The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1927-08-01
OF
!. EUROPE. SENT IN
GUISE OF NEWS
United Press Label Guran-
tees Dispatch as Free
! From Official 'CoIoring.'
BY ED L. KEEN
General European Manager United
Press

General european manager Unltet
LONDON, Aug. American
newspaper readers are today being
supplied with two kinds of news
from Europe.
One kind filters through channels
whose headwaters are located in the
foreign offices-the State depart
ments-of various European ccun-
tries. The other kind is sent direct
by experienced American newspaper
men, trained to observe carefully
and to report effectively, without
reliance upon interested sources and
uninf1uenced by considerations OF
expediency.
The label "By United Press" over
dispatches from Europe in an Amer
lean newspaper is guarantee OF the
latter
There are two kinds of news
agencies, or press associations, oper-
hting in Europe.
one kind is either itself govern
mentally subsidized or controlled, or
is affiliated in other countries with
agencies that are governmentally
subsidized or controlled.
The other kind is not only free
from any sort of government control
or influence, but is entirely disasso-
ciated from agencies that have such
af1liation.
The United Press belongs TO the
second category.
European news agencies OF the
first mentioned class are combined
into an interdependent group OF
some thirty members.
Maintained by Governments
- Not all of the members of this Or
anization, which is known as the
Allied news agencies, are under the
Ydirection or control of their govern
mentS.
Some of them are frankly "offl-
cial agencies" maintained and oper-
ated by their governments.
Others are semi official, Suosl-
died either directly or indirectly.
A1lllGIO,
operate in close harmony with their
governments. Still others are quite
free from governmental association
in their own countries, but they are
affiliated with the official and semi
official agencies of other countries.
The nucleus and dominating ele-
nnent of this news combine is the
official and semi official agencies,
whose principal function is to ham
die the news of their respective
countries in way most agreeable
and most useful to their govern
mentS.
Naturally, they utilize to the full
est the opportunities of favorable
nationalistic propaganda. %
All the allied news agencies,
whether official, semi official, or
locally independent, are knit to-
gether in a net work of interlacing
contracts and exclusive news eX-
change arrangements, the purpose
of which is so far as possible to
create and maintain a news monop-
oily.
Powerful Competition
That they have not been success
full in this endeavor is due to the
powerful competition of such indie
pendent agencies as the Exchange
Telegraph and the Central News, of
Great Britain; the Telegraph Union,
of Germany; the Nippon Dempo
Tsushin Sha of Japan; the Agence
Radio, of France; the United Press,
of America, and the British United
Press, of Great Britain and Canada.
The agencies, and the Interna-
tional News Service of the United
States, have been invited to send
representatives of the Forthcoming
press conference to be held under
League of Nations auspices at &C.
neva.
The leading members of the allied
agency combine are Reuters, of
Great Britain; Wolff, of Germany;
Havas, of France; Stefani, of Italy,
and the Associated Press, of Amer
lea.
A. P. Gets Into Combine
Nearly all the other countries of
Europe are represented in the mem
bership, as well as Japan. 1t was
only recently that the Associated
Press became fully identified with
the organization.
For number of years, the A. p.
has had contractua1 relations with
the leading members of the COM
bine, but until the recent meeting
OF the allied agencies, at Warsaw,
it had not been officially represent
ed at their counsels.
At the Warsaw meeting, in the
latter part of May, Kent Cooper,
general manager of the Associated
Press, appeared and at his request
nus organization was admitted into
full membership by reclamation.