NEWS FAKERS.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 22, 12 September 1914, Page 4

NEWS FAKERS.

A common belief among Britons is that the Germans are a solid, stolid race, philosophical but unimaginative. The typical cartoon depicts "Michael" as a comfortable rotund figure, with si huge pipe. The truth is that there are many types in Germany, as in all European countries, and "slim" persons are among the Kaiser's subjects. The list of men who are directing Germany's war policy includes some whose special function is fiction ; they specialise in narratives for the foreign press. Before the war began-—indeed, two years age. —an English reviewer wrote that Germany would work with,the pen as "well as the sword in time of war. While Uhlans and others would be shedding blood at the front, diplomatists and others would be spilling ink. As far back as 1912 it was stated that Germany's war plans included a scheme ol "stuffing" the outside press. This prediction has been remarkably fulfilled. There is no harder-working division of the German forces than the "fakers" who are making "news" for foreign

consumption. Germany's ordinary export trade has been blocked by Bri> tain's Navy, but its place has been taken by an extraordinary export ol exaggerations and concoctions, truly remarks the Wellington Post.