Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1945 NEWS AND PROPAGANDA

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume 80, 5 January 1945, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, JANUARY 5, 1945 NEWS AND PROPAGANDA

A POWERFUL instrument in this war and the last has been propaganda. That word originally meant nothing more than an institution for the propagation of a particular doctrine; then it came to be used of the doctrine itself. Now, however, the term almost always leaves a bad taste in the public’s mouth because of association with the dissemination of something deliberately false or misleading. Propaganda in this sense is considered by the average straightthinking person as not strictly honest in that it seeks to exaggerate, distort or suppress and thereby depart from the truth. Nearly everyone on the Allied side in this war knows about the diabolical propaganda machine of Dr. Goebbels and how it has vitiated truth ir the cause of evil; yet there is no denying that it has been one of the most potent Nazi weapons. People are often apt to be a little suspicious and many of them reason that, if the enemy use propaganda to the extent that it serves their ends, our side does so too. This brings about a confused state of thinking and leads some persons to dismiss a certain story with the comment, “That’s just propaganda.” Others say, “You can’t tell the difference between truth and propaganda in these days.” These remarks may have a degree of justification behind them. It would be disingenuous to claim that the Germans make very free with propaganda while the Allies don’t use it at all. Every belligerent seeks to hide away the seamy side and present the best front possible. There has been suppression of unfavourable news by the Allies in this war and delay in announcing much more, security being given as the reason for such action. Also we have had examples of stories deliberately invented to discredit the enemy. The ■eport published on Wednesday of two Russian officers in Byidapest being shot by, the Germans while carrying a surrender ultimatum under the white flag may be one of f hese. We cannot tell but it has been flatly denied by the Germans who, however, have been proved to deny much else that Is true. The main newspapers in New Zealand publish such reports in

good faith but cannot vouch for their accuracy. That is the case with much overseas news. The cable and radio services which supply New Zealand papers are among the best in the world and every endeavour is made to obtain truth and accuracy. But all the messages which reach us have to be written by somebody and the person concerned, though trained at news gathering, may often have incomplete information at the time of writing or may be misinformed. The source of the report is often given in the cables so that readers may place their own evaluation on its authenticity. Experience in this war, however, has shown that day in and day out, month in and month out, the news supplied by New Zealand newspapers to their readers gives a surprisingly faithful picture of the trend of events in the war and in overseas countries. That should be a source of great satisfaction; it is not the accuracy of every particular item which matters so much as the over-all impression. which the people get and in this respect the public of New Zealand are as well served as any in the world. The gathering of news and its faithful presentation is made much more difficult because of wartime censorship, which is a necessary evil because, if the choice lies between giving the enemy valuable information and the suppression of facts, then there can be no question of which course ought to be adopted. But every thinking person wants more of what journalists call “straight” news—although it may be unpalatable—and less propaganda. We want to get rid of propaganda as soon as possible after the war. With this end in view there is a strong movement on foot for equality of access to news at its source to be recognised as an accepted* principle. That was not so before the war and it should not be possible to return to the position where a German or Japanese Government, for example, can suppress a free radio and a free Press and serve up to the people just what news it thinks they ought to have. Conversely no government should be able to apply the gag to news being sent out to other countries. That was mainly responsible for Germany and Japan being able to make large-scale preparations for war under the cloak of secrecy. The weaknesses which contributed to France’s downfall were brought about to a great extent by interference with a free Press while Fascist Italy was allowed to read and hear only what the totalitarian Government thought was good for it. Such State-controlled agencies as Havas in Paris and Stefani in Rome filtered all the news which came from outside and served the

“official” edition up to the people. Unfortunately the de Gaulle Government—only temporarily, it is hoped—requires that newspapers shall support the new regime if they are to be published, while the newspapers in Russia are quite frankly the mouthpieces of the State. One of the cardinal freedoms for which democracy is fighting is freedom of expression. That could not come to pass with authoritarian control of news services. Equality of access to information at its untainted source and its unfettered exchange between country and country are precious principles essential to a fuller international understanding and indispensable if we are going to prevent little Hitlers and Mussolinis from growing up secretly in ideological hotbeds.