The Waterbury Democrat., 1943-04-21

E@tGF M0#88 the oCtNllS oil
accuracy In the food report, and
that Is the question Of whether OF
not these reports should be made
at ell.
II the reports aren't accurate, as
the Is reslgning writer's contend, then
they shouldn't be made ut all. II
they shouldn't be made at all, then
Elmer Davis and owl are both bet
ter on for having had the Is TALENT
ed temporaments resign, thereby
having another government bureau
eliminate itself.
So far, owl has issued half a
dozen Of these reports 70 the nation,
but there are that many or moro
coming up,
DOCUMENTS OR
GARBAGE WRAPPERS?
Already issued are the reports on
drinking near army camps, on the
hrSt year OF the war, on the doctor
shortage, on the comparative quail
tiles Of U, s. and foreign military
aircraft, and this latest report on
the food situation.
Coming up are reports on trans.
portation, on civilian economy, on
the quality and quantity Of the
stocking supply, on the Baltimore
plan for handling manpower and
related problems. on the wartime
status Of air transport and others.
II must be admitted ut the start
that one Of the reasons for setting
up owl was to create an agency
which would see that the people
were given the facts. How owl
goes about presenting these facts Is
a subject for debate. Some Of the
Is reSigning star writer's had the
theory that these reports should be
put In pamphlet form TO present
them rs more or less lasting docu-
mentS that would look well on the
library table or In among the stale
literature In the doctors ONCE, and
not just as perishable stun In news
papers, hastily peruSed, then used
TO wrap the garbage In.
The pamphlet theory Is pretty
weak, for the American people
aren't tract readers, and 5000 or
10000 copies Of leafiet. besides
costing lot Of money. won't In
themselves put over q message. Pres
entation through the newspapers
and over the radio makes q lot more
sense.
The cost 70 the government Of
le,0OO copies OF q mimeographed
handout Is around $25. and on
normal distribution that will reach
every press association, every WASH
ington correspondent, 5000 country
newspaper, 1000 trade journals. 5000
commercial outlets. and 2.500 others.
Redistribution by these agencies viii
reach darn near everyone inter-
eSted.
NEWS OR HAY?
The question still remains, are
these reports necessary at all? Most
Of the reports issued so far have
been too longs, 600 words and up
and full of hay. They repeat things
that have already appeared In the
newspapers and therefore may not
be news.
Take any one Of these reports and
analyxe It carefully and you win find
that It Is nothing more than what
a good newspaper or magazine
roundup Of q given situation-food,
for instance-should be.
Maybe the newspapers aren't do
ing this Job the way they should.
II So then owl Is perhaps justi-
fed In doing IL for them. Maybe
the newspapers can't do the Job.
A lot OF information Is now held
back from the newspapers under the
guise Of war secrecy. Much Of this
information Is available to owl as
another agency OF the government.
And when owl issues its reports,
they become authoritative. official.
government announcements, which
makes them news.
The catch is that owl. being one
government agency, can't criticize
Department Of Agriculture or Once
Of Price Administration or any other
government agencies on their food
policies. In fact. before owl can
put out one Of its reports. it must
be cleared by every other govern
ment agency interested In the SUBJ
ject owl IN that respect Is more
censored than the press. That's the
basic diflculty Of the present owl
report system.
And the newspapers stilI have q
Job to DO.