Evening star., 1938-08-13
M|NT0N NH|TSPRESS'
AS BIG: BUSINESS
Wire Services Accused of
'MonopoIistic Practices
by Senator.
BY the Associated Press.

BY the Associated Press.
NEW YORK. Aug. Ex-senator
Sherman Minton. Democrat. of In
diana today described American news
papers as big business" backed by
the money Of men who. in my opin-
ion. would not scruple to throw this
country into fascism rather than sur
render their privileges"
The Indiana Democrat, in a broad
cast speech prepared for delivery be-
fore the American Press Society, ac-
cused the wire services OF monopolistic
practices" adding:
Often We find their stories are
edited in the making. or made in the
editing to conform to the policy of
the moment" He did not specify the
wire services he meant In this con-
nection.
Senator Minton recalled "a little
bill' he proposed last year which was
denounced by some newspapers As
an attempt to limit the freedom of
the press.
A. N. p. A. Proposal Attacked.
The American Newspaper Publish
ers' Association. he said, had made
an "impudent and hypocritical pro-
posal' to censor free speech by curb
ing the RADIO" and he had assumed
that II the press had set for itself the
task Of cleaning up the house of radio
1t wouldn't mind putting its own house
in order, so I proposed a little bill
that would help that thought along"
Il proposed" he said, that it should
be a crime to publish as a fact any,
thing known to be false. In other
words. 1t would be a crime to lie,
knowing 1t to be a lie - do not
believe that the Constitution or those
who framed 1t ever intended it to be
used as a defense for the liar and the
slanderer.
Then 1t was that I learned from
the great newspaper publishers that
they claimed the constitutional right
to deliberately lie. and that you can
not run newspaper without lying de-
liberately."
Editorial Practices Scored.
I'VE find the editorial page
receiving the must orders from the
high command, and articles are pub
lished for which no one is responsible,
articles which can be traced to no
source and other articles which can
be traced to subsidized sources. :.
And behind all Of this We find con-
troll Of the advertiser representing big
business -. We find them believ-
ing they can control thought in this
country by their command Of money.
=
1T is not that big business runs the
newspapers. The newspapers are big
business and they give the people in
their newspapers today what they want
the people to think tomorrow. -
Two others have played their part
in the development Of the modern
newspaper. One. the press associa-
tions, and the other the columnists,
who have all but supplanted the ed
itorial functions. Today our papers
in small communities which desire and
are hungry for the truth are compelled
to rely upon either the Associated
Press, the United Press, or the Hearst
wires
Monopoly CHARGED.
"The Associated Press was founded
as a cooperative. but its control was
kept in the hands Of few papers, who
bought the first bonds. Go to any
meeting Of that association and see
who directs its policy. It is little
group Of bondholders. one OF which is
The Washington Star and another the
Chicago Tribune They have fran
chises. 1t is impossible to start a COM
peting paper in opposition to one with
an Associated Press franchise.
The United Press follows the same
theory in a trife different technique.
It was first founded by Mr.. Scripps in
the hope that 1t would keep open the
way Of opportunity to all who wished
to publish a newspaper. But let one
try to establish newspaper in COM
petition with one Of its clients and see
how tight the line is held. And thus.
we have the newspapers choked and
throttled by the monopolistic practices
Of the wire services"
The columnists, the Senator went
on, were and are men of ability and
integrity" but they soon found that
they could not give their own free
comment. - The editors rewrite