Another Freedom
T the end of the last war an attempt was made to have a clause inserted in the Peace Treaty guaranteeing freedom of the press in the countries of all the signatories. The attempt failed, though it was supported by Colonel House. Now the question has been raised again. Although the war is not yet over, and although, if fighting ceased to-morrow, peace might not be signed for two or three years, those who asked for the free press clause in 1919 are getting ready to ask for it again in 1945 or 1946 or 1947 or whenever the Peace Conference is finally called. The request is simply that news shall be free to circulate, and that this freedom shall be guaranteed by all the signatories. It is not so much free trade in, news that is asked for as the free exchange of news-by whatever method exchange is effected. If the question were simply the value of news as a commodity, and who shall benefit from it commercially, it would be as sensible to ask the Peace Conference to guarantee the price of eggs. But the request is that news should be free in order that peace should be preserved, since one of the chief causes of war is the suppression or perversion of information. The newspapers of the world do not claim that they are the temples of truth. They claim that they hold open doors and windows through which truth passes. And they ask, not merely that they should be allowed to go on doing this, but that they should be compelled to do so, so far as that is internationally practicable; that there should be free access by correspondents to all the news of all countries, and facilities for circulating it; in short, that accredited newsmen should be given in peace something like the status of accredited Red Cross men in war. If it were possible to report freely on disputes as they develop, to report on them with something like the authority and impartiality of a neutral visitor to a prisoner-of-war camp, it can hardly be doubted that many crises which now lead to war would pass harmlessly.
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 238, 14 January 1944, Page 3
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365Another Freedom New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 238, 14 January 1944, Page 3
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Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
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