Evening star., 1942-04-05

Americas active participation in the
war has emphasized the lack of unity
in the Governments publicity, and to
correct this situation several White
House advisers are working out details
Of permanent policy for wartime news
and propaganda.
To administer this policy they hope
to find a paragon-a man versed in
world affairs, a respected writer and
the possessor of a steel temperament
that will not be influenced by criticism
from within or without the Govern
ment-to have the final word on what
shall and shall not be printed and
broadcast
The men most frequently mentioned
for this onerous post are Elmer Davis,
radio commentator Robert E. Sherwood,
author and playwright now working in
the Office of Facts and Figures; Walter
Lippmann, newspaper columnist and
author; Archibald MacLeish, poet, Ii
brarian of Congress and director of the
Office of Facts and Figures, and Lowell
Mellett, former Scripps Howard editor
and now director of the Office of Gov
eminent Reports.
The numerous Government depart
ments and agencies, with their hundreds
of press agents and their millions of
annual expenditures for publicity, have
followed no single policy on war news,
although President Roosevelt, in his
radio address to the Nation on February
23 said:
Your Government has unmistakable
confidence in your ability to hear the
worst, without f1inching or losing heart.
You must, in turn, have complete con-
f1dence that your Government is keep
ing nothing from you except informa-
ton that will help the enemy in his
attempt to destroy us. In democracy
there is always a solemn pact of truth
between the government and the peo-
pie; but there must also always be
full use of discretion-and that word
discretion applies to the critics of gov
ernment as we'll"
Discretion" Causes Difficulties.
Many of the difficulties and stupidities
of the present setup can be traced to
interpretations given the word 'discre-
ton" by those now in charge OF the
news and propaganda offices. BY their
own discretion" the officials can censor
news at the source, and the enterprising
reporter must be enterprising indeed If
he can get to the suppressed facts or
have the material already gathered
verified.
If present plans are carried through,
a single man, whether Ne is called Co
ordinator," dictator or "opinionator,'
will substitute his discretion" in order
to arrive at a unified policy for all
agencies.
Other difficulties and stupidities are
inherent in the organic setup OF the
present agencies and the personalities
of the men running them. AS whole
these agencies break down into three
groups: Cd news dissemination, % prop
aganda and 90 censorship.
For the present, the Office of Censor
ship can be omitted from consideration
because under Byron Price and the men
he has grouped around him there has
been little of the criticism he and others
expected.
The White House advisers who are
drawing up the plans for an overall
agency are confronted with the prob
lem of deciding whether straight news"
shall come under its supervision. This
problem Is complicated because straight
news itself sometimes falls in the cate
CORY of propaganda just as some propa-
ganda overlaps straight news.
Principal Agencies Involved.
The principal agencies included in the
discussions are:
The Office of Facts and Figures, pri-
marily domestic propaganda establish
ment.
The Information Division of the Office
of Emergency Management, which, in
covering the War Production Board. deals
in both news and propaganda.
The Office of Government Reports,
which is both information and propa-
ganda- minded.
The Co-ordinator of Information's
Once. concerned with foreign propa-
ganda except in Latin America.
The Office of the Co-ordinator of
Inter-American Affairs, which handles