PRESS ATTACKED

Waikato Times, Volume 122, Issue 20500, 17 May 1938, Page 8

PRESS ATTACKED

INADEQUATE PUBLICITY HON. W. NASH COMPLAINS CONCESSIONS ON MESSAGES (By Telegraph.—Press Association) WELLINGTON, Tuesday In his speech at Lower Hutt, last night, the Minister of Finance, the Hon. W. Nash, said there was discrimination shown by the Press Association through pressure of it members. He instanced an occasion when a Minister, having prepared a full reply to charges which had been made by the Leader of the Opposition and had been widely published and elaborated throughout the press of the Dominion, telephoned the manager of the Press Association to inquire whether an official reply would receive publication equally as wide as the charges. The Minister was at first advised to post the matter or telegraph it direct, in either case at the expense of his department. It was only after being reminded of the fact that the Press Association enjoyed considerable concessions from the State in the way of telegraph rates and that these carried an obligation to give proper distribution of Government views equally with others that he agreed finally to send the statement in full to all except one newspaper. The exemption was made for reasons which he explained and which were purely of a domestic nature.

Mr Nash said last year the cost of press messages, etc., amounted to £283,983. The sum paid for this service was £84,507. That meant the newspapers received a concession of £219,476 at the expense of the public revenue.

NO DISCRIMINATION PRESS ASSOCIATION REPLIES SUGGESTION TO MINISTER (By Teler'-*nTi.—Pre«« >«sonat!nn> WELLINGTON, Tuesday In his address last night Mr Nash is reported to have said that there was discrimination shown by the Press Association through the pressure of its members. The Press Association points out that since its inception its staff and its agents have been expressly instructed by the directors that there must be no discrimination or partisanship. political or otherwise. In connection with an incident to which Mr Nash referred, the Press Association states it has not been uncommon, when either the Government or Opposition has desired to make a statement exceeding in length the bounds of an ordinary Press Association message, to suggest that the statement should be posted to newspapers for publication on a named date. The statement of the Leader of the Opposition, to which it was understood the Hon. H. T. Armstrong was replying lengthily, had been posted to the newspapers and it was suggested to Mr Armstrong that his reply should be handled similarly. Mr Armstrong did not favour that course, and asked that his statement should be sent in full as a Press Association me§sage. It was then suggested that it should be telegraphed free to the newspapers. At this stage the manager of the Press Association had not seen the statement.

Telegraphed in Full On Mr Armstrong declining to have the statement telegraphed free of charge, the manager of the Press Association asked to be shown a copy of it. This was done, and the Press Association tiien agreed to telegraph the statement in full. Mr Nash referred to concessions granted to newspapers in the form of reduced rates for press telegrams. The Press Association points out that the concession rates for press telegrams are not confined to New Zealand. In the majority of instances in the Dominion, press messages are simultaneously transmitted by the Telegraph Department to a number of addressees, and each addressee is charged full press rate for the message. This is not the case in Australia and the United Kingdom where the full press rate is charged against the first addressee. “while other addressees receive their messages at a very substantially reduced charge, which in Britain is one-fourth of the press rate. The present press rate in New Zealand is three times the pre-war rate.