Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1905-1919, 1919-01-19
} 'RRI1ISH NO LONGER
MISTRUST REPORTERS
o,, r,,c Goodness Toward Repre-
entan~rs of the Press In
Conc,
pllgl IClTy NOW ENCOURAGED
,.,,,IrI Arrangements II Made fV
Convenience Of Newspaper
Writer'S Now.
,ry X wALTER)

fE an
'",,, vh,thrr W. shall go back to
''.r,nd.il IONS ~ 1911 ana before the
80 1br uritiHh government. "a
- LpuW has itH own views on pub
2',uI ine fact that the first war
80, 4ulnn To he disbandei ia the
n-st., of Information seems To In
..I. mai the facilities provided FOR
S',,..u correspondents will be with
.n Many uf ia. official CON
S',.r,,a and interviews with high
nfr,a.s which furnished invaluable
Information have already been dis.
! continued
rh, treatment ~ newspaper cor.
,,spnndcnts during the war has been
vp.cu ~ British methods The
MN NJ the ministry of Information
Mi make an interesting chapter
xhen the full story IN told, phrucu-
hrly mat ~ the department oI pro
nay,ndt IA enemy countries Ia 1913
there were practically no special
channels FOR official Information To
cprrespanicnts Plenty of .nforma-
uon could be had by those who
could get u through personal ac-
ouaiu,aucc, and London was n great
held for tly cntcrprislng reporter
vho knew where to go and how TO
no about IL and how to write his sto-
,ies Vlthuut offending the censorship
,,EuhIInns Hut In the FIRST months
Of the war, owing to the necessary
,,rrlptnns II tho situation, the
sources of news began 10 dry up.
No Time for Rrporicvs.
Government departments were
much too busy rcurgsni2lng and eS-
pandlng at prodigi0ur rate, to meet
thc demand ~ britiinH growing war
efiof,. FOR any attention Ia he paid
10 puhurity iesldcA, IL went against
! the traditions of the British official
y mind To do anything which seemed
like advertising his department
American correspondents marked
down the great Administrative offices
of Whitehall ~ the natural outlet
for the news uf what Britain was
doing IN the war. iiut they knocked
IN van 40 the doors Of tho foreign
office the var office and the ad-
mifalV occasionally after long ne
ro,inuons they obtained carefully
verified interviews with busy chiefs.
or statements from their secretaries
which could be used as interviews,
Hut anything like open house for
correspondents which president
Roosevelt inaugurated In Washing
ton was Ia those daya inconceivable
TO the lrii sh mind. There was more
urgent business In hand.
The tlrut effective step toward let
Ing America know What EAgland
VAS doing and why she was doing II
WAS taken the following winter.
when arrangements we're made at
the foreign office. the war office and
the adm rtlty for American CORES
\ pondtniK to be received once week
by well informed official OF each
department At first these confer
sncsS were very formal nsatisfsc-
tory affairs. but as correspondents
and officials became acquainted
greater confidence was developed.
uniil az last the American correspond
tnn In London could be counted
among the hest Informed journal SITS
of the metropolis Officials gradu-
ally came To rely almost entirely
upon the integrity ~ tho correspond
tnt land the vigilance OF the cen
Srl and information OF an entirely
confidential nature was constantly
g'en them which was of no uHn as
material for the day but served to
rude them In writing what could be
lold Usually this confidential In
formation was released after "a pc
rod and II In remarkable that In
spite OF all restrictions upon news
which have been maintained during
iour years there have not been, and
!" mere are not likely 10 be, any great
revelations now that restrictions
nave been removed.
In those days correspondents went
nom department TO department.
come OF them considerable distance
apart and As each new department
Ot ministry wna organized, similar
arrangements we're made for confer
sh'eS II was only IN 1917 that the
department of Information was or
.ah.tcd. This was the work OF John
huchhn, equally well known for his
popular novels his monumental his
,.iy ot The war, and as "A publisher.
I'VE hhd up 20 that timc been em-
p.oycd At the British headquarters
Ahu htli the rank of lieutenant col
vnoi Under him ali the necessary
patt " foreign correspondents re-
uohs with tho government depart
\ MehH ~as reKulprizcd and the
' u,Ses OF Information very oonsid-
efably changed.
Distrust II Dispcilcsi.
huI THIS was only email part OF
"otk Hts energy In other di-
uuuhs ~ literally In presenting to
WhoIc world running statement
"hht britain waa doing and why
e was doing it--developed such
,'se ana effective organization that
tew months n was neces.ary TO
sa1e ministry In order TO provide
,u,pehuent constitutional authority
~, we work, Lord Behverbrook was
.slh'ed minister. Colonel Buchan
~ remaining the guiding spirit vf
e organiHauOn. which he III now
u'hg up. The ministry naturally
.'" 'hc center of Interest for
,tspaper correspondents. Every
h.k was now being done TO make
.eT work easy for them. The over
,s press center was opened for
nv" tr hehert with one or more lee
AZ OF conferences every day IN hd-
.,uon to all the social and profess
,S"l conv'nicnces OF n club. IL
n also is closed u will be greatly
~'d by those who have benefited
80 Government departments also
b 70 be closing their doors one
n,llt one notices definite and
msv,u,"uly permanent changes In these
a'is IN the official world OF Lon
d, Whatever In dane IN tho way
ia. ''aslng to provide special fac.li-
viii 'or correspondents. whitehall
o, never 20 back to the old policy
the ing tho newspaper men as II