Evening star., 1941-11-28

E. NJ, there is an Office of the D. O
l. In October the division issued
262 press releases, of 757 pages
The edition of each release runs
into the thousands. All told, the
division mimeographed $3.50, ,0OO
pages of handout material during
October. In the modern day OF
mechanical war, the mimeograph is
a machine little less vital than the
tank.
The nature Of the birth OF D.
o. I. testifies strongly to its close
identity with the White House. 1t
was set up by direction Of the Presi-
dent, stated in a letter Of February
%, 194l, to William H. McReynolds,
Wayne Coy's predecessor as liaison
officer for the once of Emergency
Management. Most defense bureaus
are established by executive order.
The D. 0. I. is the only one ar
ranged for by personal presidential
letter.
The fact that it is a separate unit
adds some to its expense, because
it requires its own administrative
employees, but the fact may in the
long run save money. The Budget
Bureau has told the director OF the
Division OF Information, Robert
Morton. that his is the best-man-
aged agency In the special defense
corral.
Falls Short of Policy.
1t is efficient for its purpose. but
many newspapermen have thought
that its purpose falls short Of its
announced policy: The purpose of
the dissemination of information is,
in the opinion Of the director, to
have a well-informed public-in-
formed factually."
The D. o. I. puts out facts and
facts only, but some correspondents
here suspect that it puts out those
facts it wants to put out and leaves
others to be found by the enterpris-
ing newspapermen who look be-
hind the scenes. Director Horton
gave some strength to this point OF
view during his testimony before
the House Appropriations Commit
tee last summer:
The preparation of the press re-
leases is purely incidental in the
process of getting out information.
For instance. let us say, in connec-
ton with a press release announc-
ing the reduction of 20 per cent In
the production Of automobiles.
The preparation of that from the
point of view of conferences with
Mr.. Knudsen (William Knudsen. di-
rector Of o. P. M. with people in
the automobile industry and so
forth, and the clearance of it, re-
quired several days during which I,
as the man handling that particu-
lar release, had to discuss 1t with
these people.
Particular About Releases.
They are very particular as to
what should be said or not said.
They go over it word for word. al
most as you would draft a bill in
Congress.
This attitude of caution about the
amount Of information made avail
able raises an interesting question
for the public about the RESPONSE
bility Of the Government informa-
ton officer. Is it his duty to inform
the populace, whose taxes pay his
salary? Or is it his duty to protect
his associates and superiors, with
whom and for whom he works?
The Division of Information dur
ing october did press-release work
for II agencies within the o. E. M.
For the ONCE Of Price Administra-
ton it wrote 81 releases: for o. p.
NJ, 54; Priorities Division. o. p. NJ,
%: Labor Division, o. P. NJ, H.;
Office of Civilian Defense, 10; de-
fense housing co-ordinator, 9; Con-
tract Distribution Division. o. P. NJ,
8: National Defense Mediation
Board, s; ONCE of Civilian Supply,
o. P. NJ, 6; o. E. NJ, S; Purchases
Division, o. P. NJ, S; Supply Priori-
ties and ALLEGATIONS Board, 4; Of
flee of Director of Defense Health
and Welfare Services, 4; Transpor-
tation Division, 4; Materials Divi-
sion, 3; Research and Statistics Bu-
reau, o. P. M, /: Presidents Com
mittee on Fair Employment Prac-
tices, 1.
It issued "a releases for trade
papers, eight for the Negro press
and two for radio purposes.
The Division of Information goes
far beyond recourse simply to news
papers 1t employs the movies, util-
izing the motion picture department
of the Once of Government Re-
ports. 1t uses the radio. 1t employed
Milton Caniff, comic strip artist
to draw pictures for an educational
campaign Mayor La Guardia's O.
c. D. planned to-but never did
undertake on how to act, live and
ha II, houoh shelter and what tr