them trip you, Scrim. If they can, {hey will, sell a whman to you or something like that." 14 V He added that this was not a political •peech but was given without .apOlogy as a Christian minister or as one of themselves. . . tThe Newspaper Proprietors' Association did not decide that double rates ahould be charged for advertisements relating fo radio programmes. Some papers for a time didi require that sponsored radio concertg ""'should be elassed as amusements and 'cnarged the iame rate as other amustjpid^; ,,..No agreement eadsts among nev^aptfrff'regarding radio advertising. Nearly every newspaper in New Zealand has,. since the inception of broadcasting, published the programmes of the principal stations free of charge.J