Omaha daily bee., 1915-12-10
PRESS BUREAU In BERLIN
New Headquarters Established
Through Which Thirtv.0ne Cor
respondents Will Operate.
WRITERS SEE CENSORED STORY

Correspondence Of the Associated Press)
BERLIN. Nov. 22.-For the purpose Of
facilitating the transmission Of news
from Germany 20 tho neutral outer
world the German general staff has
established a Neutral War Press head
quarters" through which thirty-one rec
ognlzed and accredited correspondents in
future will operate.
The new news bureau came into eKis-
tence during the last days Of October.
Such members OF the general staff who
have In the past been handling the ma
terial .of foreign correspondents-censor
officers. etc.-now form It's personnel.
and are quartered in a building at Luis
enstrasse. 3iA, a few blocks away from
the General Staff building.
Three times a week II meets. that is
to say. Major c. confers with the cor
respondents. explains the reports OF the
general staff and gives out such items
Of news as are available. In addition
there Ia issued daily a symposium OF
the foreign news which concerns Ger
many and the war.
Care has been taken to include In the
conferences only newspapermen who
represent established and recognized pa
pers. and In the main who are per-
manently assigned to Berlin. The rep
resentatives OF American news associa-
lions. the special correspondents Of vari-
Gus American papers. as we'll as a num-
Der OF Swedish, Dutch, Roumanian,
Spanish. Greek and Argentinean newspa-
permon are included In the list.
The censors in the neutral press head
quarters assume jurisdiction over all dis
patches OF a military nature. and all
trips to the front are TO be arranged
through the new department Unlike
the censorship arrangements OF many
other countries. In this case the corre-
spondents are kept exactly informed of
the fate OF their stories. Two extra
copies OF everything written must be
submitted to the neutral press headquar-
ter's censor One of these he retains
for referenc. The other eventually Is
returned to the writer. with annotations
showing what changes. II any, have
been made in his copy.
Reporters Photographed.
To the end that an exact control may
be exercised over the various newspaper
men. they have been asked 10 sign an
agreement which Is equipped with a pho
tograph OF the writer A duplicate OF
this picture Is kept on file so as TO make
It impossible for any unauthorized per
son to represent himself falsely as the
correspondent OF any paper. counter
signed agreement, also equipped with
photograph. serves Identification pur-
poses.
The agreement includes the stipulation
that the reporter will transmit informa-
tiou secured by him through the press
headquarters only to the newspaper or
newspapers which he represents; that
he will submit what he writes to the
censor; that he will see 10 II that his
paper or papers do not misrepresent the
contents OF his articles by .means OF
false or misleading headlines. additions
or omissions. and that he will furnish
headquarters with two copies OF the
paper or papers which print what he has
written,
II also stipulates that tho newspaper
man shall publish no pictures without the
permission of the censor and that he
shall IN addition turn in two extra copies
for the files. On trips to tho front the
direction of officers in charge is to be
followed unquestioningly. The CORE
spondents must promise that they will
not leave Germany before the end OF
the war except with the express per
mission OF the press headquarters. This
last stipulation. II Is pointed out, is not
intended to restrict any man from going
home. Il occasion requires, or from
making journey to neutral country,
but merely to prevent him from doing
what a few correspondents have done
during the war-travelinE on the strength
OF passport from q neutral country from
one battlefront TO another. OF opposite
sides OF the stuggie.